Gospel Reflections for Challenging Times

Tuesday Feast of St. Mark Gospel– Mark 16:15-20 You’re Hired! Chapel of the Ascension We take a brief pause today during the Season of Easter to celebrate the Feast of St. Mark, Apostle and Evangelist.   What we hear in today’s Gospel is the very end of the story according to Mark – the Ascension.   Rather curious actually, since we still have a long way to go before we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. There is a story I recall many decades ago about a Christian missionary who went and lived with an isolated tribe in Africa.   For 2 years, he lived with them, worked with them, instructed them and guided them in the Christian faith.   At the end of 2 years, a good number of them were baptized.   And at the end of the ritual, he got up and told them “I have finished my last instruction in your village.   I will never come back to teach anyone else here.   From this day on, it is you people who must teach and judge whether anyone is rea...

  Monday – 3rd Week of Easter   Gospel – John 6:22-29 In A Pickle! City of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee A few years ago, my youngest grandson, Nate, developed a sudden passion for cooking.   Some of his creations, all from scratch, have included huge cinnamon rolls, chicken parmesan and a complete traditional English breakfast (although he wasn’t able to find any blood sausage).   And so besides his obvious experience of helping me bake zucchini bread, he reminded me the other day that years ago he and I also made pickles.   And he loved those pickles.   And now he (and I) have this sudden craving to make and consume those pickles once again! One teeny problem!   I couldn’t find the recipe.   I searched high and low the last couple of days for that recipe.   Who knew that, over the years, Ginger and I had accumulated over 40 cookbooks.   And that doesn’t even include the 3 large binders of hand-me-down, hand-written, and...

  3rd Sunday of Easter Gospel – Luke 24:13-35 On the Road Again Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv I have been blessed to have visited the Holy Land 4 times, the latest just this past February.   And while we visit many of the same sites (Jordan River, Nazareth, Church of Holy Sepulchre,   Church of Nativity, Cana, Mount Carmel, etc.), the experience is never the same.   The reason is simple.   We are not the same person; we grow and change.   For myself, that first journey in 2010 was one of wonder and awe, an experience difficult to put into words.   At the time, I thought it was a once in a lifetime experience.   So wrong!    And as the other pilgrimages unfolded, the experience became more and more reflective, more prayerful and meditative.   I can still recall sitting in an out of the way corner in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and quietly working on the homily I would share the following day at Gethsemane.   Such a...

  Saturday – Second Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:16-21 Be Not Afraid Church of Holy Sepulchre  When a flashlight grows dim or quits working, do you just throw it away?   Of course not!   You change the batteries!   When a person messes up or finds themselves in a dark place, do you cast them aside?   Of course not!   You help them change their batteries.   Some need AA – attention and affection.   Some need AAA – attention, affection and acceptance!   Some need C – compassion!   And some need D – direction!   And if they still don’t seem to shine, simply sit with them quietly and share your light! One of the great joys in my diaconal ministry is working with the youth and training them to be altar servers.   The sheer excitement and energy when they show up for the first session is almost electric that they can’t sit still.   Their enthusiasm is incredible.   But that all tends to change on the d...