I am in awe of the profound thought that has gone into the development of our liturgical year and the readings from Scripture that guide it. Today’s readings have been a challenge for me. The first, from Sirach about being judged by our words gives me pause. But the Psalm which follows gives me courage: “In old age they still produce fruit.” At age 80 I am grateful for the opportunity to share my reflections on the rich history of ...
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I can see, when the Church reworked the lectionary in the early 1960s, why they gave us that first reading from the Book of Samuel and that gospel passage from Luke to be proclaimed on the same Sunday; they mesh so well together. They also happen to be two of the most challenging pieces of Scripture to live up to, at least in my own life.
Let’s look at Samuel and Luke and see where they may be challenging us to ...
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There is a poster on the wall in my office that has followed me from place to place for several years. Through graphics, it shows how the sacred texts of 13 faiths from around the world each contain “The Golden Rule.” From Islam and Christianity to Traditional Native Spirituality and Confucianism, we all hold sacred some version of “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” which was the version I learned as a child. The poster ...
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Let’s face it, when things go well, faith is not difficult. On top of that, when things go well, there’s no drive to develop our faith any further. After all, if things are going well, I must be the reason for my own success. Here’s a little story that illustrates what I’m talking about. It centers on a Jewish grandmother, but remember this Jewish grandmother lives in every one of us.
There was this Jewish woman raised in the liberal leftist ...
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As I’m sure most of you know, today’s gospel is often referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount”. In Luke’s version, Jesus begins strongly with the Beatitudes. These are composed of some blessings and curses. These teachings show Jesus as the Lord of reversals. However, let’s not misunderstand them, the Beatitudes are not just about the rich or the poor, happy or sad, hungry, or satisfied, etc. It is beyond our status in life but more of our status ...
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The readings are a little bit on the long side this weekend, so I don’t expect you to remember, in detail, what you heard in that first reading. Suffice it to say, all three readings are about God calling someone, all three readings are about someone feeling unworthy or unqualified to answer the Lord’s call, and all three readings are about people overcoming their reluctance and responding to God in a positive way, a life-changing way.
Let’s go back to the ...
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A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.” So, the rowboat went on. Then a motorboat came by. The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man ...
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Once again, there is so much food for thought in each of the Scripture readings we have today. To add more words to all the words you just heard, here is a story I received while on a Men’s Rite of Passage retreat, five years ago in California. It centers on the wisdom of a well-respected monk, Makarios the Great of Egypt.
A young man approached Makarios with the desire to become holy (and he only had a weekend to do ...
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“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful…it hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
Today’s gospel from Luke follows Jesus as he begins his public ministry. His reputation as a teacher of great insight is spreading and he is “praised by everyone.” At first, when Jesus returns to Nazareth and teaches in the synagogue in which he grew up, “all ...
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Sometimes I wonder, and maybe you do too, whether all God’s great feats of power, all God’s great interventions into human history, that all of these marvellous deeds took place only in Biblical times and have, somehow, dried up for us here and now. If that is so, then maybe God’s past involvement in human affairs is solely for the purpose of giving us inspiration in the present. Or, more demoralizing still, somehow people of the past were more open, more deserving, ...
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