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  2 nd Sunday of Lent Gospel – Matthew 17:1-9 Climb Every Mountain Heiskell, TN Ever since she was born, our daughter Jaime has either lived with us or, after she married, lived just minutes away from us!   Until 2023!   Late in May, she, our son-in-law Josh, and our 2 grandsons, Nate and Tyler, packed up all their belongings and moved from Elmhurst, Illinois to Heiskell, Tennessee. A simple 25-minute drive to their house for dinner or to help Josh with a project had turned into an 8 hour road trip.   Things just weren’t the same anymore!   However, over that first year, we were able to visit them a couple of times over the summer, and it was magical.   Their ‘homestead’ now covers 16 acres in the middle of the Smoky Mountains, including a huge barn, chicken coop, (actually 2 – one original and one newly built, not counting the 6 chickens),   lots of sheds and a beautiful house nestled on top of a hill.   They even own the mountain in the...
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  Saturday – 1 st Week of Lent Gospel – Matthew 5:43-48 Enemy Mine! Church of Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem Who’s your biggest enemy?   That co-worker who is always trying to undercut your efforts?   That family member who always treats you like you were 9 years old?   That former best friend who betrayed your deepest secrets?   That parent who just doesn’t understand you?   Enemies, we all have them or so we think.   They vex us, torment us, and make us think of sad and hurtful times.   They refuse to forgive and move on; they harp on the past and treat us like we will never grow up. And so we decide to treat them in just the same way – with anger and hatred! And yet, in the end, I have to admit that my greatest enemy is myself.   My greatest enemy is my refusal to move on, to let go.   It’s that attitude of seeing others as how I choose to see them and not as they really are.   We spend our lives focusing on what makes us dif...
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  Friday – 1 st Week of Lent Gospel – Matthew 5:20-26 Ch Ch Ch Changes! Caiaphas’ House Remember all the fights we all got into as kids?   Arguing, yelling, pouting, walking away in a huff, and even physically fighting?   And remember all the times our parents would drag you all back together, make you face each other, shake hands and say you were sorry?   How did that work out for you?   In today’s Gospel Jesus challenges us to go way beyond a simple handshake and a couple of words that carried no real repentance.   Jesus is calling for real, heartfelt, soul-shaking change!   Not just in our words or actions but change down to our very soul. The Greek word is “metanoia”.   And it speaks of a life-altering, soul-searching turning away from anger and resentment to an attitude of forgiveness and repentance.   Change is hard; none of us like it.   It is more comfortable to stay the way we are.   But change is also necessary! ...
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