Reflections for Lent

I’ve never been quite sure how you get to be an ambassador. It seems like some unlikely people get to be asked, but I rather doubt I’m on anyone’s list. However it does turn out there is a list I am on. You are too. In our Readings today we hear, for another time, the […]

As we come to the middle of Lent we hear stern words from Jesus (Lk 13:1-9). People are chattering about the latest news. Doubtless they have been catching up on the latest posts from their Facebook friends, or checking their Twitter feed. Maybe some had even been watching CNN or just possibly reading a newspaper,

Last week we spoke about how Moses wanted to emphasize his connection back to his father Abraham, the wandering Aramean. And how we ourselves are connected back to Jesus. Today our first Reading (Gn 15:5-12, 17-18) gives us the central account of that father of Moses, who is our forefather also. We hear how God

“My father was a wandering Aramean”. That’s how Moses describes himself on behalf of the Israelites (Dt 26:4-10). He wanted them to be tied to their history, to their origins. You may be fascinated by your personal history. It seems a lot of people are. I confess I’m a fan of the show ”Finding Your

Our Gospel reading as we start our Lenten season is a familiar one (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18). Jesus is warning us that if our pious practices are intended to raise our status with those around us then they are worse than useless. We are better off to keep our penitence hidden and purely between us and

”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Even if your knowledge of Charles Dickens stops at the Muppets’ Christmas Carol (one of my favorites, I confess) you might also have heard that quote. It’s the opening words of a Tale of Two Cities (the cities being Paris and London). The

Jeremiah is known as the prophet of doom and gloom – and there is plenty of doom and gloom in his writing. It was not an easy time for the Israelites. But it’s not all doom and gloom – in today’s reading we hear Jeremiah foretelling a new start, another covenant: I will place my

The Book of Chronicles gives us a grand sweep of history, with the many times the people of God messed up, and in today’s reading ending with a restart coming from completely outside their control, driven by a foreign emperor. Following this Paul and John bring that same storyline closer to us as individuals –

Today we hear John’s account of Jesus throwing the traders out of the Temple area. We probably associate this incident with Jesus’ final arrival in Jerusalem shortly before his death. The other evangelists do indeed position it at that time. But John treats it differently – he sees a different significance in this event. John

This week of Lent has a somewhat strange and otherworldly character. The world of Abraham is so far distant that child sacrifice was considered acceptable and not surprising. The shock for Abraham was not that he should be asked to sacrifice a child, but that this child was his only one. The child was given