Sunday Reflections

I always think of this as ‘fickle’ Sunday.  It is the only Sunday in which we hear two Gospels – the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and the Passion.  In the first the people shout, “Hosanna”, “Blessed is he”.  They welcome Him, and put down their cloaks and palm branches to form a carpet for the King of Israel.  Yet, a few days later, the same crowd (with the influence of the Pharisees) are shouting, “Crucify him!”  With which crowd do we want to associate?

Everyone likes good news, and we consider the Word of God to be Good News.  For instance, Jeremiah gives good news to the chosen people about the love of God, expressed in the covenant.  In the gospel Jesus gives bad news to the disciples – He speaks about his death.  That was not what they wanted to hear.  Jesus speaks to them about “the seed” that must die, as He must die.  Only then can the “rich harvest” come to mankind, through his suffering and death, crowned in glory by his resurrection and ascension.  If we truly want to “see Jesus” we must be prepared

St. Paul reminds us of the generous and gracious nature of God’s love for us. Jesus, in John’s Gospel, clearly states the great love that God has for us when he says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish 

Our first reading is Exodus 20:1-17 where God gives the 10 commandments to Moses.  Each of us is somewhat familiar with them, in fact, a few of us can even remember some and then there are those of us who can rhyme off all 10.  Regardless, if we spend some time with them we may feel that they are rather negative, with many: “Thou shall nots”!  Perhaps we can reframe them from restrictions to opportunities to be ceased with joy and enthusiasm.  So today…

I hope for the most part that you have seen that generally speaking the readings for the New Year up to now are clear, concise, pictorial and contain no more details than absolutely needed.

The gospel of the First Sunday of Lent always reveals to us the temptation of Jesus in the desert.  These forty days have made holy our forty days of the Lenten journey, leading us through a time of conversion to celebrate the new life we share with Christ in His death and resurrection.  God assures us that He is with us as we are tempted.  Unfortunately, the evil one knows us well, and knows our weaknesses, and will play on them, trying to convince us that we are unworthy of God’s love and mercy, and that our future is one of fear and shame.  These lies separate us from

There is a particular word in our gospel reading that is worth further reflection. Most manuscripts upon which our Gospel text is based suggest that Jesus is moved with “pity” when He sees the man filled with leprosy. But there are some reputable manuscripts that suggest that Jesus became “angry” or “indignant” when the man approached him. Interestingly, here, Jesus’ anger or indignation is not directed against this man because he is interrupting or bothering Jesus. Rather, Jesus’ anger and indignation is that such a state of affairs would exist for this man.

Today’s first reading (Job 7:1-4, 6-7) is taken from the Book of Job that deals with the very difficult topic of the undeserved suffering of the innocent and just.  The author describes the human condition in somber tones:  We have a hard service on earth.  Like a slave who longs for the shadow.  We are allotted months of emptiness (read: living through a pandemic).  Our days are swift and come to their end without hope.  Ouch!  Lastly, he says: “my eye will never again see good.”  This reading may very well speak to us in the context of life with Cov

The Pandemic continues and the Sacred Text calls us again to reply appropriately today.  “Our God…gather us from the nations to give thanks to Your holy name and make it our glory to praise you!”  This probably irks us because we have been struggling since the end of last year! God, we have been really deeply struggling to do so!

In our Baptism we began a life with God.  That life has been nourished in so many ways, some that we may not even realize.  In each of our lives there has come a time when we more consciously began to follow Jesus – in earnest, with a sense of purpose.  We do not follow Jesus ‘by accident’, but it must be very intentional.  This faithful following leads us to be transformed – little by little – in Christ, “repenting and believing the Good News”.  However, our following Jesus is not just for ourselves, but is to be shared with others.  Jonah, in the First Readin