Spiritual Reflections

There is richness to ponder in statements in today’s readings. In the Acts of the Apostles, “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.” “With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” In…

“And.”  A…N…D… That’s the most important word to remember from my reflections this evening.  With God, what looks like an ending is always followed by “and.”  We see that truth in the broad strokes of God’s presence throughout history as…

Isaiah 50:4-7, Phil. 2:6-11, Mark 11:1-10 The story of that first Palm Sunday as told by Mark would have made for good optics. If CNN had been there, the news team helicopters might have filmed two processions entering Jerusalem. Pontius Pilate…

Jeremiah 31:31-34        Hebrews 5:7-9        John 12:20-33 Happy springtime to all of you!   Have you ever thought what it would be like if Lent, Holy Week and Easter occurred in the fall instead of the…

  John 9: 1-41 In today’s Gospel, the scene is Jesus restoring sight to a man born blind — at which point Jesus makes this announcement: “As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.” …That’s what I want to reflect…

When I was looking for a way to connect our readings for today to events in today’s world, I thought about the movie, “The Poseidon Adventure,”  which came out in 1972.  It was the story of a ship which capsized…

“I will be your God and you will be my people.” We are a people with a history of covenants entered into with our God. In the first reading, God promised Noah that the people would never again be destroyed.…

When preparing a homily I always look up some general information about the origins of the Gospel for this day.  The Gospel according to St. Mark was written about 70 A.D. when the newly forming Christian community is moving away from…

Job 7:1-71         Corinthians 9:16-23         Mark 1:29-39 The first reading for this Sunday made me cringe: What in the world can I do with Job! We’re just not comfortable with complaining; not such free-flowing,…

Mark 1:21-28 Jesus is in Capernaum.  It’s early in his public life.  Things go well.  In last Sunday’s Gospel, he met Simon and Andrew, then James and John.  He asked them to come with him. They dropped everything and followed him. Today,…

Jonah 3, 1 Cor. 7, Mark 1:14-20 Today’s readings can remind us of how deep — and mysteriously various — are the religious bonds that connect us across the years and through diverse cultures. The readings are connected at the…

Our Sunday readings are following the timeline of Jesus’ life. Last week he was baptized, and this week he is choosing his followers as he begins his public life. Our readings are from John’s Gospel and are arranged differently than…