Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

    Wednesday – 4 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 6:1-6 Homecoming Synagogue Church, Nazareth As most of you know, I spent all of high school and most of college in the seminary.   What you may not know is that it was not as simple as a daily ride on the bus to school and then home for dinner and homework.   We lived at the seminary for the school year, only returning home for the summer.   Since it was down in Virginia, about 180 miles from home, even family visits were extremely limited. After I graduated from high school and returned home for the summer, I decided to visit my former classmates and attend their high school graduation.   Bad decision!   It was as if I was invisible at best, still an 8 th grader at worst.   My former classmates, my former friends, looked at me and saw me as I used to be and not as I had grown to be.   It was difficult to say the least.   They saw what they wanted to see and not ...

  Tuesday 4 th Week in Ordinary Time 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.   4 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.   He 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.   Frank 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 pe...

  Monday - 4 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 5:1-20 Good vs Evil Mount Precipice, Nazareth (Mount Tabor in the distance) 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.   He doesn’t even include the Nativity story.   He cuts right to the important stuff!   That’s what makes today’s Gospel reading so unique.   It is so rich in detail – the name of the demon, the long history of the efforts of the people to control the possessed man and his terrifying struggle with evil.   And yet look at how Jesus deals with him – with compassion and tenderness.   See what happens when evil (Legion) is confronted with good (Jesus).   He actually prostrates himself before Jesus.   Just by His presence, evil bows before Him.   And look at the effect on the man after he is released from his demons.   He wants nothing mor...

  4 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 1:21-28 Don’t I Know You? Street Scene, Jerusalem It’s a running joke in our house – Ginger and I can’t go anywhere without us running into one of my former students.   After 40 years of teaching, I guess that is to be expected.   But I still seem to have a good enough memory that I invariably not just recognize their face but also remember their name and can still come up with stories about their time in high school.   The students are   always amazed that I remember them, especially if it’s just a chance encounter on the street (right, Fabi!).   Ginger’s reaction tends to be a nod of the head, a roll of the eyes, and a simple ‘yes, dear’! I’m afraid I subject Ginger to the same barrage of useless knowledge when we are watching TV.   I insist on not only recognizing the actor but I proceed to list all the other shows and movies they were in and then end it with “You remember them, don’t you”...