Today's Scripture Christian author and speaker Alan Hirsch has developed a system of personal ministry style assessment based on Ephesians chapter four where Paul says that some are given as Apostles, some as Prophets, some as Evangelists, some as Shepherds, and some as Teachers. In his simple and beautiful way of examining our own calling, the word that Alan uses to most directly describe the 'Apostle' ministry style is 'Sent.' Apostles are the sent ones. They seem to be abl

Today's Scripture Let’s play a little game of sentence completion. I’ll start a sentence and you can provide the appropriate conclusion. Here it goes: “No one has greater love than to... Oh, you nailed it. When we hear this quote from Christ in John’s Gospel today, we most commonly think of Jesus laying down his life for us in the crucifixion, or anyone who dies to save another. This is not always the case. Sometimes laying down one’s life is a day-by-day process where acts o

Today's Scripture It is what we truly want. It is what our heart yearns for. It is the imagined end of every pursuit of our lives. We plan, sweat, toil, concentrate and contemplate over it. There is no question about it, what we are pursuing with our every action of our lives is happiness. I want to be clear about something though. While a 'feeling' of happiness, a smile, a bounce in our step, is an indicator - it is not the real thing. We can feel this fleeting, superficial

Today's Scripture I have to admit that today's Gospel can leave you wondering who is wielding the pruning shears. First we hear: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit." Ahhh - so the Father does the pruning. OK. Then we hear this: "You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you." Oh, so the Word prunes us?? Well it is sharp

Today's Scripture For me, personally, I think that I have found it difficult to read the words that Jesus speaks in today's Gospel, when He calls Satan 'the ruler of this world'. I always wanted to believe that Jesus was the ruler of this world - what gives? As I searched for answers, I learned that Jesus had reduced Satan to a lame duck. From a political perspective, a lame duck is one who knows he has lost his office, who won't continue in his position. Many spend this time

Today's Scripture In the last few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about what the Apostles and early Christians went through to establish what we, if we are honest with ourselves, take for granted today. A printed Bible, a Liturgy with readings and song and prayer, Sacraments. In the Acts of the Apostles, just before the Apostles decide to ordain Stephen and his companions as deacons to help with distribution of food, the Apostles recognize that they have a very important fu

Today's Scripture Often times, as Christians, we get a sense of what Jesus says, and we build our belief on that. The Father has sent me, God loves you, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul and your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. All of these are beautiful and central teachings of Jesus. We would do well to follow them. But Jesus also says: ‘if you love me, you will follow my commandments’ and ‘make discip

Today's Scripture There are two fairly common human experiences that this morning's Gospel brought to mind for me. When I mention them, they are going to seem completely unrelated, but they are closely tied to one another. The first is this - you meet someone and they claim to be a fan of a particular team, but they can only name one or players in the lineup. Certainly, we would all see through this and discern that they might like the idea of being a fan of the team but hard

Today's Scripture This beautiful original artwork by my friend Jen Norton can be purchased at: https://jen-norton.pixels.com/featured/flock-in-the-promised-land-jen-norton.html We have all experienced it. We are looking for the simple, straight-forward answer and it seems like we are getting 'corporate-speak', or someone is talking in circles. It can be frustrating. Although we hate to admit it, there are normally reasons why the answer does not come to us as simply and clear

Today's Scripture Let’s face it. In this day and age, particularly in our American culture, nobody wants to be a sheep. As a matter of fact, being called a sheep is very likely to be a derogatory comment. Even being likened to a sheep - being called sheepish – suggests you are meek, timid, stupid. None of these seem to translate to success or happiness in our modern world. Yet, unless we understand what it means to be sheep, we can’t fully appreciate having a Good Shepherd.

Today's Scripture Jesus has completely lost His mind. That's what they were thinking. Jesus had said many things up to this point that were brilliant and life-changing - particularly around the love of the Father and forgiveness. He had also shared some things that left them scratching their heads -'blessed are the poor' the 'meek will inherit the earth.', etc. - but this? This was just madness. And their reaction said it all: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Thei

Today's Scripture This original painting, by Jen Norton is available at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/but-who-do-you-say-that-i-am-jen-norton.html We all know the old saying "words are cheap." Jesus reinforces this over and over in His teachings. He frequently says that He comes to DO the will of the father, not to agree with it (although He does). Believing, in the mind of Jesus, involves doing. Our physical bodies live out what our heart and souls believe in a way tha

Today's Scripture Because of what Jesus does for us, and because of what He offers us, the end becomes a glorious new beginning. The crowd asks Jesus: "what can you do?" He will answer over the course of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John - but the quick answer is this: I can give you eternal life. St. Stephen, who partook of the Body and Blood of Jesus that He spoke of in John's Gospel, is confronted with what appears to be a violent end to his life here on earth, but h

Today's Scripture In today's Gospel passage, Jesus makes an interesting statement, and I wish I could hear His tone of voice. "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled." Is He mocking them or is He just stating the facts? Is He saying that they are chasing Him down to get free food, or is He saying that they were spiritually satisfied and looking for more of it? What really got me thinking about

Today's Scriptures Today's Gospel has always been a pivotal one, but was made more obvious by a rainbow haired man who attended sporting events throughout the 1990's wearing a shirt or holding a sign that said: John 3:16. That's all. While this man, Rollen Stewart was certainly a bit eccentric, he also appeared to be responding to the challenge contained within it (or actually the one following it.) After the very famous part of the Gospel which reads "God so loved the world

Today's Scripture God knows us so well. I mean He did create us, so it should not be surprising, but still - he knows us so well. He knows that we have a hard time with abstract things. It is hard for us to imagine things that we cannot see, feel, hear or taste. So He accommodates our need for physical things that accompany the spiritual things that He has promised. Most commonly, we call these things the sacraments and the birthplace of all sacraments is baptism. When it com

Today's Scripture One of the benefits of the TV series ‘The Chosen’ is that it encourages people to remember that the Apostles were actual people and had real experiences and reactions. In this Sunday’s Gospel, we have one of those very important reaction moments. When Jesus appears to the Apostles in the locked room, they realize two very important things simultaneously: one – Jesus is everything He said He was – He is God and two – the last time they saw Him they had abando

Today's Scripture A while back, at a workshop, a Benedictine priest by the name of Fr. Boniface Hicks showed us this picture and asked: what is this a picture of? Answer: the Road to Emmaus. When did this happen? Answer: on Easter. Then he shared this revelation with us (paraphrased): This was not just an Easter - it was THE Easter. It was Resurrection Day, salvation day, victory day. It was a day that had been in the mind of God since before He breathed life into the nostril

Today's Scripture A beautiful mode of prayer for me over the years, is to just read, over and over, the words of Jesus. Just those words from a particular passage. When you start, they initially resound within the context of the Bible story where they reside. But as you ponder over them, they leave the confines of that passage and move into other areas of thinking, and perhaps into areas of your life where you did not yet invite them. This is the place of encounter. So today,

It is such a glorious day is it not? Jesus' rising from the dead is not just an amazing miracle and proof that He is all that He said He was, but much, much more. J esus is the 'first born from the dead' and His resurrection is not just His, but a promise of OURS!! I think that we all would say that we indeed believe this. But today's Gospel challenges us to confront an important reality: The guards knew the truth. They knew, in a way that was more direct and real than almost