Gospel Luke 11:42-46 The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.” Reflection Jesus had an intention, not necessarily to insult those that were leading the temple as much as it was to change their understanding of who they were. They were blinded by their darkness. And what we see in this is that they are making other people enter that darkness with him without even knowing it. To step on a grave would make a person unclean, to be in the web of the Pharisees and scribes would also make them unclean. So Jesus is worried about the impact he's having on the people, and as he reveals it, all they can hear is an insult that is unfairly offered. Closing Prayer Father, bless us with the understanding of the fullness of who you want us to be. If it was just about you and us, it would be different. But it's about us and everyone around us. Help us to understand how contagious we can be, both for the light and for the darkness. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 11:37-41 After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” Reflection In order to understand the life of the Pharisees that Jesus was so anxious to expose was the fact that there was a way in which they were called to always be clean, never unclean, and there were all these rituals that went to make them clean. And Jesus knows them and knows at the heart of their very being there is a problem. It's greed. It's wanting power. It's wanting control. It's so interesting that he says in such a simple way, you know, if you would just get past all of this, focus on yourself and your power and be generous. Give it away. Understand who I can be in you, making you so rich and so powerful. Closing Prayer Father, bless us always, with a generous, open heart. When we are open to you, we are open to one another. We have compassion. We have understanding. Bless us with not being caught up so much in ourselves, in our roles, in our positions, but make us more like you. Compassionate and understanding. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” Reflection Jesus has no hesitation to try to expose the Pharisees, the scribes, for their lack of openness to who he was and what he's calling us to. In this particular reading, it seems to me that the generation that is always asking for signs, ‘show us a miracle, show us something spectacular’. Didn't understand that Jesus was not here primarily to prove that he was God, but that he was here for conversion. He wanted people to understand a new way of seeing things. The Ninevites, the Queen of Sheba, they were Gentiles, and the Gentiles were more open to who God is, who God sought to make people understand him than any of the Pharisees or the Israelites. Closing Prayer Father, you have a calling. You want us to understand who we are and who you are. You want us to be changed. That's the work of Jesus, to come and convert us from a world that we were caught in, to the world that we were made for. Bless us in this work of conversion. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Originally aired on October 13, 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 11:27-28 While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Reflection When a woman makes a comment about how blessed the person is who is able to bring Jesus into the world, he shifts the emphasis back on what the real reason that Mary and Jesus and all those that went before them. The reason they are blessed is because of what now is happening. The Kingdom of God is at hand. People's hearts are being filled with the Word of God and they're being transformed. That's the blessing that God wants us all to see and feel. Closing Prayer Father, behind every story in scripture, behind every experience we have with you in sacramental encounters. All of those are designed for one thing, to create within us the Kingdom of God, and for us to resonate it to the world. Nothing is more important than our believing and our observing that promise. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 11:15-26 When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.” Reflection To me Jesus seems irritated by this statement of the people questioning whether Jesus has power over evil. Nothing is more clearly evident in the imagination of Jesus. He knows he has this power. He knows he can control evil, and to be accused of not being able to do it is an attack on the very essence of his ministry. And he says something really terrifying about demons. It is not simply a case of driving them out and leaving a vacuum, but it's filling them then with the Holy Spirit, which is something they have to agree to accept and long for. The thought that when one is freed of all their weaknesses, all their frailty, all their sins, they could be liable to the sin of pride that would rush in and destroy the work that Jesus so longs to create in our hearts. Closing Prayer Father, we know that there is something core in everything you teach us. And what strikes me at this moment is that it's about union and communion between you and us, between your spirit and our spirit. Unity, oneness, intimacy, that's what you want. When evil rages, people feel its power by separating themselves from one another, hating one another. Help us to be free of that. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 11:5-13 Jesus said to his disciples: "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Reflection Jesus first makes his disciples aware that when we need something, really want something, persistence will often produce it. But what he's really wanting us to realize is that when we pray to God and ask him to give what we need, so that we can grow and become and change, we need to be persistent in seeking and knowing and learning what the answer is. Seek and you will find. Ask and you will receive. Knock and the door will be opened. That's a process one consistently goes through so that when we ask for something from God, we don't give up what is not there immediately, when the response isn't quick. It's not that we are testing his desire, but he's testing our work at finding and seeking and knowing the answer. Closing Prayer Father, bless us with an eagerness, a longing, a persistence of knowing your will for us. Knowing what answers you long to share with us when we don't know the answer. Bless us with perseverance. