I suspect that, to most of us, prayer is a puzzle. I’m not sure that most of us even know why it is that we pray. Many people pray as a form of sanctified wish fulfillment. It’s like we think of prayer as a way of having all our dreams come true… if we pray in the right way. I know that listening to my son’s prayers at night, when we pray for people in our lives, that occasionally he asks
Sermons
Today’s Gospel story often attracts interest because it is one of a limited number of stories that offer an obvious integration of women in the participation of all facets of Christian discipleship. A woman sits and learns at Jesus’ feet — possibly in the process breaking down cultural expectations — and Jesus approves. This implies that all dimensions of sharing in Jesus’ ministry are
In Matthew, when Jesus is approached by the rich young ruler who asks, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” the answer Jesus gives is pretty stunning: “Keep the commandments: You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’” (Lk 10:5) May peace be among us and remain with us. Amen. It seems like whenever we turn on the news lately, we hear of some massacre. And those are just the tragedies that make the news. There are others that don’t make the headlines, though they are no less important, no less painful, and no less tragic. Some are global,
What’s God been doing in your life lately? Today’s readings were a struggle for me as I tried to come up with a sermon response. I tried and tried to get them to fit together into a sermon that made sense to me as a unit that would inspire us all to action based upon the readings. I kept trying, but I never got there. And then this hit me: Jesus never asked us to worship him. But Jesus