Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Experience the unimaginable April 4, 2021 Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9 | 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8 | Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 This is the Lord's doing,and it is marvellous in our eyes.– (Psalm 118:23)...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 This Easter, a homecoming. April 3, 2021 This photo by unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA Genesis 1:1-2:4a [The Story of Creation]  |  Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 [The Flood]  |  Genesis 22:1-18 [Abraham's sacrifice of...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Light through the Darkness April 2, 2021 Isaiah 52:13-53:12 |Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 | John 18:1-19:42 | Psalm 22 Growing up in an Irish/Catholic household, Good Friday was spent eating very little and being in church. I...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” April 1, 2021 Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14  | 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 | John 13:1-17, 31b-35 | Psalm 116:1, 10-17 In reflecting on the story of Jesus washing his disciples’...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 The good things are ahead. March 31, 2021 Isaiah 50:4-9a | Hebrews 12:1-3 | John 13:21-32 | Psalm 70 In a recent sermon Rev. Tanya mentioned that profound things often come from the children.  It reminded me of a question that was asked in...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Become children of light March 30, 2021 Isaiah 49:1-7 | 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 | John 12:20-36 | Psalm 71:1-14 “Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Filled with hope and the light of Christ March 29, 2021 Isaiah 42:1-9 | Hebrews 9:11-15 | John 12:1-11 | Psalm 36:5-11 Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace. What...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Two different worlds at once. March 28, 2021 Isaiah 50:4-9a | Philippians 2:5-11 | Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, [40-47] | Psalm 31:9-16 One of the most amazing and wondrous experiences of my life happened several years ago while hiking...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God, Diana Ross and Caiaphas on Finding Home March 27, 2021 Ezekiel 37:21–28 | John 11:45–53 | Psalm 85:1–7 I first read the selections of readings for Saturday, the Fifth Week of Lent, a couple of weeks back. While procrastinating the...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 From jeremiad to joy March 26, 2021 Jeremiah 20:7-13 | John 10:31-42 | Psalm 18:1-7 How “down in the mouth” was Jeremiah, author of today’s first reading? So down, he inspired the modern word “jeremiad,” which means “a prolonged mournful...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 I feel something new: hope. March 25, 2021 Br. Mickey McGrath, OSFS: “Annunciation Quilt” Isaiah 7:10-14 | Psalm 45 or Psalm 40:5-10 or Canticle 15 (or 3) | Hebrews 10:4-10 | Luke 1:26-38 Some years it feels strange and jarring to celebrate...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Truth March 24, 2021 Daniel 3:14–20,24–28 | John 8:31–42 | Canticle [2] or 13 The first couple of lines from John 8:31-42 made me think about how often we are prisoners – slaves even – of our own beliefs. We even suffer for those beliefs and...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 A Very Snaky Predicament March 23, 2021 Numbers 21:4–9 | John 8:21–30 | Psalm 102:15–22 Today’s Old Testament reading from the Book of Numbers recounts a scene from the Israelites 40-year journey through the wilderness following their...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 On Forgiveness March 22, 2021 Susanna [1–9,15–29,34–40],41-62 | John 8:1–11 or John 8:12–20 | Psalm 23 When I read these scriptures about justice, what came immediately to mind was our study in Adult Formation of Chapter 1 of Seven Last...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God is with us though prayer. March 21, 2021 Jeremiah 31:31-34 | Hebrews 5:5-10 | John 12:20-33 | Psalm 51:1-13 Psalm 51:1-13 talks about all kinds of things we have done wrong in God’s sight and how we want to make them right. Prayer is one...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God’s spirit is infinite. March 20, 2021 Jeremiah 11:18–20 | John 7:37–52 | Psalm 7:6–11 John 7:37–52 “On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God is focused on being faithful to us March 19, 2021 2 Samuel 7:4,8-16  | Romans 4:13-18 | Luke 2:41-52 | Psalm 89:1-29 or 89:1-4, 26-29 For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever;you have set your faithfulness firmly in the...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Worshiping the Golden Calf March18, 2021 Exodus 32:7–14 | John 5:30–47  | Psalm 106:6–7,19–23 They have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it. I suppose having grown up with the Charlton Heston...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Reach out and share March 17, 2021 Isaiah 49:8–15  |  Psalm 145:8–19  |  John 5:19–29 They shall feed along the ways,on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;they shall not hunger or thirst,neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God March 16, 2021 Ezekiel 47:1–9,12 | John 5:1–18 | Psalm 46:1–8 Water flows through these readings, sometimes gently and sometimes with a powerful rush, but always moving, not stagnant....

