Pastoral Reflections Finding God In Ourselves by Msgr. Don Fischer

Original Airdate: March 8, 2020 Genesis 12:1-4a | 2 Timothy 1:8b-10 | Matthew 17:1-9 Oh God, who commanded us to listen to your Beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Reflection Whenever Jesus teaches His disciples, that they need to become a person that they, in their hearts do not believe they could ever be, you know you're at the heart of his teaching. When he asks us to love our enemies, to never want retaliation or punishment. He's revealing something that he is, and at the heart of his message he's saying, Everything I'm asking you to do is not something you are called to develop or to do, but you do it with me. He enters into us. He is the source of our ability not to judge, not to condemn, not to separate ourselves from others, but to always rely upon his wisdom, his love, his understanding to flow through us. That's the mystery of the Kingdom. God in us, and we in God. Closing Prayer Father, when we think about perfection, we often think about our doing everything perfectly. That is not the perfection that God is asking us to have. The one perfect thing we can do is rely more on God than on ourselves to be the people He's calling us to be. To be perfectly attuned to the father is what is the desire of the father's heart. So bless us with union and communion with the source that is perfectly attuned to the needs and wants of our brothers and sisters and ourselves. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 5:20-26 Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.” Reflection The Pharisees were all about righteousness. And the mistake they made is that it didn't matter how you felt or what your intention was, as long as you did the action as perfectly as possible that was somehow pleasing to God. So the Ten Commandments could be followed very rigorously, but at the same time, Jesus is opening up a whole new way of seeing ourselves in our relationships. It's not simply about whether we do negative things to each other or must do good things to each other. It's where are you? What's your intention? The mind in the will can follow those kinds of commands that demand action. Only the heart which is promised to be filled with divinity can love. Can never want to do anything that limits a person's dignity, their value, their worth So the beauty of this passage is in keeping us in touch with our intentions. Caring for one another is the most righteous act that we can perform. Closing Prayer Father, open our hearts to the mystery of you within us so that we can turn to that beautiful presence and know that we can put on your disposition toward the world, toward each other. You are not a judging figure, but you are a forgiving figure. You are a teacher that gives us a sense of the importance of empathy and understanding of one another. Bless us with your way and not the way of a system that ignores the heart's intention. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; 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. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.” Reflection Ask, seek and knock could be read simply as emphasis like really ask. Ask again. Really, really ask. But they're three very different things. When you ask God for something, you need to pay attention for the answer to come to you. It's not just boom! automatically you pray and boom! you get an answer that can happen, but more likely it's simply a need to ponder how the answer is going to come. And that's the work of seeking. And then knocking is when you find the new insight, then it's going to be opening a whole new world to you. So wonder and ponder with me what it means to really ask, and to seek, and to knock. Closing Prayer Father, your heart is filled with a desire to teach, to awaken, to lead. Help us never to not pay attention to the ways in which you have chosen to communicate with us. And 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 There's an interesting comparison between the Old Testament and New Testament in this passage. The Old Testament was powerful. It did teach us things. But there's something so much greater than all of those, the stories of prophets and kings and patriarchs. They all led up to something radically new, radically different. And this effectiveness of the words in the ministry, in the presence of Jesus, is radically new. And so we need to pay attention always to the New Testament as the core of the teaching that fulfills the Old Testament. Closing Prayer Father, in the Old Testament, you were proving that you were the one and only God, and you began slowly to reveal yourself to those that you called to be your followers. But it was not until the New Testament that you were able to reveal fully what your intention is for all of us, it's to pay attention to all that you are teaching us and to go through a transition filled with the wisdom greater than Solomon, the ability to change a world better than Jonah. That's how our inheritance, bless us with it. Help us to be aware of it, to live in the New Testament. And we asked this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Matthew 6:7-15 Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. “If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” Reflection We remember the story of the Tower of Babel and how it was that when God saw people working together he said, I want to create different languages so that they can't understand each other. Calling that a babble. So what he's saying is that when you speak just words without intention, just to repeat them over and over again, there is no way that there's any kind of communication with God. No, the way we communicate with him is yes, saying certain words. But the intention of those words have to be in our hearts as we pray them. The way Jesus taught us to pray is to recognize who He is, to work for what He longs to establish. To know that it will happen. And most especially, to be nurtured with the power to do something that's so essential. A core teaching. Forgive. Forgive one another. And as you do that, your father is in that very action, forgiving you. Closing Prayer Father, make our hearts one with your heart, our eyes like your eyes. Help us to see what is needed to do what you call us to do so that we can establish the Kingdom of God and dwell in its healing presence. The presence of a God in us growing, developing into a kingdom of love and forgiveness. