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  Saturday after Ash Wednesday Gospel – Luke 5:27-32 Heal Me! Anointing Stone, Church of Holy Sepulchre It’s impossible for me to read today’s Gospel (Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do) and not immediately think about the words of Pope Francis: “The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. ... And you have to start from the ground up.   “ A Big Heart Open to God ,” America magazine Sept. 19, 2013. Just a simple thought today!   Aren’t we all sinners?   Aren’t we all sick in some way and in need of healing.   And for someone who is injured and is suffering,...
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  Friday after Ash Wednesday Gospel – Matthew 9:14-15 I Give Up! Gaming in the Old City Back when I was a high school Junior in the seminary, I learned to play bridge and it became an obsession.   With 3 of my best friends, we played every chance we could!   So it felt appropriate, when Lent rolled around, that we bond together and, as a group, we gave up bridge for Lent.   It was painful!   So as soon as midnight Easter Vigil services were over, we raced down to the rec room and proceeded to revisit our passion after 40 days of ‘fasting’.   We played non-stop for 12 hours!   So what really happened?   Yes, it was a painful experience and yes we suffered.   But at the end of Lent, what really changed?   We went right back to what we were doing beforehand! Did it matter?   Did we change at all? Did we grow at all? There must be more about fasting, about giving up something, than just the pain and sacrifice!  ...
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  Thursday after Ash Wednesday Gospel – Luke 9:22-25 A Slice of Life! Dinner in Tel Aviv There was a man who kept a garden in his back yard and every year would grow a variety of vegetables to help feed his family.   But one year, for whatever reason, his garden completely failed, nothing grew at all.   And yet his neighbor, his good friend, had an abundant harvest, loads of tomatoes, zucchini, etc.   In his frustration and upset, he decided to steal from his neighbor.   So late one night he went out into the darkness to steal from his neighbor’s garden. But he didn’t go alone; he took along his little boy to keep a look-out in case anyone should come along. The man jumped over the fence with a large bag on his arm, and before commencing to take the corn he looked all around to make sure no one was watching, first to the left and then to the right, behind him and in front, and not seeing anyone, he was just about to start filling his bag. And that ...
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