Reflections on the Sunday Readings

                                                       In the State Hermitage Museum, in Moscow, Russia, is a famous painting by the artist Rembrandt called The Return of the Prodigal Son .   In 1986 the famous author, priest, and theologian, Henry Nouwen visited that museum and was granted permission to sit and study this painting each day before the museum opened daily for the regular public. Shortly after this, in 1992 he wrote his famous book,  The Return of The Prodigal Son/ A Story of a Home Coming, In his book he reflects on his study of the picture and what it  meant to him in terms of his own personal life and the issues of forgiveness, and reconciliation  with which he was trying to understand in his own life.   Nouwen comments in his book how Rembrandt depicts each character in this gospel parable. Fo...

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    “Wait for the  Lord  with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the  Lord” (Psalm 27:14)   The disciples after their climb up the mountain were weary and fell asleep. Upon awakening they experienced what must have seemed to them almost like a dream, the vision of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah speaking together.   While the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus appears in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, only in Luke’s account do we get the detail about what was being discussed, namely Jesus’..   “exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”                                                     We know the second book of the bible as   Exodus.   But that is what Greek translation of the bible called this second book.   In the Hebrew ...

                                                 Reflection on Sunday Readings In our gospel this weekend, Jesus goes into the desert following his baptism by St. John the Baptist.   The desert is a place for reflection on one’s life and its mission.   In the desert, there are no distracting noises of the culture yelling for our attention.   No, in the desert there are only the quiet whispers of the wind ( i.e., the Spirit) inviting us to be quiet and enter into the silence of our souls to hear God speaking to us.                                                         ...

  Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 3-2-25 Reflection on the Sunday Readings   In the gospel this weekend, we encounter the closing of St.   Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Plain.   It began a couple of weeks ago when Jesus came down from the mountain, a place where he had been praying and where he chose his first apostles.   He came down to a place where he could be on level ground with all of those who had been gathered to hear him speak.   A place whereby he could look at them, eye to eye, and speak plainly with them.                                                                                                        His address to the people two weeks ago, initially began with a series o...

“Here's a question for our culinary experts: What food product contains the following ingredients: Annatto Extract, Cellulose Gum, Cocoa Powder, Coloring Agents, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Eggs, Gelatin, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin, Modified Cornstarch, Monocalcium Phosphate, and Salt, among many others? If your answer is "Chocolate Fudge Stripe Layer Cake," you're correct! For most of us, this list of ingredients might seem mysterious, even puzzling. However, to the baker who knows the recipe, the relationships between these elements are perfectly clear.” 1 Just as it is difficult on our own perhaps, to make such a cake, still harder it may seem to be  to follow Jesus ’ recipe,  found in this weekend’s gospel, for living a full and rich life in his kingdom. By ourselves it would be very difficult indeed.    But with the grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives, it is possible and most achievable to live the way Jesus  has asked of us.  And how can ...