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Reflection The severity of the punishment of those who do not care for one another is not to be taken literally. For God is forgiveness. But what this parable does make clear is what is it that we are going to be judged on? What is it that we are here to do? And it seems so simple and so perfect. But he adds something to it, he's saying, yes what we're here to do is to take care of one another. But what is in this parable is the mystery that when we care for one another, we are caring for God. God's call, God's longing. He longs for us to be instruments of His feeding people, nurturing them, healing them. So to be partners with him we must understand this parable completely. God is the source of all that we have to give to one another, and his desire is we do just that. That's what makes us followers. Good sheep. Listening attentively, hearing the voice of our master. Closing Prayer Father, a great mystery is that we are all connected. We are all somehow participating in your divinity. Help us to be sensitive to that. Help us to have a reverence for others and for ourselves, and for the world we live in. And help us to know that when we care for things, appreciate things, love things, we are truly creating your kingdom on earth. And we ask this In Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: February 26, 2023 Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 | Romans 5:12-19 | Matthew 4:1-11 Grant, almighty God, through the yearly observances of holy Lent, that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and, by worthy conduct, pursue their effects.    Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 5:27-32 Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” Refection It's fascinating to me that the audience that was most open to Jesus were the people who somehow knew their need for something to change them. They were aware, as we might be aware, of something in our body that doesn't really feel right. And we go to someone and we say, What is it that we need to do or I need to do to take away this pain? People that know they are sinners carry a certain shame and a certain guilt that is healthy and Jesus comes to heal that. And it's terrifying to think that the Scribes and Pharisees never, ever thought about whether or not they were doing the will of God, which is taking care of people. They simply took care of themselves, and displayed themselves as examples of perfection. Closing Prayer Farther, it's fascinating that throughout the ministry that you had on this earth, there was this constant conflict between your work and the work of the religion that was destined to reveal you. It gives us a sense of the tension that will probably always be there between institutions and the work of God in our hearts. Help us to deal with this problem and to find a peaceful solution, knowing that the church, institutions are there to help. And yet they are always secondary to the work of God in our hearts. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 9:14-15 The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Reflection The disciples of John did not have the benefit of the teaching of Jesus, and I'm sure it was difficult for them to shift their attention away from their teacher, John the Baptist, and to Jesus the Messiah. But what is clear that Jesus is trying to say is that John's message was preparing them for who he is and who he is, is God's presence in a human being and he's here to proclaim that that is our inheritance. So Jesus underscores the fact that the goal of the Kingdom is closeness with God. And when that God is present, there is no need to be fasting. Closing Prayer Father, your presence is something that we need to pay attention to, to know that you dwell within us. We celebrate it in a beautiful way through rituals, the presence of God, in the mystery of transubstantiation coming and dwelling in our hearts as Catholics. It's a beautiful image. And he comes in so many different ways. But it's important that we not fall into the trap of not understanding fully that God truly does want to marry us. He is the bridegroom and we are the bride. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 9:22-25 Jesus said to his disciples: “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.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” Reflection I often wonder what the disciples must have felt when Jesus reveals to them that He must suffer greatly. Be rejected, be killed. And then this confusing phrase rising from the dead three days later. But if you want to see how this passage is written by Luke, he goes on to explain what basically Jesus is saying in his ministry. It's a reflection of what he told his disciples in private. It's just saying you have to deny your very self, meaning your false self. You're not your true self. You must do whatever is asked of you and basically do it with an unselfishness that says, I'm not focused at all at taking care of myself, but losing a sense of importance to surrender to something more important, which is building the kingdom. Closing Prayer Father, suffering, accepting everything is not natural to our ego, but it is natural to our hearts, our core. We know we are called to surrender to everything you have offered us, no matter what the cost. And we know that we should not be working for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters. So bless us during this season of Lent with a greater understanding of this core teaching, we must be in service to each other. