Podcasts about this sunday's gospel

Msgr. James Watkins tells a story of his childhood: Forty years ago, he asked a girl to his senior prom. He needed money in order to go. Watkins had to be persistent with his father in asking for help, much like we should do with our Father in heaven. This would be his only prom. This Sunday's Gospel from Luke 11 reads: "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

This Sunday's Gospel reading from Mark (Mark 13:1-8) is called the Little Apocalypse.  Don’t let that scare you though.  The word apocalypse usually brings up images for us of death, destruction and catastrophe.  It’s true that Jesus describes earthquakes and war and famine, but there is more than just destruction in this passage. The literal translation for the word apocalypse is “an uncovering or a revelation”.  It means something is being revealed.   Pastor Dara Schuller Hanson preaches on Mark 13:1-8. Originally recorded at the Good Shepherd Madison Campus on Sunday, November 18, 2018.   

April 6, 2014 - This Sunday's Gospel is John's story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, about which Fr. Nathan annotates several aspects of the readings. One annotation is Jesus telling his disciples that they must go to awaken Lazarus, but the disciples baulk for fear of being stoned. Jesus says one may stumble whiletravelingat night without light, but if Christ is in you the light is in you and you will not fall.

This Sunday's Gospel presents the extraordinary story of Christ's healing Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is blind. Christ gives him not only the ability to see the world, but to see the world anew through the revelation of his Grace. The Christian way of life is best described as a new way of seeing and it is through this vision, illuminated by the light of Christ, that we are invited to know and see the world as God in Christ intends.

This Sunday's Gospel tells the story of the paralytic man whom Jesus forgave and commanded to walk. Paralysis is an effective allegory for sin-how it traps and immobilizes us. God's desire for us is movement, for his love can shatter our paralysis and free us from our sinful past. God is not a "no", but a resounding "Yes."