Spiritual

‘…Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees…’. Jesus uses the Scribes and Pharisees often as his foils as he does today. They follow the letter of the law to the “T”, so we should emulate them. Yes, doing the letter of the law is all well and good, but Jesus makes it […]

Today, we celebrate the “Chair of Peter”,1st Bishop of Rome (Pope). I love Peter!! He gives me such hope. Peter can say the most profound thing (like in today’s Gospel), then turn around and be a totally dense blockhead. Despite his many failings, Jesus loved him and saw in him much goodness and strength. I hope

‘The King of Nineveh…laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth.’ Wow, that is something I admit I am unwilling to do—wear sackcloth. I like to be comfortable, not itchy and bleeding. So, what do I do to remind myself that I should beg forgiveness? I have no good ideas and even if I did,

Isaiah says today, ‘It (God’s word) shall not return to me void but shall do my will.’ Today In the Gospel we are given the Our Father by Jesus. A simple prayer. It is among the first prayers taught to children. Do my words go back to God void? Do I really mean what I

‘Come…inherit the Kingdom.’ We think of an inheritance as something we get that someone else made, built up, created. It is a gift. Jesus and Moses expect us to build the Kingdom we’ll inherit. We will get nothing if we don’t work for it—if we don’t feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger,

“I will set my (rain) bow in the clouds.” What is a rainbow? It is broken light, showing the colors it’s made of. Every color is there. All colors are required to make sunlight. The bow is a reminder of God’s covenant with us. It should also be a reminder that people of all colors

Today, we are promised that; “You shall be like a watered garden.” I am an old farm girl. No longer on a farm, but I do still have a small garden, so I know what a parched garden verses a well-watered garden looks like. I also have the power to turn on the hose of

Why do we fast? Fasting has acquired a bad rep. We think only of going hungry for a day. That is easy. Try fasting from gossip, TikTok, Facebook, Snap Chat, swearing, losing your temper for just one day, let alone 40 days. Then use the gained time for something positive. Not so easy, though you

Moses places a choice before the Israelites—life or death. He begs them to choose life. That seems obvious because who ever chooses death? Daily we make hundreds of choices. Do they result in good or not? Can I take the bus instead of my car? Shouldn’t I use a reusable tote instead of plastic? Did

Today we begin the journey to Easter. Please join me daily for quick reflections. Let’s make this journey together. The prophet Joel says ‘Rend your hearts, not your garments. ‘If I get a tear, rip a seam, or pop a button on a favorite garment, I take the needed time to make a repair. I