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Reflection Jesus describes in this passage righteous deeds. One is being generous, sharing what you have with others. Another is to be a person that converses with God, that talks to him, listens to him in their hearts. And one is about anticipating the Kingdom of Heaven, giving up things that do not help the kingdom to come. And all these, what we're seeing is the power of intention to do anything just to be seen, to be held in esteem by others. Shows that the reason one is doing something is not for the purpose that it was made for, but for something else. Nothing is important that we pay attention to the intention of our hearts. We are generous because God has been generous to us. We spend time in prayer because we believe that He talks to us. And when we are overwhelmed by things that keep our attention away from the core of what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God on this planet, we are called to be attentive to knowing that everything we do that is in tune with the work of our father is bringing about the kingdom. Closing Prayer Father, we worry about heaven or hell, purgatory. All these images of what might happen after we leave this world. And when in truth Jesus didn't focus on that. He didn't teach that. He told us we are working toward a kingdom that is now, that is here a place of truth and beauty. Care and service. Help us keep our eyes fixed on this place and this work and this will of God, our father. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark 8:14-21 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, "Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered him, "Twelve." "When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?" They answered him, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?” Reflection In many ways the disciples are revealed in the Scriptures as people who don't really get it. You know, who don't have a clue. But you have to understand that what Jesus is saying is really so radically new. They knew religion, they knew the temple, they knew its corruption. They didn't expect it to do much for them. And now Jesus is creating a new kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven, on earth. And it's all about something that nurtures and develops and feeds. And so he's longing for his disciples to understand this. So he uses signs and symbols and stories and parables. And he just simply gets frustrated because they don't understand. They don't yet know how to listen to the way he teaches, to ponder the images, to wonder, and to imagine something radically different than what they've known when it comes to religion. Closing Prayer Father, everything that you have created in the world is for us. Even the negative things or those things that remind us of what we don't want to be a part of. So open our eyes and our hearts and our ears. So we can feed on the nurturing love and the nurturing wisdom you share with us. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 8:11-13 The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore. Reflection It is seldom we are shown in the Scriptures the emotions of Jesus. But here he is frustrated, a deep sigh. And what he's really saying is interesting. He's saying, Look, I have given you sign after sign after sign and you're asking for signs. It just underscores their blindness, their close mindedness, their close hearts. And that's what Jesus is worried about. They simply cannot open themselves to the message of life and joy that he's come to bring. Closing Prayer Father, you are speaking to us constantly. You show us things. You invite us into situations where we learn and we grow. Help us to give thanks for those signs that you've given us that you are with us. Help us to be attentive to them. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: February 16, 2020 Sirach 15:15-20 | 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 | Matthew 5:17-37 Oh God, who teaches that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling place pleasing to you.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 8:1-10 In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets. There were about four thousand people. He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha. Reflection This is the only miracle that is found in all four of the Gospels. It what it is, is God caring for the physical needs of those who longed to follow him. When we think of it, we think maybe we are not supposed to pray for things like, you know, food or money or a better house or whatever. But there's nothing wrong with asking God to give us the things that enable us to live the life that we long to live for him. And it's all right to pray for things that are material. That's the world we live in. That's the world Jesus recognizes as something that He wants to be a source of caring for our needs. Expect him to do that. Trust in him to answer your prayers. Closing Prayer Father, we are spiritual beings, but we are also physical beings that live in this world. Help us to know that you're interested in caring for us in both areas. You want us to grow as a spiritual being capable of doing your work and you want us to be comfortable and to live in a place that honors our dignity and our worth. