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  Wednesday – 9 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 12:18-27 1 Bride for 7 Brothers? Wedding Chapel, Cana Hypocrisy – Round 2!   Today it’s the Sadducees turn to try and get under Jesus’ skin by asking a ridiculous question about heaven.   What if a woman ended up marrying 7 men (brothers)?   Then to whom is she married when she gets to heaven?   It reminds me of grade school religion class when we would play ‘stump the teacher’!   If God is all-powerful, can He make so big and heavy that He can’t lift it???? Let’s be clear; the Sadducees don’t even want an answer from Jesus; they just want to make Him look foolish.   They don’t even believe in a resurrection.   And that, I think, is the point.   Their only focus is on this life. They believe there is nothing after death.   They believe that any reward or punishment happens to us in this life, not the next.   So they can only conceive of heaven in human terms, in terms o...
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  Tuesday – 9 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel - Mark12:13-17 Flipping the Coin Garden in Cana There was a man who kept a garden in his backyard 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.   So, 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. ...
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  Monday – St. Justin, Martyr Gospel - Mark 12:1-12 Food for the Soul Mass at Gethsemane We celebrate today the Feast of St. Justin.   Born to educated Greek parents in Palestine around 100 AD, he is one of the first Christian writers and provides us with one of the first written accounts of how the Eucharist was celebrated in the First Century.   Included below is part of that account.   Amazing how things have remained the same! “ Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. “And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers ...
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