Reflections for August 2020

Jesus gives us a daunting challenge: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Denying ourselves and taking up a cross sounds pretty tough. Coupled with Jeremiah’s lament “All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me” this really doesn’t sound like something we […]

Jesus’ famous play on words “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church” (Peter and rock are the same word in Aramaic) has always been seen as the basis for papal authority. It’s not very clear what Jesus had in mind when he referred to “his church” – the concept is

Prejudice and discrimination between different groups of people is as old as human history. There was plenty of it in the history of the Israelites. Isaiah stands out as a prophet recognizing the universality of God’s love and redemption. We hear today one account of many where he emphasizes the universality of God’s kingdom. The

Last week we had a large scale miracle – the feeding of thousands. This week we have a miracle at the opposite end of the scale – only a few disciples are involved. Miracles in some way show the power of Jesus. But that power comes in many different shapes and sizes. In the case

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Today we hear Paul’s strident affirmation that there is no power in heaven or earth that can separate us from the love of God. Christ’s power is total and nothing can stand against it. Isaiah tells us that anyone can come and eat and drink what