Sunday’s Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20 GOD’S WATCHERS In the ancient world watchmen were extremely important people. They kept communities safe, and were there to alert them to any impending danger or attack. Before locks, alarms, and security systems, watchmen were the protectors, the safety measure. So when the Lord…
Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalms 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27 FOLLOWING CHRIST If you’ve ever had an unpleasant but somewhat amusing practical joke played on you, then you have some understanding of how Jeremiah feels today when he tells God “good one—you duped me.” We can almost see him shaking his head with…
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20 BE A ROCK Peter’s history as a follower or friend of Jesus is a bit spot-ty. It might be natural to wonder if Jesus, in giving him the keys to the kingdom, didn’t feel a bit like a parent giving a teenager the…
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 CALLED TO ACT IN GOD’S NAME “Let all the nations praise you!” (Psalm 67:4) today’s psalm response exclaims. In the psalms and other Hebrew scriptures, this kind of invocation is actually an invitation to God to act, to intervene in human…
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 NOTHING TO FEAR A rabbi was asked why God sends trials and troubles into human lives. “Because God gets lonely for his people” was the reply. There is some resonance with this wisdom in today’s Gospel, as Jesus makes his disciples…
Sunday’s Readings: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 9; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9 EYEWITNESSES Today, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, is a day of eyewitness accounts. The first, a vision reported by the prophet Daniel, was well known to Jesus and his apostles. The vision ac-count was written in quite mystical and…
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 LISTEN TO YOUR DREAMS God visits Solomon in a dream, and the scrip-ture story nowhere tells us that Solomon awoke to have this conversation with God! So, still in his dream, Solomon answers God’s question about what he desires most, and God grants…
Sunday’s Readings: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalms 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13: 24-43 THE MERCY, POWER, AND LOVE OF GOD The first reading today, from the book of Wisdom, makes its point over and over, at least five times in five verses! God is mighty, but lenient to all. God’s power is shown in kindness…