Month: January 2020

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The Kingdom of Heaven

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (A): Matthew 4:12-23

 

People in Maine are usually very interested in the weather.  Although our homes offer us some protection from weather’s extremes – snow, rain, wind, heat, cold – many of our activities outside of our homes are affected by the weather.  Will school be cancelled due to a coming storm? Will we be able to get to work? Will road crews get a heads-up so that they can be ready? How will our vacation be affected by the weather? Someone who owns a motel in Bar Harbor in the summer wants one kind of weather; another person with a motel in Greenville or Caribou in winter wants a different kind of weather.  We – along with all these people – turn to the weather forecasts. Continue reading “The Kingdom of Heaven”

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Saints-R-Us

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (A): I Corinthians 1:1-3

 

Imagine a typical day in your life.

You are going about your daily routine, when you get a call or a text message from a friend: “God spoke to me last night, and told me to tell you this…”

How would you react? Would you immediately accept what your friend is saying? Or would you resist and wonder what your friend drank last night, or what drugs your friend was using? Would you wonder if your friend was being hopelessly arrogant, claiming the authority of God for whatever your friend wanted to tell you? “So God speaks to you, huh?”, you might respond.  “Just who do you think you are?” Continue reading “Saints-R-Us”

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The Stranger Among Us

Epiphany (A)

The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.  –   Leviticus 19:34

A few days ago, I read an article by a young man with cerebral palsy.  In it, he told the story of his painful struggle at Mass when the priest asked everyone to hold hands before beginning the Our Father.  His life is already very challenging as it is.  He comes to Mass, and has to battle his afflictions in such a way at that moment that he can barely focus on the words of the Our Father that he prays.  No one else at this Mass has to deal with such anguish, nor is anyone doing anything to even meet this young man halfway. Continue reading “The Stranger Among Us”