Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

  Thursday 24 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Luke 7:36-50 Hospitality 101 Heiskell TN Hospitality Back in 2019, Ginger’s parents decided it was time to simplify their lives and downsize their home.   So we helped them sort through all their possessions and decide what they wanted to keep and what should be discarded.   It involved cleaning out their current house and checking out new possibilities.   Even when they moved into their new home at Central Baptist Village, there was still a lot to do – picking out new furniture and deciding on the best arrangement, everything to make their new home warm and comfortable.   But not just for them!   Such care was taken to make their home hospitable – open and welcoming to visitors, making sure there was room and seating, comfortable seating, for family and friends, for all who came to visit.   Open door, open arms, open heart! Quite the opposite of what we read in today’s Gospel.   A Pharisee ...

  Wednesday – Saints Cornelius & Cyprian Gospel – Luke 7:31-35 My Way or the Highway My Tennessee Driveway One thing I dearly miss about Chicago is the grid system for the streets.   Except for a couple of exceptions (Elston, Milwaukee Avenue, for instance), the streets are straight – north and south, east and west, and the turns are exactly 90 degrees!   Easy to navigate and find your way!   Not so much here in Tennessee; here, all roads are 3D rollercoasters – up and down, back and forth, an unseen tight curve just around the bend. And that is why I love having Google Maps show me the way!   A gentle voice telling you where to go and when to turn! And after a couple of years, I am finally at the point where I can choose to NOT plug in as I drive to a familiar destination!   Unfortunately, that also means I am getting to the point of thinking I know better than Google Maps!   Let me see if I can find a better/quicker way!   I prefer t...

Tuesday – Our Lady of Sorrows Gospel – Luke 2:33-35.John 19:25-27 Choices Church of Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem If I ever had the choice of being a mom as opposed to a dad, thank you very much but NO!   I am quite happy as a Dad.   I’ve seen, we have all seen, the trials and tribulations our mothers have gone through: their disappointments, their worries, their silent suffering, all those moments of trial and tribulations that we put them through.   And yet, in spite of all our antics and failures, they still love us.   I guess, in a sense, we have all contributed to their ‘sainthood”.   For today’s Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, there is a choice of 2 Gospel readings.   One reading from Luke has Simeon's prophecy that sorrow will pierce her heart like a sword.   And the other from John shows Mary at the foot of the cross at Calvary.   One predicts her sorrow; the other described the fulfillment of that prophecy, sorrow at its worst. But cons...