https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110825.cfm When I was a kid, my Dad played the piano, and particularly around the holidays we would gather and sing some songs. One of the funny songs my Dad would lead us in was “I aint gonna grieve my Lord no more”. The song, through funny verses, would talk about different ways that would not get you into heaven, for example: you can’t get to heaven, in a limousine, ‘cause the Lord don’t sell, no gasoline.” Or “you can’t get to hea

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110725.cfm Have you ever been caught red-handed? Maybe in a small way (hand in the cookie jar) or maybe in a more significant way. How did you respond? There are many options for response. One is to insist it didn't happen. One is to throw yourself on the mercy of others. One is to admit that something wrong happened and minimize the damage. It is this last option that the subject of today's parable pursues. First off, we have to und

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110625.cfm When Jesus starts to provide examples in today's Gospel we might become a little uncomfortable. He makes it seem normal that we might risk the 99 to recapture the 1. That alone might make us squirm. In His own time, pursuing the one might not have been a practice that shepherds might have willingly engaged in. It is precisely this uncommon pursuit, this irregular loving that Jesus calls us to. Living and sharing a life of fait

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110425.cfm When I read today's Gospel, I get an odd sense that we are missing some part of the story. Now since it is a parable, there is no 'other part of the story', but I still can't escape the feeling that we are missing something. Why are the invited guests so eager to find a way out of attending? Listen to the excuses: I have purchased a field, or oxen, or married a woman. To these my mind responds: couldn't you tend to these thing

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110325.cfm In today's Gospel, Jesus seems to want to put an end to Thanksgiving Dinner. Listen closely: "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives" So if you were looking for an excuse to get out of hosting Thanksgiving, you can lean on the Gospel of Luke, chapter 14. While I am not interested in cancelling our Thanksgiving dinner plans, I do want to spend a moment to unde

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110125.cfm I believe that deep down, the spectacle that Halloween has become is because it gives us a chance to laugh at the scary things. As we will see, there are positive and negative elements to this. We are secretly reassured by scary movies because they are only movies. We can keep them in our TVs. We can turn them off. We enjoy dressing up in scary garb, because we KNOW its just a costume. Sometimes we might feel that it even e

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103125.cfm If you have been reading or paying attention to the Gospels for any amount of time, you already know that Jesus LOVES to ask questions. As a matter of fact, there are only a few instances of Jesus directly answering questions, but usually responds with a question of His own. I would love to have this as a super power. The asking of good questions is extremely powerful. In today's Gospel, Jesus sees exactly how things are playi

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103025.cfm Jesus utters a curious phrase in today's Gospel. He says that "it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem." Interestingly enough, we could disprove the accuracy of this statement if we trace through the lives of prophets in the Old Testament. So what is Jesus getting at? As is usually the case, we have to look at the context and the spiritual meaning. First, the context. In the first line of this Gospel se

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102925.cfm A while back I had been doing some hiking with my wife and the path was pretty generous and allowed us to walk side by side. Occasionally, however, the path would become more narrow and we would have to walk single file along the path. I remember having read today's Gospel that day and I considered Jesus' words in a whole new light. The question posed to Jesus in today's Gospel is not about 'is it hard to enter' it is about qu

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102825.cfm Over the course of human history, a great deal of effort has been expended by many in the interest of one thing: building their legacy. How will they be remembered? What will others say of them when they die? Monuments, buildings, parks, libraries, companies – all bear the name of individuals (or their heirs) seeking to establish their legacy. Many of these people did great things, some of those great things were also ‘GOO

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102725.cfm I think that we might all have a different idea of what rest and relaxation looks like, and I have had this conversation with many people when it comes to appropriately honoring the Lord's Day. Today's Gospel gives us more to consider than you might imagine on the surface. Recently in a session of The SEARCH, a program which walks through the key tenets of Christianity over seven weeks, I was asked: why did God have to rest on

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102525.cfm All across America, people start their day by watching, reading or listening to the news. It's almost like we have a natural curiosity upon awaking that has us asking: What's going on. This is not new. In Jesus' time, news travelled literally along the highways and by-ways. It didn't come across airwaves, but it did come. In today's Gospel, there is some buzz about bad news that Jesus helps His followers sort through. One

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102325.cfm I love to build a good campfire. I use a 'box fire' method which creates an outside square structure with stacked logs and then fills the middle with tinder (usually paper) and sticks and kindling. You must be enthralled by now. My point is that when I first light the fire, the logs will not burn. In fact, if I don't have enough tinder and sticks and kindling, they will never light. This is very much like sharing the light of

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102225.cfm Some people struggle with decisiveness. They can’t pull the trigger. They linger in the in-between space. Here in the in-between, all of the options are still open. In the in-between, we have not closed ourselves off from one or more alternatives. Here in the in-between all things are still possible. But they aren’t. In the in-between all things are only theoretical. In this space you do not have or possess any of the fruits o

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102125.cfm After reading today's Gospel many times over, both today and in the past, I think that I realized that there is something more important than vigilance in this passage. 'Gird your loins and light your lamps' it says. I think as I have read on in the past, I have zoomed past this to read about the servants being ready in the second and third watch - seems like vigilance will be needed. I blew right by it. Before you can be vigi

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102025.cfm We can easily be drawn into our own worlds. Literally worlds that we think we have made, we own, we control. We work hard to get ahead, to make a name for ourselves, to move up in the world. In doing this we can easily delude ourselves into believing that we are the source of all of the goodness that we have in our lives. This is the way the rich man in today's parable is living. This man, even though his ‘land produced a bou

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101525.cfm Scripture is always a reflection on us, allowing us to see ourselves in a new light. Sometimes that light illuminates our goodness, sometimes it puts a spotlight on our ills. Today, Jesus shines a spotlight on something hidden and dangerous. In today's Gospel, Jesus says that the Pharisees "are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” What do we make of this accusation from Our Lord? Well Jews could not come in

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102125.cfm Gird your loins. Go ahead, gird them. I'll wait here. Many of us aren't familiar with this action because our loins are often already girt. We wear pants. Pants prepare us for action. Think of the whole host of things that one might do in pants that they would not do in a skirt. Girding one's loins in the time of Jesus was to take the long flowing tunic and pull it up and tuck it in the belt to prepare for work or even for fli

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101325.cfm There are lots of famous people. In our Western world, and perhaps everywhere these...

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101025.cfm There is a lot to think about in today's Gospel with the casting out of demons and...