It is a frustrating time to be who we are.
We don’t hear the scriptures like we hear other stories and speeches and wise insights; the scriptures are our own possession, a living word that reveals God to us. In these scriptures we find God’s vision for humanity and what He encourages us to freely choose to be as individuals, as communities, and as humanity itself. And particularly today,
[All public liturgies in the State of Ohio are currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will be one part homily and one part pastoral message to my parishioners.]
When I’m doing a baptism this is the Gospel passage that I usually read, and I always wonder if people are listening close enough to catch the oddity of the first line. The eleven disciples went to Galilee. Not the twelve, but the eleven. The reason it is the eleven disciples is
The 5th Sunday of Easter [All public liturgies in the State of Ohio are currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will be one…
[All public liturgies in the State of Ohio are currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will be one part homily and one part pastoral message to my parishioners.]
The gospel says that Christ, who is the shepherd, will call his sheep and they will follow because they know his voice. And Christ the shepherd leads his sheep to none other than himself, to Christ the gate, through which his sheep find pasture. As a gospel parable, this is more than just imagery, this is something that should speak to our experience of life. So have you heard the voice of the shepherd, and have you followed into his life?
[All public liturgies in the State of Ohio are currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will be one part homily and one part pastoral message to my parishioners.]
For completely disconnected reasons this week I had several encounters with people wondering the same question. Sometimes the question was explicitly asked and put in words, not to seek an answer but just to express emotions. Sometimes the question wasn’t on their lips but from everything else they said and did I knew it was in their mind.
