Once again, Happy Easter! How different today is from Easter last year! It is so good to see so many of you here in person! And, I greet, as well, those of you who, for a variety of reasons, are still joining us virtually. As we come out of the 40-day liturgical Lenten Season, I think we can all agree that it has felt like a yearlong Lent, ever since everything shut down in the face of the coronavirus last March. We have all had our crosses to bear, struggling […]
“Alleluia!” We’ve already sung it several times and now I can say it: Alleluia! We haven’t heard this word for the entire season of Lent but this evening we can shout out “alleluia!” which – as I’m sure you all know – means “Praise God!” We can, indeed, praise God because he has saved us through his son. He has saved us from darkness and fear, from sin and death. And, we can all really embrace this saving work as we continue to struggle in the face of the ongoing […]
As we all slowly and carefully emerge from this yearlong coronavirus pandemic, I’m really looking forward to getting together with my family for Easter. Due to our age or jobs, all of the adults have been vaccinated so we’re finally feeling safe to gather around the dinner table, once again. I imagine that more and more of you are able to safely do this, as well. This year of social distancing has driven home the importance of real flesh and blood contact, and reminded us how much we cherish sharing […]
You know this is a special Sunday when we have two gospels. And, you can’t help but notice how different our two Gospel passages are in tone and sentiment. We began with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the adulation of the crowd, and followed it with Mark’s account of his passion, at the hands of that same crowd.
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he is at first the focus of Israel’s deepest hopes and dreams. Frenzied crowds shout with pleading and joy – Hosanna – which means both, “save us, we […]
“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you.” Do you remember that declaration we heard from God on the first Sunday of Lent? I don’t know about you, but this Lent has gone very quickly for me. It’s hard to believe that next Sunday will already be Palm Sunday! And, the readings have presented us with a consistent theme throughout these five weeks of Lent; it’s the theme of “covenant” – I hope you’ve noticed it. It’s very important to our understanding of God […]
Have you noticed them? The crocuses and daffodils that are beginning to break through the soil and some are even blooming, the rhododendron buds that are starting to bulge, the hint of green in the weeping willows – all of nature is getting ready to delight us, once again, with a glorious spring. As I mentioned at the beginning of our celebration this morning, on this, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we are invited to rejoice. This Sunday has been traditionally known as Laetare Sunday, taken from the entrance antiphon […]
2 Chronicles 36: 14 – 16, 19 – 23
In our first reading this Sunday, we hear the Cliff Notes version of the Old Testament kerygma: God gives people good things, the people sin and are punished, God saves them again. Our brief text is taken from 2 Chronicles. We only hear from the Books of Chronicles once every three years in this single passage so let’s review the who, what, when, where and two whom of these two books. This book was originally given the Greek title of Paraleipomena, which […]
Over the past three weeks, the Sunday readings have reminded us of God’s covenant relationship with us. Remember, a covenant is an agreement between two parties, based on love and calling for a faithful relationship. God has established covenants with us because of his infinite love. He promises to care for us and calls us to be faithful to him. On the first Sunday of Lent, we heard of God making a covenant with Noah, promising him that “there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” This is […]
“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love … [and] offer him up as a holocaust.” These are shocking words to us; we can’t imagine anything so barbaric. But, they would not necessarily have been so for Abraham. Child sacrifice was an accepted practice in Abraham’s time among the pagan religions; even some of the Jewish kings practiced it. But our God does not desire human sacrifice. So, as we hear with great relief in today’s first reading, God stops him! God was putting Abraham to the test, […]
As if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t enough of a worldwide crisis, now we’re struggling with extreme temperature swings and ongoing storms not only here but in unusual spots around the world. Did you see the photograph of the Pantheon in Athens covered with snow? It’s such an unusual event that the place has been packed not with tourists but locals coming to take a look. And, on the other hand, there was recently a tragedy in India where dozens of people lost their lives due to flooding caused by heavy […]