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 7:31-37 Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Reflection It's rare that we see the emotional side of Jesus in the Scriptures, but in this miracle, he does something interesting. He groans. And to groan is something that is like a longing, a desire, a so deep a desire that it makes us sound. And the interesting thing about that is that even the way he heals the man by spitting and touching his tongue, there's a reference to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is breath and spittle is a concrete image of the Spirit. So we see in this story is a beautiful way in which God infuses us with spirit. That's his longing. And we know that in the teaching of the church, the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God in the world today, in your heart that also groans always to move in the direction of life, transformation, salvation, freedom to live as were called, to live. Closing Prayer Father, we have you as a father, as a brother, your son, and as this mystery, the Holy Spirit. We are told throughout the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit groans for our evolution, for our transformation, for our becoming who you call us to be. Help us to feel that energy of you longing in this presence of the spirit, to bring us to a place of wholeness and health. That it's not up to us to do this work. It's up to us to believe you can do this work and to enter into your desires, your will. Knowing and trusting everything going on around us is exactly as it should be. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 7:24-30 Jesus went to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Reflection The gospel begins with an image of his wanting to be alone, wanting to have some down time. And still, when he was trying to do that, along comes someone who doesn't deserve, but according to the tradition of the temple, doesn't deserve anything from him.  And so he falls back to that. It's interesting. He said, I have no reason to even think about taking care of you because you don't belong to the house of Israel. And then she has this incredibly wonderful way of not responding with a negative answer, but simply saying, I know you can do this, I know you can do this, and that just melts Jesus resistance. I love the humanity of Jesus. He struggled to be as he knew he should be because he had a human nature. And we need to know that same human nature is within us and we don't have to expect ourselves to be in any way, shape or form perfect in what we do. And it's all right to try to find a restful place and say no to the needs around us. Closing Prayer Father, we know that you had a weakness, and the weakness was a person who genuinely believed that you could do exactly what you know you want to do for them. Give us that same conviction, knowing that whenever we doubt that you are there for us, please let us know that you are actually doing exactly what we need. Whether it seems like the answer or seems like a delay, it matters not, You, if we believe in you, have the capacity to heal us and we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 7:14-23 Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” Reflection As Jesus continues to describe how He wants to save us, how this whole process of our being touched by him impacts us in a way that changes everything. And I love his reference here to the heart. He's saying what enters your heart is what's really essential. And God has promised to enter into our hearts. And if we think about healing and transformation of grace, we need to understand that the heart, if it is the cause of those things that are destructive, the heart is what needs to be healed. In the heart is the presence of God within you. Once you allow him into your heart, believe he dwells there, no evil can possibly flow from your heart to others. But that's the place where we connect. Heart to heart. Intention to intention. And it needs to be pure. It needs to be life giving. Closing Prayer Father, your grace by it's very presence is healing. Just as you, as you walk this earth had your healing presence known. Bless us with knowing that that same presence dwells in our hearts and through us. You can do this mysterious work of driving out that which destroys us and freeing us from all that robs us of life. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark  7:1-13 When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, 'If someone says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"' (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.” Reflection The indictment of Jesus against the Pharisees reminds us of a very important truth. We have many practices in our religion, many things that we think can not change, that we think are essential. But this gospel reminds us there is one core teaching in all of the practices of religion and that teaching is that you and I have been gifted with this gift of redemption. We're freed of sin. We have no reason to try to earn anything from God by doing any rule or law. We are simply called to listen to the Spirit within us and to follow that spirit. That's what brings us life. It's not about doing. It's about becoming someone infused with spirit. Closing Prayer Father, help us to make distinctions between things that are simply ways of helping us to become who we need to be. And your grace, your mysterious, powerful healing grace. It transforms us. We need to be aware and we need to be open to the transforming grace that you offer in Jesus. