Reflections

Today Paul reminds Timothy (2 Timothy 2:8‑15) that the heart of his preaching is that Jesus not only is one of us, descended from human beings (David and Mary), but also is God, as evidenced by his rising from death to life.  Since Jesus shares our human nature, he rightfully offers himself as a sacrifice […]

For the remaining four days of this week, we will be reading from the Second Letter to Timothy, one of the so-called “Pastoral Letters”. There are questions about the letter’s real authorship, but it is presented as a letter from the Apostle Paul to one of his most faithful assistants and companions, Timothy, who came

Yesterday we began the first of only two readings that we will have from the Second Letter of Peter (2 Peter 1:2‑7).  Today is the second reading (2 Peter 3:12‑15, 17-18).  Scripture scholars believe this letter was written by one of Peter’s disciples, sometime between 60-150 AD.     The letter begins by asserting the

Since Pentecost, our scripture readings have focused on our rejecting the allure of “false” teachings in favor of following the” true” teachings of Jesus.  One of the most serious of these false teachings, during the early years of the Church, was that of Gnosticism.  Gnosticism was composed of aspects of Greek philosophy, Jewish mystical traditions,

When I think of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, I am reminded of an old African folk tale that speaks of three blind men who examine an elephant to try to determine what sort of animal it might be. One grabs hold of the elephant’s tail and exclaims, “This creature is very much

Today we have a solitary reading taken from the Letter of Jude (Jude 1:17, 20‑25).   Jude is a very short letter, consisting of just one chapter of 25 verses.  Our reading comes from the latter part of the letter.  In general, the letter is a stern warning against false teachers who are doing untold

Today’s is a challenging Gospel reading (Mark 11:11-26).  We are presented with a story within a story.  Most of us can recall how Jesus entered the Temple complex and found merchants selling all manner of things in the very place where people should have been allowed to worship God.  We all remember the rage Jesus

Today’s Gospel reading (Mark 10:46-52), superficially, appears to be just another pleasant story about Jesus healing a blind man. Mark’s gospel frequently is the one that gives the most details when telling a story.  Some commentators suggest that is because he is using first-hand memories of eyewitnesses, possibly Peter himself.  Because of the details, there

In today’s First Reading (1 Peter 1:18-25) Peter reminds us that we have been “ransomed”.  In the Scriptures, to ‘ransom’ means to free someone from something bad by paying some sort of payment.  In this case, the ransom price is not silver or gold but something far more precious, Christ’s own blood poured out for

This week we begin readings from the First Letter of Peter. This letter was written around 64 AD and sets forth the nature of the Christian life begun in baptism as an experience of constant regeneration. By their acceptance of Christianity, the Christian communities of Asia Minor (specifically Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia) had