Brother Fire

I love Easter -- not just Easter day or the Triduum, but the whole season. I love the build-up during lent -- preparing for the death and resurrection of Jesus. I love praying the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. And I especially love the Sundays of Easter following. The Easter season reminds me of the birth of the church. Jesus and the apostles were such revolutionaries of their time. I love reading the Book of Acts. I love the story of Jesus walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). As you can tell...I'm absolutely in my glory as the Easter season progresses. Indeed CHRIST IS RISEN. May the Risen Lord be with us always! Peace.

5th Sunday of Lent -- Cycle A Bishop Tony recently showed me one of his favorite books titled: 99 Annoying Attributes of God: Why God is God and You’re Not (by Ray Albrektson, Gary Stanley, and Janet Kobobel Grant). Isn’t THAT the truth! The book is exactly what it sounds like it is -- a list of ways that God annoys us and it has scriptural references to prove the point. I started looking through the book and saw myself in it in so many ways. Here’s one that is so true: “God is annoying because he allows me to struggle and fail at the very things he can accomplish in the twinkling of an eye.” Indeed there are so many examples of that! And of course, it got me thinking about other ways God annoys ME. Here’s one that I came up with: “God is annoying because just when you think you know what God is going to do – God does something totally different.” Today’s Gospel is a perfect example of that. Jesus is away from Judea with the apostles – presumably preachi...

February 3, 2008 – Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A Zep 2:3, 3:12-13 Ps 146 1 Cor 26-31 Mt 5:1-12 According to the Gospel of Matthew, there were huge crowds listening to Jesus when he gave the Sermon on the Mount. But that hardly accounts for the millions and millions of people who have read the Beatitudes and are familiar with this famous Gospel reading – in some form or another. What I find most interesting about this scripture is that when Jesus was facing the crowds there is so much that he could have said and done during this sermon. Think about it: he had a captive audience. He could have very easily “wowed” us by pulling people from the crowds and healing them. He could have demanded that we worship and venerate him. He could have asked for donations. He could have announced that he was going to die for our sins. He didn’t though. Instead he humbly and quietly shared God’s Word. He was a teacher. And he started with how we are already bl...