Sunday’s Readings: Ezekiel 18:25-28; Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Philippians 2:1-11 OR 2:1-5; Matthew 21:28-32
…from your Pastor’s Desk – Here is a question I am often asked: Why do bad things happen to good people? There are clues. First, how many people do you know who are completely good or completely bad? …
Sunday’s Readings: Sirach 27:30—28:7; Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35
…from your Pastor’s Desk – Love and Forgiveness – In the Gospel reading, Peter wants to know how many times he has to forgive someone who sins against him. What is the number of times, Peter wants to know, that he has to forgive that sinner? But this question is confused. There is no such number as the one Peter is looking for. There is no limit on the number of times we have to forgive someone who has sinned against us. …
Sunday’s Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20
…from your Pastor’s Desk – If somebody does you wrong – do you wrong them right back, or even greater? Well, maybe you do – but the Gospel today shows us how, in great detail, we are to do otherwise, especially those within our own community, be it faith or family. This includes slander, public shame, taking what is rightfully yours, and all the other commandments they may have broken ‘on’ you. …
Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalms 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27
……from your Pastor’s Desk – “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny him-self, take up his cross, and follow me.” To understand today’s Gospel we must look back to a time in our lives when, in retrospect, we see that something, or someone we wanted, and didn’t get – turned out to be the very best in the long run. Garth Brooks has a great song called ‘Unanswered Prayers’ about this very thing. I think we have all had that experience at least once. And – that is part of ‘Taking up your Cross’. Even if by hindsight. …
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20
……from your Pastor’s Desk – “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” – “He’s a man, he’s just a man,” sang Mary Magdalene in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. It is one answer to the question, Who is Jesus Christ? “We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock ’n’ roll or Christianity,” said John Lennon of the Beatles on a famous occasion. Later he explained that it was a comment on society and not on Jesus. …
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
Food for Dogs? – Sunday’s Gospel can give a headache both to preachers and to people in the pews. Jesus refuses to hear a woman because she is, in his metaphor, one of the “dogs.” OUCH. You know the story. The Canaanite woman cries out for help and Jesus at first will not even talk to her. …
Sunday’s Readings: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Psalms 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Where do you find God? – Only in church? Only while praying? Only in times of need or distress? Only in those we expect to be holy or pious people? Too often we look to great people and to the events in our lives to find God, as if our encounters with God have to meet certain standards and criteria in order to be true. There is a tendency in some to see God only in the extraordinary, not in the humdrum and ordinary [of which we spoke last Sunday]. But to do that would be to limit the ways God reveals Himself to us. …
Sunday’s Readings: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 9; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Transfiguration – This week we have the wonderful gospel of the Transfiguration of Jesus. For one brief moment, his disciples are allowed to see what lies ahead for all who follow his way. We begin our own ‘transfiguration’ while still on earth, not so much achieving a ‘glorified body’, but transforming our heart, our spirit, our soul into the Lord’s. …
Sunday’s Readings: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Psalms 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52 OR 13:44-46
……from your Pastor’s Desk – What to Treasure? – In both of today’s parables, people find something of high value, one a box of treasure and the other a priceless pearl. How they make these discoveries is quite different. One finds treasure by accident, while not looking for anything in particular. … In the other case, the merchant was actively searching for fine pearls and …