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 11:1-4 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.” Reflection What strikes me about this very simple prayer is how concise and precise it is. What God wants us to be doing is establishing his kingdom. We do that by opening ourselves to God's presence and sharing that with one another. He feeds us and nourishes us with his presence, His Holy Spirit dwelling within us. And over and over, he will forgive us our sins and not hold them against us, and prays that we will do the same for each other. And in the last line, Do not subject us to the final test. Many read that as a way of saying, Please God, don't tempt us’. Yet the true definition is not, don't lead us into temptation, but let us not fall into temptation. That's a different meaning, an important difference, because nothing is clearer than God is on our side, helping us, working with us, being patient with us as we build the kingdom. Closing Prayer Father, it's easy to see in this particular passage how words are not necessary in terms of having to bring people to an awareness of something essential. It doesn't take many words. It takes clarity. It takes simplicity. It takes a simple way of understanding the work. It isn't difficult to understand if you know, it's simply about a God who gives us everything we need if we simply open ourselves to it and receive it, help us to be receptive of all your gifts. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 10:38-42 Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Reflection Jesus in this story has two ways of understanding the way in which we spend time with God. One is doing everything we can to make ourselves, and our life, and what we do, and what we think we’re to make it all what God wants, like setting the perfect dinner table and making the perfect food. And that is a way of honoring our guest. But what people really want, what God wants to teach Martha, is it's not about the setting. It's about the interchange that happens when people are together eating a meal, sharing their wisdom, sharing their struggles. It's about intimacy, and that's what God wants with us. He doesn't want us presenting something that we work on, so that it’s as perfect as possible. No, he just wants us to be ourselves in his presence, to speak and to listen and to learn. Closing Prayer Father, everything you say to us through Jesus, through your holy Spirit, is always focused on the one thing, a closeness with you, a oneness with you, an ability to spend time listening to you, and not thinking so much or working so hard. Bless us with that kind of contemplative spirit. And we ask that in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 10:25-37 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise.” Reflection When Jesus first responded to his request, ‘What do I have to do to gain eternal life’? Jesus started with where the man was. Basically he said, ‘Well what does it say in the law’? And then he quotes the law. And Jesus said, ‘That's correct, follow that law’. But then wanting to justify himself, which is kind of interesting, he was probably going to tell a great story about how he helped someone else. But the truth is, Jesus is about to expose something that is missing in the man. The law is one thing, but the law can never cover every decision we make when it comes to love, mercy, understanding, compassion, empathy. We see here how two figures in a story Jesus uses according to the law of being purified. They couldn't get near a dead person. If they did, they weren't able to function in the temple. That was the law, and Jesus is pointing out something so important. Nothing is more important than love and mercy, compassion. And the law is never enough for us to make those decisions. Closing Prayer Father, we live always in an institution that has regulations and rules. They're all around us. But we must know when it comes to our faith life, in our religion, our relationship with God, primary is not the law, but the primary thing is mercy, love, compassion. Help us see that. Help us live that. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Originally aired on October 6, 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 10:17-24 The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” Reflection When you know who Saint Francis of Assisi was, when you know his story, it's easy to see why he has become so popular as a saint. Probably the best known saint in all of Catholicism. More books written on him than any other saint. And what I'm asking you to recognize in his teaching is something so simple, so beautiful. He fell in love with God, with a childlike love and a childlike enthusiasm for God's creation. God's creatures. He was amazingly human and simple and excited about the work that he and his brothers would do. Closing Prayer Father, we do need models. We do need people to show us the way, but I want to thank you in particular for the gift that you've given us in Saint Francis. What a beautiful man. What a wonderful teaching. I've been drawn to it my whole priesthood, and I pray His spirit will fill you and me as we continue our journey. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 10:13-16 Jesus said to them, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.' Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Reflection To watch Jesus perform miracles was thought, in most people's minds, as the major way in which Jesus changed people's lives and drew them into his teaching. But the fact is that many people witness these miracles and never, ever believed in Jesus because they didn't listen to his message. It wasn't the power he had to heal, it was his message that they had to embrace. And if one focused only on one, the other just seemed to melt away. Jesus even had a hard time going to certain places because they were there only for a miracle. And Jesus longed for his message to take root in our hearts. Closing Prayer Father, we humans have a problem with power. If you give us a great gift that everybody recognizes and we feel empowered by that, our ego just goes crazy. We end up getting caught up in something that's about our self-importance. Bless us with a consistent focus on your message. Yes, we have power to help and to heal people, but the real issue is whether we are understanding the role that you have created for us. Giving us the wisdom we have to reach whatever level you wish, and not to let our ego start running the show. