Pastor’s Column 18th Sunday Ordinary Time July 31, 2022 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Luke 12:13-21 What’s wrong with this picture? A man has been a successful farmer and is ready to retire, with more wealth than he could possibly ever use. He didn’t come by it by cheating others. In fact, he has acquired so much that he needs to build more barns to store it all.

Pastor’s Column 17th Sunday Ordinary Time July 24, 2022 What if there are at least ten there?” He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.” Genesis 18:22 Today’s first reading is one of the most intriguing in the entire Old Testament. Abraham is having a conversation with the Lord as he visits the ancient city of Sodom, located near the Dead Sea (Genesis 18:20-32). Scholars have long been intrigued by the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and

Pastor’s Column 16th Sunday Ordinary Time July 17, 2022 I truly love the realism in Sunday’s gospel about the story of Jesus’ good friends Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Like so many of us have done, Martha and Mary have invited someone they loved over to the house, in this case Jesus, and they each tried to make him feel at home in their own way: Martha cooks for Jesus and the disciples, and Mary listens. Or—from Martha’s point of view, Mary sits and does nothing while Mar

Pastor’s Column 15th Sunday Ordinary Time July 10, 2022 “For this commandment which I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. It is not up in the sky that you should say, ‘Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it so that we might carry it out?’ Nor is it across the sea …. No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Deuteronomy 30:10-14 (1st reading at Mass) When I wa

Pastor’s Column 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 3, 2022 As someone who once found lost luggage for a major airline and spoke frequently to irate passengers, I always find it interesting that Christ gives the advice to “take no traveling bag” to his disciples (good airline travel advice today too!). This must be a very important principle indeed because Jesus actually gives this advice twice in the gospel of Luke – once to the 12 apostles when they are commissioned to go out