Humans always seem to turn everything into a competition. Whether it is who has the most, who is the best or who is on the Mount Rushmore of…..? We can even compete on things that should not be competitive, like competing with each other in holiness, piety or who has...
Today’s Gospel challenges all the easy assumptions that we make about Jesus: Jesus the inspiring teacher, Jesus the compassionate preacher, Jesus the friend of the poor. He is all these, but he is also the One who comes from the Father, the One who we believe, was prepared for by...
In the Gospel of Luke today, we hear the familiar story of the temptations of Jesus in the desert. What strikes me is that the “Spirit led Jesus” into the desert. In Mark’s Gospel the Spirit “drives” Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan. I always wondered, why...
During rush hour in Chicago near the corner of Melbourne Ave and Michigan Ave, a blind man was having trouble crossing the street. Soon he felt the presence of another man standing next to him. The man asked, “are you crossing the street?” The blind answer “yes!” The man grabbed...
February 24, 2019 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time This Sunday, Jesus continues his challenging Sermon on the Mount. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you ? Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the...
If you are one of the scholars that come to our bible study group you would know that Luke’s version of Jesus’ delivering the beatitudes is different from Matthew’s. We are probably more familiar with this reading as the Sermon on the Mount, but here in Luke, the author makes...
Today we hear Luke’s story of the call of Peter and the miraculous catch of fish. As the story goes, Jesus is playing to a sold out audience, so much so that he is forced to retreat to the shore and out unto Peter’s boat. Jesus asks Peter to put...
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is in his own synagogue in Nazareth, reads from the scroll of Isaiah that foreshadows his coming into the world as the Messiah. He tells his hometown friends and family members, that the scripture he has just read, “is fulfilled in their hearing.” He then goes...
I find it humorous the way Luke begins his Gospel… "Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events...I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,...so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have...
So we are beginning the long stretch of Ordinary Time in the Church. Now, Ordinary Time is not to be conflated with Boring Time. Let’s face it, most of our lives could be called ordinary and thank goodness we aren’t living day to day with such incredible high expectations. If...