Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

  1 st Sunday of Lent       Gospel – Matthew 4:1-11 A Desert Experience Masada, Judean Desert Near the Dead Sea A King was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his children, he invited all the young people from his kingdom and told them,    "I am going to give each one of you a seed today – one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and, based on your efforts, I will choose the next ruler  One of the boys went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot filled with soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. He kept che...

  Saturday after Ash Wednesday Gospel – Luke 5:27-32 Heal Me! Anointing Stone, Church of Holy Sepulchre It’s impossible for me to read today’s Gospel (Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do) and not immediately think about the words of Pope Francis: “The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugar! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. ... And you have to start from the ground up.   “ A Big Heart Open to God ,” America magazine Sept. 19, 2013. Just a simple thought today!   Aren’t we all sinners?   Aren’t we all sick in some way and in need of healing.   And for someone who is injured and is suffering, doesn’t heal...

  Friday after Ash Wednesday Gospel – Matthew 9:14-15 I Give Up! Gaming in the Old City Back when I was a high school Junior in the seminary, I learned to play bridge and it became an obsession.   With 3 of my best friends, we played every chance we could!   So it felt appropriate, when Lent rolled around, that we bond together and, as a group, we gave up bridge for Lent.   It was painful!   So as soon as midnight Easter Vigil services were over, we raced down to the rec room and proceeded to revisit our passion after 40 days of ‘fasting’.   We played non-stop for 12 hours!   So how was that Lenten practice experience?   Yes, it was painful and yes we suffered.   But at the end of Lent, what really changed?   We went right back to what we were doing beforehand! Did it matter?   Did we change at all? Did we grow at all? Did it really make any difference? There must be more about fasting, about giving up something, than just t...