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  5 th Sunday of Lent Gospel – John 11:1-45 Orange “Crushed” Empty Tomb A few years ago, we were over at our daughter’s house, helping our son-in-law and grandsons rake up all the leaves in the front yard.   It’s a very large space and we were filling large plastic bags left and right.   As we were nearing the end of the job, I glanced at my right hand and noticed that my ring was missing, gone, disappeared!   This was a high school class ring, not my own, but my dad’s from 1939.   It was handed down to me right after my dad passed away.   I never even knew he had a class ring but ever since that day I have worn it proudly and lovingly!   So to suddenly find it missing left me in panic!   We had easily 6 or 7 huge bags filled with leaves and we tore into them frantically trying to find it.   I admit that, at one point, I stepped back in tears, convinced it was lost forever.   It was terrifying and I lost hope, if only for a mome...
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  Saturday – 4 th Week of Lent   3/21/26   revisited Gospel – John 7:40-53 The “Awful” Truth Church of the Beatitudes, Galilee Remember when you were little and someone told you something you just didn’t want to hear?   Maybe a best friend decided you were no longer friends!   Maybe your parents were handing out your punishment for breaking that glass or for ignoring countless ‘requests’ to clean your room.   Or maybe they couldn’t get you that one toy you hoped for as a birthday present.   That awful truth or that hard lesson that you just refused to listen to!   So you covered your ears with your hands and mumbled some nonsense syllables to keep out those honest and truthful words. It seems as if that is exactly what is happening in today’s Gospel.   The crowd of people get it!   Jesus is a Prophet, the Christ! Even the guards hear Jesus’ words and believe; as a result, they are reluctant to arrest him.   But the Pharisee...
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  Friday – 4th Week of Lent    3/20/26   revisited Gospel – John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 Do we know God? Chapel of Tears, Jerusalem The people are angry. This guy Jesus claims to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God! That can’t be – we KNOW him. He’s just a carpenter’s son from a backwater village in Galilee. We take a lot of polls and questionnaires on Facebook these days – asking us do we really know our friends. Do you know my favorite color, food, movie, favorite music or TV show? Is that it? Is that all there is to ‘knowing’ someone, all these ‘favorites’? What about – what makes me cry, how do I handle loss, how do I treat someone I consider a friend, what makes me sad, laugh or angry? Do you really know me, on the inside? So the question must be asked – do we know God? How? When? To really know someone, I think, demands time and effort and commitment. How often do we spend time with Him in conversation, in prayer, in meditation? Is it enough? If not,...
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