Commitment. It’s a foundation of our faith and a theme that runs through all of today’sreadings. God is famous for the commitments between Himself and his people. We see thisthroughout the Old Testament in the various covenants. For example, in Jeremiah a newcovenant is proclaimed, “I will be their God and they shall be my…
Jesus used two similar parables to vividly depict faith’s beauty, similar to when the sun rises silently to create a golden background. He evokes treasures and pearls, beautiful and unusual terms in our relationship with God. It is the language of novels and pirates; in those adventures, we usually don’t find priests or liturgies, first…
Good and evil, good seed and bad weeds have taken root in my turf: My heart seems to be a battleground for the opposing forces of life and death. And from that reality, the Lord Jesus develops one of his most beautiful parables to guide me on my inner journey in God’s style. My first…
Out of the living voice of Jesus, we hear parables. Listening to them is like listening to the murmur of the spring, the initial, fresh, springing moment of the Gospel. The parables are not an afterthought or an exception but the highest, most brilliant, refined tip of Jesus’ language. He loved the lake, the wheat…
Happy summer to all of you, especially those who are visiting St James. We’ve been blessedwith local sunshine today and hopefully you’ve had a chance to enjoy it. In our gospel, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor, and are burdened, and I will give yourest.“ This is a time of year when we…
The Gospel records one of those sudden roadblocks that ignited Jesus’ words with wonder. The source of divine joy stemmed from the little ones, the children, the women, the simple of heart, and the poor because when God moves nimbly, they immediately get it. In the Bible, God’s economy of littleness supports those often overlooked.…
He who loses his life finds it. Play on words between losing and finding; an essential paradox found six times on Jesus’ lips. We understand that to lose is not letting life slip away or go astray but actively giving it away. As one does with a gift, with treasure spent drop by drop. I…
“Do not be afraid, fear no one, do not be frightened.” Jesus opposes fear three times this Sunday, but instead of proposing courage, he signals faith, as when the Master shocked his frail disciples one stormy night: “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mk. 4:40). We believe faith is the antidote…
Happy Father’s Day! Today’s readings put a whole new spin on “raising children.“ In the first reading, think of God as the Father and his Chosen People as His children. In thisreading we can learn a lot from how God sees the role of a FATHER. “If you harken to myvoice and keep my covenant,…
Jesus asserts, “The harvest is abundant.” When we look at our world, it might seem that the fields of society are arid and the times bleak. In the opinion of many, much has to happen until the harvest, with tremendous efforts to mix seed and sweat, and still return empty-handed like Peter on the lake.…