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 A Short Testament, a poem by Anne Porter March 15, 2021 Isaiah 65:17–25 | John 4:43–54 | Psalm 30:1–6,11–13 Whatever harm I may have doneIn all my life in all your wide creationIf I cannot repair itI beg you to repair it, And then there are...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God so loved the world March 14, 2021 Numbers 21:4-9 | Ephesians 2:1-10 | John 3:14-21 | Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Steadfast Love March 13, 2021 Hosea 6:1–6 | Luke 18:9–14 | Psalm 51:15–20 New Year’s resolutions for me last about two hours; my Lenten disciplines may be maintained for two days before I forget or give up. My self-discipline is sorely...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God is speaking to me. Can’t let this one go to voicemail! March 12, 2021 Hosea 14:1–9  | Psalm 81:8–14  | Mark 12:28–34 Hosea 14:1-9 An Old Testament prophet, Hosea – Hebrew for “help” or “salvation” – lived around 750 BC in the kingdom of...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 God ask us to be with Him March 11, 2021 Jeremiah 7:23–28 | Luke 11:14–23 | Psalm 95:6–11 Jeremiah was a bullfrog.Was a good friend of mine?Never understood a single word he saidBut we always had a mighty sad time. When I received the...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Raising my ‘feisty quotient’ March 10, 2021 Deuteronomy 4:1–2,5–9 | Matthew 5:17–19 | Psalm 78:1–6 For some reason, my first pass at these readings raised my ‘feisty quotient.’ In the Old Testament reading, Moses urges us to “make [the...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Could lovingly forgiving someone else enable me to love myself? March 9, 2021 Song of the Three Young Men 2–4,11–20a | Matthew 18:21–35 | Psalm 25:3–10 Matthew 18:21-35 Peter came and said to Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 ’Wash, and be clean‘ March 8, 2021 2 Kings 5:1–15b | Luke 4:23–30 | Psalm 42:1–7 It’s the imagery of water that catches my attention; how tempting is that thought? That we can dive under, feel the cool energy, and emerge into the sunlight,...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Rules and Commandments March 7, 2021 Exodus 20:1-17 | 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 | John 2:13-22 | Psalm 19 Throughout the many stages of life one meets the rules prescribed for that age and that moment. It is our response and adherence to these...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Our trials are His way of perfecting our patience. March 6, 2021 Micah 7:14–15,18–20 | Luke 15:11–32 | Psalm 103:1–4(5–8)9–12 While reading the gospel for today, I was reminded of one of my favorite reflections:  Love Ever Gives, Forgives,...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Who saw that coming? March 5, 2021 Genesis 37:3–4,12–28 | Matthew 21:33–43 | Psalm 105:16–22 At first sight we when we look at the Gospel reading and the first reading from Genesis, we can think to ourselves, what is going on here? Or maybe,...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Thursday in the Second Week of Lent March 4, 2021 Jeremiah 17:5–10 | Luke 16:19–31 | Psalm 1 I hope you all had a chance to read the lesson from the Gospel of Luke appointed for today. It is one in a string of parables Jesus shared with his...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 “How about love. Measure in Love.” March 3, 2021 Jeremiah 18:1–11,18–20 | Matthew 20:17–28 | Psalm 31:9–16 “My times are in your hand”– Psalm 31:15 390     The number of days since I have had my hair cut357     The number of days since I...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Seek Justice and Rescue the Oppressed March 2, 2021 Isaiah 1:2–4,16–20 | Matthew 23:1–12 | Psalm 50:7–15,22–24 We are spending the winter in Georgia as we have for many years. As has been much in the news, Georgia has a long history of Black...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Sliding over into the passenger seat and letting God drive. March 1, 2021 Daniel 9:3–10 | Luke 6:27–38 | Psalm 79:1–9 Lent means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To some, it means “giving up” something…Usually...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Break open (your heart) and never close again to the rest of the world. February 28, 2021 Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 | Romans 4:13-25 | Mark 8:31-38 | Psalm 22:22-30 “He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 How can we accept people whose thoughts and actions are antithetical to us? February 27, 2021 Deuteronomy 26:16–19 | Matthew 5:43–48 | Psalm 119:1–8 Wow, Jesus really cuts to the chase when he tells us to love our enemies in Matthew 5:43-48....

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 What is the path to the kingdom of heaven? February 26, 2021 Ezekiel 18:21–28 | Matthew 5:20–26 | Psalm 130 My spaghetti comes in a box. (I hope you intrepid souls who make your own pasta will bear with my analogy.) When my spaghetti comes...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 My eyes smiled at hers, above our respective masks, and she reached for me. February 25, 2021 Esther (Apocrypha) 14:1–6,12–14  |  Matthew 7:7–12  |  Psalm 138 “When I called, you answered me,You Increased my strength within me…The Lord will...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 “The Field of Blood” February 24, 2021 Acts 1:15-26 | Philippians 3:13-21 | John 15:1,6-16 | Psalm 15 Acts 1: “… (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Seeking reconciliation is inextricably linked with a will to understand February 23, 2021 Isaiah 55:6–11 | Matthew 6:7–15 | Psalm 34:15–22 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 “The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever.” February 22, 2021 Leviticus 19:1–2,11–18 | Matthew 25:31–46 | Psalm 19:7–14 The fear of the Lord is cleanand endures for ever;the judgments of the Lord are trueand righteous altogether. -...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 So what is this Lent? February 21, 2021 Robert and Georgie Girl, 1968 Genesis 9: 8-17 | Psalm 25: 1-9 | 1 Peter 3: 18-22 | Mark 1: 9-15   Lent for me is a time of reflection. Some days are filled with joy. Others, with despair. We...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Preparing a Banquet February 20, 2021   Isaiah 58:9b–14 | Luke 5:27–32 | Psalm 86:1–11 We’re only four days into Lent – a time of solemnity and abstinence. But today’s gospel has me thinking about parties. You remember parties… where people...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Start conversations. Ask questions. Explain why. February 19, 2021 Isaiah 58:1–9a | Matthew 9:10–17 | Psalm 51:1–10 Might these days of Covid-19 during Lent of 2021 occasionally echo those befuddling days when – instead of fasting in...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 But who do you say that I am? February 18, 2021 Deuteronomy 30:15–20 |Luke 9:18–25 | Psalm 1 Luke 9: 18-25 In The Gospel for my blog entry, Jesus asks his disciples two questions; "Who do the crowds say that I am?" and "But who do you say...

Home > Lenten Blog 2021 Matthew 6: 1, 5-6 February 17, 2021 Joel 2:1-2,12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 | Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 | Psalm 103:8-14 Matthew 6:1, 5-6 Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them;...