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 6:53-56 After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed. Reflection One of the things that's clear in the Gospels stories is that Jesus had a hard time finding a way to teach and to preach because of those who longed for what he offered, were longing most especially for his healing power. And what's important about that is that the words of God, the teaching of God that we find in Jesus, the invitation on the part of God to be like Jesus in the world is a healing experience. Everything in the Gospel is about a healing experience, becoming who we really are in doing the work that were really called to do. Closing Prayer Father, no matter what encounter we have with your truth, please open our eyes so that we can see that everything you teach us, everything you ask from us is something that will be about a healing experience. You came to change us, not to tell us what we have to become, but to enable us to become all that you want us to be. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: February 5, 2023 Isaiah 58:7-10 | 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 | Matthew 5:13-16 Keep your family safe, oh Lord, with unfailing care that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 6:30-34 The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. Reflection One of the things I love about this gospel is the way we see Jesus, certainly depending upon his disciples to be the source of teaching that he long for them to be, but knowing and being sensitive to their human condition. That they could get tired and they overextended. And so he takes them away just to give them a place of rest. And when he gets there, and there was more work to be done he doesn't say, okay, now you got to take up the slack because there are people that need you. No, he himself steps in and I love the image that when he sees the people longing for something, he's moved deeply with a sense of love for them. And then he continues his ministry Closing Prayer Hidden in this gospel is a lesson I think that is very important. When were asked to be who God calls us to be, to the people around us, to be caring and compassionate. We know sometimes we can do that and it's not too difficult. Other times, we're just exhausted and can't make any sense of what we're supposed to do. So that's when God steps in and does his part for us. We never work alone. We always work with our master and he knows we need rest. And he offers it to us as he takes over, and does the work we long to accomplish. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 6:14-29 King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.” Others were saying, “He is Elijah”; still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.” But when Herod learned of it, he said, “It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.” Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias,  the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. His own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”  He even swore many things to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. Reflection Herodias gets a lot of attention in this reading, and that's the way it should be. But I'd like to look for a minute at Herod. Because Herod was an interesting character who had John the Baptist imprisoned, and then almost as if he said, I want him here so I can go and listen to him, because I don't know exactly what he's saying, but I really like listening to him. It's a beautiful image of Herod as a man who is really attracted, perhaps to the truth. And when confronted with who is Jesus, he proclaims he thinks that he's really John the Baptist reincarnated. Closing Prayer Father, you have place something inside of us that somehow knows when something is true. It's your spirit living in us. The Holy Spirit is truth, is life, is light. And when we see that in someone else, we're drawn to it naturally. Help us always to be aware of those that carry the truth, and let us surrender to what it is they're seeking to tell us. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 6:7-13 Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick –no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. Reflection When Jesus sends out his first disciples to teach the Kingdom of God. He makes clear that they understand that they are the instrument of who Jesus has enabled them to be. They are not working out of their own stuff, but of the things that Jesus revealed to them will be revealed through their way of being with people. It's interesting is personal. They don't just go and give a talk. They go and stay in their houses of people and they are going to give that person an understanding of a way of life that they have never really fully experienced before. And that's a life that has a healing quality, a life giving quality. And to all who are open to it, they will receive what they have been promised. Closing Prayer Jesus, we are called to be disciples, apostles, those who bring the good news to the people who long for a new way of seeing the world, a new way of understanding who God is, bless us with a confidence that is shown in this story. That is you working through us rather than us alone that are able to accomplish the task that you've given us. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 6:1-6 Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Reflection What Jesus is trying to say in this gospel, is that there is something about the Ministry of Jesus that is very ordinary, meaning that Jesus did not come in some mysterious, mystical way. He was born of a woman. He grew up like the rest of them, slowly growing in wisdom and understanding. They remember him at so many parties and festivals or whatever. He was just one of the ordinary people. And for that ordinary person to be giving the kind of wisdom that he shared with people just didn't make any sense to them. And it's the same with us. God comes to us and works through us in our ordinariness, our imperfection. He uses us as his instrument of resonating his love to other people. And we do it not because we are perfect or have reached some high level of being a lover and a forgiver and a good person. No, he does it through our ordinariness. Closing Prayer Father, your beauty is in your