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Matthew 18:1-5, 10 The disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” Reflection I remember so vividly growing up and believing that I had a guardian angel. In Catholic school, we used to sit to one side of our desk seat just to allow our angel to sit with us. It was a beautiful image of a way of understanding something. As a child, yes there are creatures that do take care of us. But what's interesting about this passage is it really takes you deeper into the mystery of what Jesus wants you to see in a child. It's about their gifts, about their nature. It's about the fact that they are naturally trusting, creative, playful, curious. These are all qualities that we see in children that we as adults must never lose. Challenge is yes, God takes care of all children at the same time, he looks at us as adults and says, watch them. See them. Understand them. You must become like them. Closing Prayer Father, the world places before us models of who we should be. Our culture has a very strong emphasis on success financially, higher education, places of importance. But nothing is more important than our heart. And a heart of a child is so important for us to examine, so we can make sure we too are children of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.” Reflection Father, we have always in our hearts a call from you to do the work you've called us to. And I ask your blessing for all of us, as we imagine the work that we can accomplish by simply being who you call us to be. The world will not change from the top to the bottom, but from the bottom up. Each of us have an important role. And when we're engaged in it, we find peace. Closing Prayer Father, we need to understand, and we long for your wisdom. Nothing is more important to us than to understand who you are and who we become when we allow you to enter into us, bless us with wisdom. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 9:51-56 When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?" Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village. Reflection The Old Testament is essential. It is a story that we have to understand. And then Jesus came, God incarnate, and so many things changed. And one of the things you see in the Old Testament is God using violence, destruction to make things clear to people. They understood violence and they understood power. But there's a new form of power in the New Testament. And so when Jesus rebukes James and John, who by the way, had the nickname Sons of Thunder. He said, no, we're not there anymore. We're not using violence to establish my kingdom. But forgiveness. Closing Prayer Father, violence often has at its heart, hate. And everything about your kingdom is not about hate, but about acceptance, about love, about compassion. Help us always to live with the message that came from you, your son Jesus. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel John 1:47-51 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Reflection We all know the miraculous powers that Jesus had to heal, to raise people from the dead. But we may not understand he had the ability to read a heart, to know where people where really coming from. Duplicity is often when you present yourself as someone you're not, when you pretend to be holy when you're not. And what he's saying is that when you have a pure heart, when you really do feel God living there and resonating his truth, you will be in touch with the real power of Jesus. Angels were always the things that brought messages from God, but now God Himself is the messenger and his message is powerful. Closing Prayer Father, help us to accept your judgment of who we are. Open our hearts to let you tell us what we need to change, what we need to get past. We're masters at holding things back, pretending we’re someone we’re not. So bless us with honesty and openness to you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Originally aired on September 29, 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 9:43b-45 While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, "Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men." But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. Reflection There's a line in Scripture that says Jesus is often the stumbling block. Because people can't fathom the reality of who he really is. And he's revealing to us the doubt in his disciples over and over again. And what I believe it's there for, is so that we can understand that we alone cannot do the work of belief in something as awesome as who Jesus really is God incarnate, God living inside of us. It's something we have to make a decision about one way or the other, and often we don't. We just kind of let it slide and don't really have to ponder the fullness of its meaning. Closing Prayer Father, create in us a space, a place where we can be still and listen to who you really are in our life. You're more than a story, you're more than a promise. You're a person, a power, a presence that we are invited to become. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gospel Luke 9:18-22 Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Reflection What I believe Jesus is trying to make clear is that even though Peter used the right words, he didn't fully understand. It was impossible for any of the disciples to fully grasp who Jesus was and the gift that he returned to the father to send to them. It could only come to them after they received the gifts of Christ’s death on the cross. Then they could know. Then they could see. Closing Prayer Father, words are easy. We can say Jesus is Lord, we can say God is present, but we have to grow into an experience of these things and know how important they are and how powerful they are. To say it is easy, to know it is difficult. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices