Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

  Saturday – Feast of the Visitation Gospel – Luke 1:39-45 Meeting the Divine The Departing Bear So I met my first black bear the other day!   Face to face!   Up close and personal, not even 10 feet away!   Ginger and I took a quick overnight to the Smokeys this week and we stayed over in a little cabin (very little) right near a creek!   Very quiet, very calming!   But as we were sitting on the deck, a black bear came around the corner and joined us.   I’m not sure who was more surprised – us or the bear!   We decided to cut short the encounter and race for the door! We read today of another historic meeting, although one on a scale far beyond any chance encounter in an office.   This is the Visitation – Mary and Elizabeth meeting for the first time after their miraculous pregnancies.   Two soon to be mothers – one carrying the Saviour and the other carrying His Prophet!   Both of them fully aware of God entering th...

  Friday - 6 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 16:20-23 This is Gonna Hurt   Gethsemane Your little child runs into the house screaming in pain after falling and skinning her knee.   She’s bleeding and scared.   And you do what any parent does – you hold her, calm her down as best you can. You tell her this will hurt a bit when you clean her wounds, but you also tell her it will all get better.   And a bit later, you have her smiling again and running back outside to play.   Your words and actions all convey your love and your compassion for what she is going through.   And her actions show her faith in you. This is exactly what Jesus is saying to the Apostles in today’s Gospel.   You are going to feel pain with My suffering and death.   You will suffer and your grief will be great.   But in the end, you will also feel joy, joy in the resurrection, joy in the kingdom of heaven. His words are filled with love and compas...