humanity, your honesty, your ability to be approached, your emotional life that is responsive to people's pain. All of this is the natural way in which you see your work being done in the world by each of us, through our ordinariness you do extraordinary work, and we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark  5:21-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him and a large crowd followed him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat. Reflection In this gospel, we have almost a simultaneous healing of two figures one a woman, one a young girl. And what we see so clearly is Jesus' power to take away that which robs us of life, be it a disease that debilitates and takes away our energy, or whether it's death itself. And what it seems so clear to me that if you truly believe that, then one of the things that should disappear from our way of seeing the world is fear. Fear is the great enemy, because it tends to tell God that we are frightened and something will be taken from us that we need essentially, and he has promised us he will take care of everything we need. So be aware of fear. And when you feel it, turn that fear into trust, into a God who can do what he promises. But he demands, and asks for faith. Closing Prayer Father, we worry. We have anxieties. We have doubts. And yet we know that this is part of our human nature. But each time we experience these negative feelings, we need to respond to them. Not with a sense of shame, with a sense of having an opportunity to exercise what you ask us to do, to turn away from fear and replace it with trust in God. And we ask this In Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 2:22-40 When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted —and you yourself a sword will pierce— so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Reflection The thing that's interesting about this gospel is that Simeon and Anna are the two people that had some foresight into what it was that Jesus would become, how he would work in this world. And it's so fascinating that as they explain this to Mary and Joseph, they seem surprised. Like they didn't realize this. Yet they must have known that he was special because of the way he was born. But still, it shows how natural in these stories we see the evolution of God revealing himself into the world it's the way he does it with each of us, naturally, slowly, insight after insight, until we become fully aware of the mystery of God entering into us and changing everything. Closing Prayer Father, awaken us to the mystery of the incarnation happening within each of us. Help us to be open to the transforming gift to the Holy Spirit's presence that enables us to resonate your love, your life, your truth to those around us. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: January 29, 2023 Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13 | 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 | Matthew 5:1-12a Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with our mind and love everyone in truth of heart.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:35-41 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” Reflection What is fascinating about the life of the disciples is that they really didn't understand fully who Jesus was until He died and rose and the Holy Spirit descended upon them. So throughout their life with Jesus, you see them at times being absolutely astonished or afraid. They were either overwhelmed by what he could do or afraid that he wouldn't do what he promised to do. They're so human. And that is the journey. The journey is not that we accept God and then all of a sudden we become perfectly attuned with him or that we understand fully who he is or who he is invited us to be. Keep his patience in this growth process. It is what the kingdom is made up of. People growing, not people having achieved everything, but people growing into who they are meant to be. Closing Prayer Father, you have power. More power than we could ever imagine, yet at times we seem timid in asking your power to be used through us to accomplish what we ask. We ask with a fear that you will not listen or that you can't do this or you're too busy to do this. Give us confidence in your power. You want to share it with us. Let us invite it into our lives and we ask this In Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:26-34 Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” He said, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private. Reflection Jesus often uses in parables the idea of a seed that is entered into us and the seed itself, when it is there, begins to break apart and then bursts into life and something grows that becomes rich and bountiful. It's a beautiful image of the Yes that he asks us to say to him when we grow and understand what it is that he's offering us. The new life, the new way of seeing ourselves in the world. It's not that we say yes to something we fully understand. We say yes to a promise, and when that promise is held within our hearts, trusted in and believed in patiently waiting for the fruitfulness to show. Then we've truly entered the Kingdom of God. Closing Prayer Father, give us patience. Understanding. That when we say yes to you we are believing in a process that takes time. That seems to go forward. Seems to go backwards. Seems that we get better then we get worse. All of that is part of what it takes to be in the Kingdom of God. It's we who say yes, it's God who does the work. And we ask this In Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:21-25 Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible;  nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,  and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given;  from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Reflection