Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

  Saturday – Second Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:16-21 Be Not Afraid Praying in Jerusalem When a flashlight grows dim or quits working, do you just throw it away?   Of course not!   You change the batteries!   When a person messes up or finds themselves in a dark place, do you cast them aside?   Of course not!   You help them change their batteries.   Some need AA – attention and affection.   Some need AAA – attention, affection and acceptance!   Some need C – compassion!   And some need D – direction!   And if they still don’t seem to shine, simply sit with them quietly and share your light! One of the great joys in my diaconal ministry is working with the youth and training them to be altar servers.   The sheer excitement and energy when they show up for the first session is almost electric that they can’t sit still.   Their enthusiasm is incredible.   But that all tends to change on the day they serve their first Mass.   They get nervous, anxious and stressed out, wo

  Friday – Second Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:1-15 Nothing Left to Waste Leftovers, Upper Galilee   Let’s go back to the beginning of this 2-year struggle with Covid, back to when all the restrictions were in place and we were all effectively quarantined at home, except in case of some emergency.   It was a time when most of us probably cleaned out the pantry and the freezer, making do with what we had and, in the process, cooking a variety of ‘creative’ meals.   Nothing went to waste!   We made sure to re-purpose leftovers for another meal or two. Truth be told, we continue to be very particular in not wasting a bit of food; we continue, as best we can, to not throw out any leftovers.   We have come to appreciate what we have and to not let any of it go to waste. And isn’t that what we hear in today’s Gospel – nothing will be wasted!   Of course, at the time, Jesus was speaking of the 12 baskets of   food left over from the multiplication of the loaves and fishes

Thursday – Second Week of Easter Gospel – John 3:31-36 Over-stuffed! Dome, Church of Holy Sepulchre As Ginger will attest, I do love a good steak, preferably a ribeye or New York strip!   And I have had the good luck to taste them at some really top-notch restaurants; thank goodness for gift cards!   But hands-down, the most amazing carnivorous dining experience I have ever had was at Fogo de Chao.   Many of you know what I am talking about.   Over 15 different cuts and types of beef and lamb, carved and served tableside.   You have 2 colored   cards at your seat, green to keep the meat coming and red to signal STOP!   So when we left the restaurant, I wasn’t just full; I was completely stuffed, no room for another bite!   You have   probably had a similar experience.   Maybe it was Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner and you finally had to throw down the napkin and say NO MORE!   There is one line in today’s Gospel that really leaves me thinking: “God doesn’t ration the gif

  Wednesday – Second Week of Easter Gospel – John 3:16-21 Rainbow Bright! Jordan River Time to jog your memory a bit!   If you were around anytime in the 1970’s all the way through the 90’s, you couldn’t miss him!   Whether it was a World Series game, the Olympics, college football, and even Charles’ and Diana’s wedding, he was there, right on camera and waving his sign!   You know who I mean – that guy with the wild beard and the rainbow-colored afro!   That guy holding that simple sign that read: John 3:16! I have to hand it to him; he was a great advertiser for the Bible.   I mean, how many people ran to the Scriptures just to find out what the verse was!   Even though at the time, there was no Google, you have to think it would have been the most searched-for verse EVER! Which brings us to today’s Gospel – John 3:16!   “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

  Tuesday – Second Week of Easter Gospel – John 3:7b-15 A Mighty Wind Church of Dormition Growing up, one of my all-time favorite TV shows was Superman, the old black and white program with George Reeve.   And if there was one thing I wanted to do, like the Man of Steel, was to fly!   So anytime it would get really windy, I would rush outside and start running as fast as I could.   I thought that if I ran fast enough with the wind at my back, I would be lifted off the ground and fly.   Unfortunately it never worked. Decades later, I went to college at Loyola University in Chicago, the Windy City.   And I experienced the real raw power of the wind everyday as I walked east on Sheridan Road to get to class.   In the winter especially, it was an all-out fight against the wind as I struggled one torturous step at a time to stay on my feet.   Needless to say, the walk home after class was a much quicker journey but you still had to grab a street pole at times as the wind push