Author: The Anchorite

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The End Is Coming! Rejoice! (Really!)

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C): Luke 21:5-19

 

Here are a few quick scenarios. See what images and emotions arise in your minds as you read each of them.

“Just wait until your father comes home!”

In today’s mail, you find a friendly note from the IRS, inviting you to an audit of your taxes from last year.

You have an appointment to see your doctor. You know that you have gained weight since your last appointment and have done very little of what your doctor advised you to do last time. Continue reading “The End Is Coming! Rejoice! (Really!)”

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And Who Went Home Justified?

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C): Luke 18:9-14

I realize as I get older that I have difficulty meeting so-called normal people. I don’t know what to talk about. I can fool around at the dinner table with people with disabilities, but I can see that I am becoming marginalized. I know it is important to speak to the wider world. But it is not always easy when you discover you are living in      two worlds.  – Jean Vanier

Oh, so it’s that story again.  The Pharisee and the tax collector.

“Yeah, yeah, Father, we know all about it”, you might say.  “The Pharisee is boasting, and the tax collector is humble.  God blesses the humble and not the proud. We’re glad that this boastful Pharisee got his nose put down in the end.”

Are you? Are we?

You see, there’s a problem here.  We can rattle off the “correct” answer to this parable of Jesus in our sleep.  But…  but… when it comes to anything that affects our practical, everyday lives, most of us choose the Pharisee.  Every. Single. Time. Continue reading “And Who Went Home Justified?”

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Amalek and Allegory

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C): Exodus 17:8-13

 

Have you ever read a passage from the Scriptures and wondered what relevance it could have to your life today?

If so, your challenge is hardly new or unique. Many people will come across stories from the Scriptures that seem far removed from their lives, or that seem (at first glance) to teach or promote values that are not in harmony with the fullness of truth that Christ has revealed to us. Continue reading “Amalek and Allegory”

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With Gratitude and Love

In my last post, I, normally a reserved person, hung a portion of my heart out there online for all to see.  I did this, not because I enjoy doing so, but because of my faith that the Lord’s power comes to perfection in and through our weaknesses, as He said to Saint Paul.  Not in our strengths.  Not in our masks or pretenses. But in our vulnerabilities, those things that our world calls “weaknesses”.  The Lord has confirmed this in my life before, time and time again.  He has confirmed it, BIG time, this past weekend. Continue reading “With Gratitude and Love”