Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

  Tuesday St. John Bosco Gospel – Mark 5:21-43 Touchy!   Touchy! Raising of Jairus’ Daughter, Magdala Sitting in one corner of our living room is a simple little wooden stool, the kind that you can spin the seat to raise its height.   I don’t think I have ever actually sat on it.   That’s not why it’s there.   It was handmade by a good parish friend of mine.   Four years ago, that friend and fellow parishioner passed away from cancer and, a few days after his funeral, his son gifted me with that stool at the bequest of his dad.   Frank was an all-around handyman and volunteer at St. Roberts.   You could always count on him to jump in and help out, especially when it came to anything related to wood-working or carpentry.   He always reminded me a lot of my grandfather who was a master carpenter.   There was one thing you could always expect from Frank – a big smile and a warm handshake.   I don’t mean a simple perfunctory...

  Monday - 4 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 5:1-20 The Knots of Sin and Stress Sea of Galilee, Eastern Shore For the past two years or so, although it feels like forever, my parish - St. Robert Bellarmine - has been in the process of uniting with our neighboring parish St Constance. This is all part of an archdiocese-wide effort called RENEW.   As we continue to unify resources, personnel and ministries, we were also tasked with discerning a new name for the newly combined parish.     And so our new parish is called “Mary, Undoer of Knots.”   Yes, I know; it’s a mouthful.   But it is a rather evocative and descriptive title.   And it is a good reminder that, as individuals, parishoners and as a parish, we all have ‘knots’ in our lives that need to be loosened and undone! As most of you know, Mark is the shortest, by far, of all the Gospels. He does not spend a lot of time on details; he gives you the basics and then moves on. ...

  4 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel – Matthew 5: 1-12A Change That Attitude, Young Man! Church (Mount) of the Beatitudes, Sea of Galilee There was a young man taking his last class to earn his MBA.   He was a very conscientious student and pretty much breezed through all his assignments and tests, at least until his final exam.   He easily got through all the questions until he got to the last page, the last question.   What’s the first name of the woman who cleans the school?   What??   Is this some sort of joke?   He knew he saw her pretty much every day.   He knew she was probably in her 50’s, dark-haired and tall.   But her name?   Not a clue!   So he turned in the final leaving that last question blank!   And before he left the classroom, he asked the professor if that last question really counted! Absolutely, said the professor, and here’s why!   In your career, throughout your life, you will meet m...

  Saturday – St. Thomas Aquinas Gospel – Mark4:35-41 Calming The Storm Within Sea of Galilee, Tabgha   I’m holding in my hand an 8oz cup filled with about 4oz of water – what am I going to say next?   Half full?   Half empty?   HAA!   No, actually it doesn’t really matter if it’s half empty or full.   The weight doesn’t matter at all!   What matters is HOW LONG I hold it!   If I hold it for an hour, my arm starts to ache.   If I hold it for a day, you better call for an ambulance!   In every case, it’s the same weight.   But the longer I hold it, the more it weighs me down, the more it hurts! And so it is with stress, with fear, with anxiety!   And let’s face it - we are all stressed about something. Whether it’s school, or family, or work, or our health, or the world in general, we are all stressed!   And the longer we hold on to it, the more it hurts, the more it hurts us!   And the more it drags ...