Many people wonder why God allows evil in the world, but what it is is an opportunity for us to face the illusion of what evil promises. To expose evil as corrupt and destructive. But the way it exists is usually below the surface, it's not noticed, and it has tremendous power when it's not seen for what it is. And so the Kingdom of God is about exposing evil for exactly what it is. And that's the light of the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us wisdom, understanding, a way of seeing the world where evil makes no sense. That's the reason it's there, because it needs to come into the light and be named for what it is. Closing Prayer Father, give us the courage to look at things that are often hidden. Help us to reflect and see who we are and what we're doing, and ask the spirit to awaken us to what is true and what is false, what is helpful and what is harmful. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:1-20 On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, "Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear." And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. He answered them, "The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven." Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no roots; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” Reflection There's a theme that runs through all the parables, through all the teaching of Jesus. Something is offered and that which is offered must be received, longed for, and one should be open and ready to go through any transformation that is necessary for this truth to take root within them. But Jesus pointing out many people do not really want what it promises. They don't want to be changed. They don't want something new. He said, That's why I speak in parables, because I want them to have to look for and try to figure out what I'm saying. And if they're not interested in the depth of what's behind and hidden in these parables, they're not going to listen to anything that is explained to them perfectly. He longs for a quest inside of us all, to hunger for his message, for his truth, and to be willing to be radically changed by it. Closing Prayer Father, create in us a longing, an awareness perhaps of the emptiness that our life might have when we aren't really understanding the role that God has given us in this world. Give us a sense of the emptiness that might be there so that we can find that which fills us, that which gives us purpose and meaning and enthusiasm for all that we are called to be to the people around us. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark  3:31-35 The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Reflection Jesus is underscoring a frightening thought that what it takes for us to be able to receive what God is offering through Jesus. We need to know who He is and we need to accept all that He gives. He is our brother. He is the mother that gives us a life. He is the father who has created us. He sees so clearly in his work that his work is the most important thing in his life, more important than himself or his family or anything. He longs to do the work of God, and that is to awaken everyone to God's intimacy with them. Closing Prayer Father, your intention, your longing, is to transform us into being part of a family, a union, a communion that can never be broken. It is life. It is like a family's life to us as a child. So this teaching of Jesus is a life to us as we grow, evolve, and grow in our understanding. Bless us with receptivity. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:22-30 The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.   Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit.” Reflection Power we have over evil is a gift. It is not within us. And the gift comes through a person. Through the words, the actions, the life of a man God named Jesus. If we separate ourselves from him, if we're divided against him, if we choose not to allow him to do anything for us, we cannot claim that we have the gift of freedom from sin. We'll be caught in the sin. But when we deny the source of forgiveness and say we refuse to accept it, of course we are still then without forgiveness. To say no to this gift is insane, and evil is insane. Closing Prayer Father, all you ask is our openness to receive the gifts that you offer us, that you won at a great price. Help us never to resist these gifts, never to deny who you are in us, lest we fall into a place of darkness. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Original Airdate: January 22, 2023 Isaiah 8:23—9:3 | 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 | Matthew 4:12-23 Almighty, everliving God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure that, in the name of your Beloved Son, we might be found in good works.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:20-21 Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Reflection How did Jesus deal with his critics? I think it might have been easier for him to deal with the critics of the temple because they were seen in his mind as those who were very, very dangerous and needed to be silenced. But this opens up another way of understanding the tension that he lived in, and that is to lose his family's support, to be called crazy, out of your mind. It just reminds us that when we are taught to be the instrument of God's teaching, we need to have a commitment that isn't weakened by criticism. We expect to be criticized when we speak the truth by those who live in lies. Closing Prayer Father, give us the confidence in the commitment that you have given to us to manifest your teaching your truth to those around us. Help us to do it, not so much by telling them where they're wrong, but by awakening them to something they see within us. Help us to be the message, not just talk about it. