It doesn’t take talking to more than a few people for a short amount of time to prove what Scripture pointed out today: That our natural human tendency is to complain about our circumstances and the people involved. More often than not, we hope to...
Gee whiz. What’s the deal with Jesus on the outskirts of the temple today? I wonder if he’s sending a message that goes something like this: Don’t make religion a commodity. Don’t let loyalty to God become an industry or make the wares of worship...
During his lifetime, Jesus was many things to many people, but frequently, he fulfilled the role of teacher or rabbi. And while teaching, he would refer to the past, present, and future to emphasize points of the current lesson. Without a doubt, Jesus was a...
Today’s gospel reading reminds me of a major current dilemma facing many members of our society, a dilemma affecting nearly every family as well as the entire healthcare system. The dilemma is this: Men and women as young as their mid-fifties upwards of ninety years...
A while later, Jesus takes three close companions up a high mountain apart by themselves. Then he was transfigured before them. How many of you ever read the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes? In case you have no idea what I’m referring to, Calvin invented a...
An introduction from Sundays and Seasons to today’s gospel reads, “Everywhere Jesus goes, many people expect him to set them free from oppression.” And even though Jesus no longer walks the earth, people still expect him to travel around and set them free. More than periodically,...
What is authority? The freedom to act or the right to decide without hindrance. Authority is power conferred upon or derived from a higher power. Authority is the right to control, command, or determine. It is God-given and must be received, so that, in due...
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God, expanding upon John’s message of repentance for the sake of forgiveness to remind listeners of two more important things: First, that “Time is fulfilled.” Not too long ago, over a billion people...
One decision followed up by action reveals purpose. Since every word of the Bible was intentionally chosen, it’s worth picking apart each verse for content. For instance, speaking of making an intentional choice, the very first gospel verse read, “Jesus decided to go to Galilee.” Going...
By all accounts, our gospel reading today makes it sound like there were two types of Baptism in Jesus’ day: one of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and one which caused the Holy Spirit to descend and land upon the individual being baptized. Let’s...