Friday after Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:1-9a, Matthew 9:14-15 In today’s readings, Isaiah takes on the custom of fasting head-on. Then, in the gospel reading, John the Baptist’s disciples challenge Christ on fasting, but he uses it as a chance to reveal his own nature and thereby reflect on the entire …
Thursday after Ash Wednesday: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Luke 9:22-25 It’s not the choice you’re probably thinking about; it’s more fundamental than that. It’s the freedom to choose to live in the light or to live in the darkness, and God guarantees us this freedom. This freedom is carried out in myriad …
What’s Going on with this Blog? After I published a few posts, I had a conversation with my mom about the blog. She knows me as a writer who has spent a good portion of his career doing PR and marketing work. In short: someone who writes persuasively, hopefully with …
Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 The readings today certainly set the stage for Lent, as you’d imagine they might on Ash Wednesday. In the gospel reading, Jesus instructs on the appropriate way to pray and fast. This is part of his long sermon that starts …
Tuesday, 7th Week of Ordinary Time: James 4:1-10 and Mark 9:30-37. What a nice connection between the two readings today. James asks in his letter “where do the conflicts among you come from?” and likewise we hear Jesus ask “What were you arguing about on the way?” The answer in …
Monday, 7th Week of Ordinary Time: Mark 9:14-29 Today’s reading was that great one from St. Mark where Jesus, Peter, James, and John come down from the mountain of the Transfiguration to find their disciples in a bit of a ruckus with the scribes. As I read and listened, it …
