Scripture: Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1Luke 11:29-32 Reflection: Today’s reading revisits the ancient world’s horrific distinctions between slaves and free people, and the children of slaves and free people. Imagine gathering around a round table today with people from all walks of life. We arrive by jet and car; they come on foot from a river, bearing a gourd of…
Scripture: Wisdom 7:7-11Hebrews 4:12-13Mark 10:17-30 Reflection: Something I have never noticed before is what is missing in Jesus’ listing some of the commandments. He omits the first one, “I, the Lord, am your God . . .you shall not have…
Scripture: Galatians 3:22-29Luke 11:27-28 Reflection: Today’s readings succinctly reveal to us the impact of the messianic message that opens our hearts and minds to faith in Jesus Christ. In the pre-messianic period, the people were “held in custody under the…
Scripture: Galatians 3:7-14Luke 11:15-26 Reflection: A Disciple’s Work is Never Done Dueling banjos. Paul and Jesus really go at it today! Our readings deliver their message with energy, peaceful assurance and challenge. Paul must be frustrated. The seeds he has…
Scripture: Galatians 3:1-5Luke 11:5-13 Reflection: One of the most challenging things Jesus ever said was “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” I’ve struggled with that all my life, and mightily so these past few…
Scripture: Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14Luke 11:1-4 Reflection: A Synod in Rome and One in Galatia The Synod continues in Rome. It is a magnum opus, and we pray that, like at the first Pentecost, people of diverse languages understood the Spirit-filled…
Scripture: Galatians 1:13-24Luke 10:38-42 Reflection: Lessons from Paul on how to write a Curriculum Vitae Paul must have started the Galatian community on his early missionary trip. Other missionaries followed who included in their catechesis the need to follow Jewish…
Scripture: Galatians 1:6-12Luke 10:25-37 Reflection: But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? -Luke 10:29 Rusty was always “going” where he wasn’t supposed to go. I first met Rusty when my father brought…
Scripture: Genesis 2:18-24Hebrews 2:9-11Mark 10:2-16 Reflection: Several months ago, I heard an interview with a medical doctor who had practiced for decades in his small hometown in Minnesota. The interviewer asked him to describe the challenges of his patients who…
Scripture: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17Luke 10:17-24 Reflection: In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the news media was interviewing a woman in North Carolina whose house was flooded by the torrential rains. She looked at the interviewer and said, “I feel…