The Sunday Gospel Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 Ps 15:2-5 Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Are we doers? The letter from James this Sunday lays it all on the line and reminds us of what truly matters. Think showing up at church, saying prayers and dropping an envelope in the collection basket is enough?…
The Sunday Gospel Prv 9:1-6 Ps 34:2-7 Eph 5:15-20 Jn 6:51-58 This Gospel puts me in a New York state of mind. Encountering this Sunday’s passage from John’s Gospel, I can’t help but think back to a stretch of West 31st Street in New York City where, not far from Madison Square Garden, you can…
The Sunday Gospel Ex 16:2-4, 12-15 Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 Eph 4:17, 20-24 Jn 6:24-35 When you think about it, we got our first clue at Christmas. It was there, in the very name of the town where Jesus was born: Bethlehem, a word which means in both Aramaic and Hebrew, ‘House of Bread’.…
I don’t run into shepherds very often, but a few years ago, I ran into a shepherd (via Google) by the name of Kim Goodling. She and her husband live in Vermont and run a large farm with a lot of livestock, including a flock of sheep. On her blog, Kim Goodling wrote about what…
The Sunday Gospel Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4 2 Cor 12:7-10 Mk 6:1-6 The Messiah, it turns out, isn’t quite who people expected. In Mark’s Gospel this Sunday, Jesus returns to his ‘native place’, his hometown of Nazareth, and when people hear him teaching in the synagogue, they can’t believe it. “Astonished” is the adjective Mark…
Jb 38:1, 8-11 Ps 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31 2 Cor 5:14-17 Mk 4:35-41 Rembrandt got it. Centuries ago, the artist captured the scene in this Sunday’s Gospel – a scene full of raging waves and gathering clouds and sheer, unabashed terror. The apostles are screaming in fear. One of them is leaning over the side…
The Sunday Gospel Gn 3:9-15 Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 2 Cor 4:13—5:1 Mk 3:20-35 You’re in good company. The Scriptures this Sunday show what Jesus went through in his hometown – and they offer us a valuable perspective. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus hears some criticism and name-calling that is downright blasphemous, with relatives claiming…
The Sunday Gospel Dt 4:32-34, 39-40 Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22 Rom 8:14-17 Mt 28:16-20 Periodically, people ask me, “What is your favourite part of being a deacon?” Near the top of my list would have to be the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament of baptism. There’s just nothing like it. There is…
This is a Sunday of beginnings and endings. We hear the very first words of the Acts of the Apostles – and then, moments later, the last words of the Gospel according to Mark. Both focus on The Ascension – a moment that ties together two remarkable parts of our salvation, marking the end of…
Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 9:26-31 Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 1 Jn 3:18-24 Jn 15:1-8 The readings for this Fifth Sunday of Easter introduce us to someone we don’t hear about very much. But he has a lot to say to us, especially now. I’m talking about St Barnabas. The reading from Acts describes…