OrdinaryTime
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Our Fortified City
We read in Jeremiah today of a promise made to the prophet as he is sent out on his mission. The promise is that God knew him and loved him from all eternity, and as God sends Jeremiah out, he tells the prophet he is a fortified city. Jeremiah must gird himself with his traveling Continue reading
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Seeing as Bartimaeus Sees
I want to draw your attention to the dialogue between Bartimaeus and Jesus because it speaks to us and our relationship with God. Bartimaeus is at once a famous figure and at the same time an anonymous man. We don’t know his name, we only know he is the son of a man named Timaeus, Continue reading
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Tuning in to the major thing
The readings for the 25th Sunday in ordinary time remind us that we live in a fallen world. The world we live in has separated itself from God’s plan for the world when he created it. We have concepts of law and justice and righteousness and transgressions but they no longer mean what God intended Continue reading
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Eyes of Faith
My brothers and sisters – as we read the lesson the Old Testament, and as we read the gospel story today, we are reminded how difficult it is – for us on our earthly pilgrimage – to keep our eyes fixed on the good news of the love that our God has for us. In Continue reading
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Cultivating the tender shoots
The readings today speak of planting and of growth. In the agrarian societies of Biblical times, everyone knew how trees and plants were cultivated, but we live in an age when we are disconnected from the patterns of cultivation and harvesting that put food on our plates. Patterns of planting and growing can be applied Continue reading
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Fishers of Men
“Repent and believe in the Good News.” This message is so commonly proclaimed by preachers, it can become so familiar we stop listening and just hear “blah, blah, blah.” Jonah was not the first preacher in Nineveh, and Jesus was not the first in Galilee. Somebody else preached from this very ambo on these very Continue reading
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The Coming Day of Judgment
You may have noticed the serious tone of the gospels we have been reading for about a month. We had the unfaithful stewards, who neglected their duties and tried to get the master’s vineyard for their own. And there was a day of judgment in that story. And we had the story of the wedding Continue reading
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Whose Image is on the coin? On you?
In the Old Testament reading, we meet Cyrus the Great, who was king of the Persian empire. Through the prophet Isaiah, God tells Cyrus that all his power came from the God of the Israelites even though Cyrus did not acknowledge the Lord. In the Gospel reading, we hear of a challenge presented to Jesus Continue reading
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The parable of the laborers
Last week’s reading from the Gospel was about the mercy of the king, and this week’s seems to be about justice. Last week, the debtor who received mercy from the king could not extend mercy to somebody in his debt. This week, the laborers agree on a just wage with the landowner at the start Continue reading
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Tweeting the Parable of the Laborers
The defining characteristic of the social media tool Twitter is the 140 character length limitation. Twitter started on cell phones, and the old messaging systems would only accept 140 characters. Most of what we like and don’t like about Twitter is due to this size constraint. The 4pm Saturday Vigil Mass is very much like Continue reading
Bound in Love 