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:13-19 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. Reflection It's clear that Jesus wanted his message to continue and he needed teachers. And the best way to describe the word apostle is that they are the ones who do the teaching. But before they can become apostles, they have to be disciples. Disciples are learners. And when you think about these 12, they had the experience on a daily basis for a very long time to be around Jesus. I think it's interesting that they learned more by watching him wondering about him than they did about his telling them what to say. It's the same with us. We have to first listen and learn, and that experience. Closing Prayer Father, you give us two roles that we never, never lose. We're always learning and we're always proclaiming what we learn, what we believe in, what we trust in. Help us to sense the gifts that you have given us. We are always working with you for the world. That is the thing that gives us purpose. That is the thing that gives us value. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:7-12 Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known. Reflection It was more difficult for people to understand the heart of the teaching of Jesus, that he was really presenting himself as the son of man, a human being filled with divinity. And when they wanted to make him God, that was blocking the whole notion of what he's come to reveal. He's not telling us that we can be gods. Nor is he saying all that God needs to do is come here and heal and fix everybody. No, the work is us being filled with divinity and then doing what Jesus did. That's the heart of the message to become an instrument of healing through us, not from us. Closing Prayer God's plan is not that we become perfect. That we lose our humanity. Our humanity is a key ingredient, our sinfulness, are our shortcomings are key ingredients in keeping us in the place that God longs for us to be as an instrument of his power, working through us, and not that we become the source of the power. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:1-6 Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us." Then he said to the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. Reflection It's rare in a gospel passage that we have an insight into what Jesus was feeling. This one is very interesting. He was experiencing the resistance from the church that he came to transform, and it made him sad and he was grieving it. At the same time, he was really angry. And what I believe is so important in this is to realize that Jesus had the same longings that we have for the freedom from those things around us that seem to be blocking us from the greatness, the beauty of who God is in our life. It's all right to be angry and to be sad that the world is where it is and teaches the things that it teaches that keep us from the kingdom. But you have to know that you have, as Jesus did, the power to heal and to bring life.  Closing Prayer Hypocrisy was one of the things that we could see clearly that Jesus was revealing as he worked with the Pharisees. They acted as if they were living the life that God had called them to through the temple discipline. But they weren't anywhere near what they were supposed to be. This was the sadness in Jesus, not so much that they didn't believe in him, but that they wouldn't receive what he offered. And we asked this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark 2:23-28 As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” Reflection Religion can become a burden. It can rob us of what the heart of the gospel is proclaiming. Rules, regulations and laws, that was the heart of the Old Testament, and yet it still becomes attractive to so many of us when we think if we only to what we're told, that's enough. But in doing that, we often limit ourselves from who we really are called to become. It's not about knowing what to do and doing it because we're told to. It's about becoming someone and understanding who we are. We move from the law and regulations to true wisdom. That's the promise of healthy religion. Closing Prayer For many people, religion is a burden and often has been something they went to and felt that they were being robbed of the rights that they had or the dignity that they have. Bless us with wisdom not to get caught in that and know that the freedom that God has called us to is always going to be focused on what is life giving for us. Nothing is asked of us that robs us of our value or our dignity. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 2:18-22 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,  but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” Reflection The custom of fasting in the Old Testament was a discipline of being quiet, not engaged in other activity as we awaited something from God. But whatever we were waiting for is now with us, manifested in Jesus. And what I like about this passage is that it's trying to say something, you can't take a little of the old and a little of the new and come up with something kind of as a compromise. No, what God is revealing in Jesus is radically new. It's a whole new paradigm, and we need to be sure that we've made that leap, that change into this new world, a world of forgiveness, a world of understanding, a world of compassion and empathy. It's an intoxicating new wine, and we have to accept it. Closing Prayer Father, we're creatures of habit. We've been taught things about you, when we were very young, perhaps, and they just are sort of what we have as a default when we think of you. Bless us with the ability to allow you to change that which was there into that which should be. That's your promise of grace. And all we need to do is to say yes. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices