Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

  Tuesday – 17 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Matthew 13:36-43 And I Will Walk “500 Miles”……. Church of Holy Sepulchre I am not the greatest at asking for directions or for help.   I am more of a ‘learn from my mistakes’ kind of guy.   Give me a project like assembling a 400-piece bookshelf/office work-station and I will go at it completely on my own.   Who needs directions?   In the process, I must admit, it probably takes me twice as long to complete but then I tell myself – I did it all by myself!   So in the end, I feel what I lack in wisdom is made up for with brute force, not always a good thing! The disciples in today’s Gospel are in a much better frame of mind.   Jesus has just shared the Parable of the Sower and the Seed.   And they don’t understand!   They don’t get it!   But give them credit; they ask Jesus to explain it to them.   For once, I think Jesus’ explanation takes a back seat to the attitude of...

  Monday – Feast of Sts. Joachim and Anna Gospel – Matthew 13:31-35 God of Abundance Making Bread! This past Friday was a busy day for me.   After pulling 7 nice large zucchini from our garden, I then spent the day baking zucchini bread.   The result?   20 loaves!!   Yes, correct, 20 fresh loaves!   Such an abundance and lots more to come!   Quite different from baking simple bread!   Baking zucchini bread takes a short amount of time but it is extremely labor-intensive and tiring.   Baking bread, however, takes a very long time but most of it is simply waiting, waiting for the dough to rise! In the second of today’s parables, Jesus speaks of a woman who prepares 3 measures of flour to make bread.   Talk about excess!   The recipe I use for bread requires about 4 cups of flour; out of that, I end up with 2 loaves of fresh bread.   However the woman in today’s parable is using 3 measures of wheat flour.   That...

 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

  17 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel – John 6:1-15 Be Prepared Mass at Gethsemane I have only been to New York City once in my life.   You would think, given what foodies Ginger and I are, that we would relish visiting any of its top-chef restaurants.   But my only dining experience there did not go well; in fact, it was downright embarrassing! At that point in my life, I had no real experience of high-end dining.   So when I entered the restaurant, I did not notice the sign stating the proper dress code.   Men must have jackets!   I did not!   I was pulled aside and informed of the error of my ways. Apparently they keep a supply of ‘jackets’ just for such a situation.   What I was given was a jacket 2 sizes too big and a color that rivaled a rainbow!   Needless to say I did not enjoy the meal; I don’t even remember what we ate.   All I remember is feeling the eyes of everyone there drilling into my back.   It was...

  Saturday - 16 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Matthew 13:24-30 Pulling Weeds! Street Market, Jerusalem I admit it – I hate gardening!!   Turning over the soil, planting, constant watering and arranging, NO!   And weeding?   Absolutely not!   Don’t get me wrong, I love picking the crop (especially zucchini) and baking things with them.   But the prep work?   Did I mention weeding?   No No No! And yet today’s Gospel is specifically about that – weeding!   The servants are perplexed!   Where did the weeds come from?   What should we do?   The Master says to let the weeds and the crops grow together.   Then, at the harvest, we will separate the weeds from the fruit!   An obvious reference to the Last Judgement! But I would like to suggest another path!   As much as I hate to weed, there are plenty of things in my life that I truly need to pull up and dispose of.   There are attitudes and...