Today we hear one of my favorite images of God from Isaiah. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar.  Can a mother forget the child of her womb? No. God is the mother tenderly cradling her beloved child. God is the mother giving nourishment to her child. God is the mother gently reproving and teaching her child. God is the mother who loves […]

Scripture is full of water today. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar.  We have a stream flowing out of the Temple that is so large it makes salt water fresh in the reading from Ezekiel. The Psalm tells is that there is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God. In John’s gospel, Jesus heals a disabled man by the pool

The Psalmist proclaims, “You have changed my mourning into dancing.” https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar.  Isaiah promises that the Lord is making everything new—earth, heaven, will wipe away the past sorrows. In this pandemic we need to hear this prophesy and then believe it. Will the sound of weeping be stilled? Will the young grow strong and the old see a

God surprises! Cyrus, king of Persia liberated the enslaved Israelites. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar.  When he conquered the Chaldeans, he inherited the Hebrew slaves. He was their master. The author of Ephesians suggests that we are mastered by our transgressions, and John’s Gospel assures us that Christ came not to condemn, but to save. At every moment, after every transgression,

Hosea speaks to us again today. He tells us that the Lord will come “…like spring rain that waters the earth.” https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar .  Is there anything so sweet as the gentle rains in spring? The smell of wet earth just plowed for the planting is wonderful—so full of promise. The earth drinks up the rain, just as we

Today the prophet Hosea assures us that if we return to God, we will have splendor like the olive tree. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar. To be like an olive is something indeed. Olives were essential to life. The fruit was eaten, the oil was used in lamps, cooking, hygiene, and worship, to name a few. Almost no tree was as

The Psalmist tells us to “joyfully sing songs to the Lord.” https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar. Notice that we are not told to sing beautifully, only joyfully. The quality of our voice is not important. What is important is that we sing. So many times, folks have said to me that they cannot sing well, so they don’t. My retort

Today Moses warns the Israelites to be on guard and not forget the Lord. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar.   He implores them to remember the past and all that the Lord God did for them. That is still a message for today. Jesus says he has not come to destroy the former ways, but to fulfill them. So, what are we

Jesus tells a parable today. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar.   The parable of the debtor who does not show mercy as he had been shown mercy. We are then told to forgive, from our hearts, those who hurt us in any way because we have been shown mercy. But for me, a very real reason to forgive is because holding onto

Naaman, the army commander and a highly respected man was a leper. He was cleansed by Elisha. https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar . Now the problem with Naaman was that he balked at the way the cure would happen. He, like most of us, wanted fireworks—something grand. Instead, all he had to do was bathe. How dull! I wonder if we