“You, Lord, show which one of these two you have chosen….” Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias. The choice of Matthias to take the place of Judas as one of the twelve apostles is instructive in our own spiritual lives. The first followers of Jesus were trying to do God’s… Read More »
MAY132020
Remain in me, as I remain in you. In John 15, Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches to describe the intimate relationship he has with his followers. The chapter includes the word “remain” fourteen times. Anyone who has ever been married, been part of a religious community, been a friend knows… Read More »
MAY122020
Two contrasting statements in the readings assigned for today: in the Acts of the Apostles St. Paul reflects on his experience and says, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” At the Last Supper Jesus says, Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. If we combine those… Read More »
MAY112020
When St. Paul healed a cripple in Lystra the people declared, “The gods have come down to us in human form.” People then as now imagined that for the gods to be present something extraordinary needs to happen. The coming of Jesus, called the incarnation, changed our understanding of the presence of God. Jesus was… Read More »
MAY102020
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your heart be troubled.” How are we supposed to heed that commandment while we are in the midst of a pandemic, when we cannot hug our grandchildren on Mothers’ Day, while we are unable to gather as a community to praise the Lord! But think about preachers… Read More »
MAY92020
According to St. Paul when we get to heaven we shall see God “face to face,” called in the tradition the “beatific vision.” Artists and poets have imagined what that might be like — their images are, literally, out of this world. Maybe Philip was thinking along those lines when he said to Jesus, “Master,… Read More »
MAY82020
John 14 is the gospel assigned for today and for Sunday. Since the Weekday and Sunday Readings are on a completely different cycle this is a coincidence … or a providence. God wants us to notice this reading . Jesus says, “I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I… Read More »
MAY72020
St. Paul begins his first missionary sermon this way: The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors. He then proceeds to tell the story of the people as the way to introduce the new thing God is doing in Jesus. If you don’t know where you’re coming from you don’t know where you are. That… Read More »
MAY62020
Rick Warren, pastor of a megachurch, talked about a revelation that he had looking at the Bible more closely. “I found 2,000 verses on the poor. How did I miss that? I went to Bible college, two seminaries, and I got a doctorate. How did I miss God’s compassion for the poor?” A powerful reminder… Read More »
MAY42020
St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles portrays St. Peter, as the head of the fledgling church, opening up the fellowship to include non-Jews, Gentiles, to become followers of Jesus. He did so as a result of a direct revelation from God. Since Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, and all of the first followers of… Read More »
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