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  Friday – 8 th Week of Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 11:11-26 I Don’t Give a Fig A Bountiful Harvest Jaime and Josh have been very busy the last couple of weeks putting in their garden for the season – all sorts of veggies and herbs.   That also means zucchini! Woo Hoo!   Last year didn’t work so well but I have high hopes for a good crop of zucchini.   And then, comes August and September and maybe I can harvest a couple zucchini and do a bit of baking.   But there is a lot to do in-between now and then.   You can’t just plant the seeds one day, wait 3 months, and voila there it is!   It takes work, weeding and watering, time and a bit of faith.   But in the end, it is worth it to go out into the raised beds and gather the crop. That is not what happens in today’s Gospel.   Jesus is looking for something to eat.   He goes to a fig tree but there was nothing but leaves.   It was not the season for figs.   The same holds...
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  Thursday – 8 th Week of Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 10:46-52 The Deacon’s New Clothes Ordination Vesting 11 years ago last week I was ordained a Permanent Deacon.   Part of the Rite of Ordination included Investiture where I put on the stole and dalmatic of a deacon for the first time.   I was assisted in this vesting ceremony by my wife Ginger and my pastor and friend Father Neil. Needless to say it was an emotional and profound moment where symbolically I left behind my life as a lay person and put on my ‘new clothes’, my new ministry as a member of the clergy. Something similar seems to be happening in today’s Gospel.   Bartimaeus, a blind man, is sitting along the road outside Jericho begging for a few coins.   He hears that Jesus is coming and he cannot contain his excitement.   People try to quiet him down but to no avail.   He keeps shouting for Jesus.   “Have pity on me.”   When Jesus calls to him, Bartimaeus immediately ge...
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  Wednesday – 8 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 10:32-45 Sacrifice – Part 2 Sitting in the Pew Heading back to Chicago tomorrow for 8 th grade graduation at St. Robert’s!   I’ve known many of these kids since they were in kindergarten; many of them I trained as altar servers way back in 4 th grade.   So very proud of all their accomplishments, so full of hope for their future!   It brings back so many fond memories – all the prep work for those server trainings, all the practice sessions, the nervousness during their first Masses, all those service projects, ice cream handouts, pizza parties, celebrating Christmas by decorating the church for the holidays.   So much time and effort!   So many hours of planning and prep work!   All that sacrifice! And I’m not talking about me !!   I’m talking about Ginger!   All her sacrifice!   All the times she sat in the pew alone!   All those evenings when I was away at church ...
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