Episodes
Saturday Jul 28, 2018
"Come to the Feast" - A Reflection for The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
Saturday Jul 28, 2018
Saturday Jul 28, 2018
Dear Friends,
In a world starving for fulfillment, Jesus sets a table of love every day. Yet the bread of life is passed over by so many who seek the latest confection to fill their emptiness. In this gospel, Jesus invites us to his feast. His basket of grace is bottomless. Come to him as God and Savior and you will never go away hungry.
Saturday Jul 21, 2018
Saturday Jul 21, 2018
Dear Friends,
Picture this: It's February 1964. Traffic in Mid-town Manhattan is an epic nightmare. Police are manning the barricades. And an army of teenagers sweeps right past them to storm the Plaza Hotel. The Beatles have come to town and Manhattan has gone wild. Dizzy from his riotous reception, John Lennon boasts: "We're more popular than Jesus."
Saturday Jul 14, 2018
"Deliver Us from Evil" - A Reflection for The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
Saturday Jul 14, 2018
Saturday Jul 14, 2018
Dear Friends,
This week's gospel is perhaps the starkest exposition of pure evil in the entire New Testament. As such it seems far out of step with our times. We have come to shroud evil in elaborate scenarios of psychological cause and effect. Much of this theory is soundly reasoned, amply documented and clinically valid. But much of it has proven to be fantasy-based, psycho-babble.
Saturday Jul 07, 2018
Saturday Jul 07, 2018
Dear Friends,
For three and a half years, Jesus continually taught and preached. He performed wonders and drew people to him. Obviously, these gospels are not a daily diary of his entire ministry. They are not a transcript of his every word. Think of them as a highlight reel, capturing the essence of the Good News, the platform of the New Covenant, the record of our redemption. Yet with so much ground to cover in sixteen chapters, why does Mark include this account of Christ’s rejection by friends and neighbors? What is Jesus telling us? What should we learn from this gospel?
Saturday Jun 30, 2018
"Never Give up" - A Reflection for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
Saturday Jun 30, 2018
Saturday Jun 30, 2018
Dear Friends,
In the darkest days of World War II, in the shortest and one of the most powerful addresses he ever delivered, Winston Churchill famously admonished the boys of Harrow School to: "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." Not surprisingly in this week's gospel, Jesus easily tops Churchill in both brevity and content, when he tells us: Don't be afraid. Just have faith.
Sunday Jun 24, 2018
Sunday Jun 24, 2018
Dear Friends,
In this gospel, the forces of nature collide with the power of Christ. And it is no contest. In a word, the peace of Christ prevails. The sea is calmed. Yet despite our years of Christian worship, our reading and re-reading of scripture, the idea of commanding nature is still a mystery at best. From what we know of meteorology and hydro-dynamics, storms are not biddable. It is a scientific impossibility. But seen through the eyes of faith, it is equally impossible to suggest that the Author of the Universe could not calm a minor inland sea.
Thursday Jun 14, 2018
"The Mustard Seed" - A Reflection for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
Thursday Jun 14, 2018
Thursday Jun 14, 2018
Dear Friends,
For such a brief passage, the parable of the mustard seed works well on many levels. Let's start with the obvious. Appearances are deceiving. Great things can have very humble origins. Mustard is a weed. It grows in the wild from a tiny seed. While other weeds spring from the ground and spread prodigiously, the tiny mustard seed inconspicuously comes to life sending out a single root to probe the earth for nourishment. But while others are gone in a single season, the slow, steady progress of the mustard seed's offshoots continue on for generations.
Saturday Jun 09, 2018
"Jesus the Teacher" - A Reflection for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
Saturday Jun 09, 2018
Saturday Jun 09, 2018
Dear Friends,
As we progress through Mark’s gospel we meet Jesus as a healer, as a prophet, as a priest, as sacrificial victim…and ultimately as risen Savior. In this reading, Mark introduces us to Jesus the Teacher.
Monday May 28, 2018
"Born Again" - A Reflection for Trinity Sunday, Year B
Monday May 28, 2018
Monday May 28, 2018
Dear Friends,
This is Trinity Sunday… a day to celebrate the greatest mystery of all… a day to ponder the dynamics of one God in three divine persons. This gospel’s exposition of The Trinity grows out of a conversation Jesus is having with Nicodemus, a righteous scholar, totally committed to a life governed by Mosaic Law. He respects Jesus, but he is puzzled by him. Seriously now, how can we be born again?
Friday May 18, 2018
"Alive in the Spirit" - A Reflection for the Feast of Pentecost
Friday May 18, 2018
Friday May 18, 2018
Dear Friends,
Ascension Thursday, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday... our Easter season concludes with a crescendo. Jesus ascends. The Holy Spirit descends. And we are given a window into the ultimate mystery of our faith.