Thoughts and Reflections

Genesis 12:1-4a/ Ps 33(32)/ 2 Timothy 1:8b-10/ Matthew 17:1-9 What would you do if you got a call from someone you love and trust, a best friend, parent, brother, or sister, asking you to do something without explaining fully what it is, or why it needs to be done? All they say is that they need you to trust them. Knowing and trusting them you say of course you will do whatever they ask. They then tell you to leave your job, sell the house, and move to an unfamiliar place. Th

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7/ Ps 51(50)/ Romans 5:12, 17-19/ Matthew 4:1-11 We are now in the season of Lent, we join Jesus in the desert, not a physical desert of sand and stone, but a spiritual desert, forty days that stretch before us like a holy invitation. A time when we walk alongside Jesus into a place of testing, a place of hunger, a place where the devil prowls. Why do we do this? Why would Jesus submit Himself to such hardship? Because Jesus loves us. Though He was fully di

Sirach 15:15-20/ Ps 119(118)/ 1 Corinthians 2:6-10/ Matthew 5:17-37 When we go on a journey to somewhere unfamiliar, we might use a GPS. We enter the destination, the device calculates the route, and off we go. What happens if we ignore the directions? What happens when we think we know better and take a shortcut that turns out not to be a short cut after all? We end up lost, frustrated, and wasting time going in circles. God's commandments are like a GPS system for our lives

Isaiah 58:6-10/ Ps 112(111)/ 1 Corinthians 2:1-5/ Matthew 5:13-16 Have you noticed how some things lose their power when they are not used? A torch sitting in a drawer does nothing for anyone. Salt left in a salt cellar can never enhance a meal. But when these simple things are used, when a torch shines and salt seasons, they can transform things. Today, Jesus gives us two powerful images that reveal exactly who we are called to be, salt and light. Not salt sitting unused in

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13/ Ps 146(145)/ 1 Corinthians 1:26-31/ Matthew 5:1-12a We live in a time when the loudest voices get the most attention, when self-promotion is considered a virtue, when influence is measured by followers and 'likes'. We are surrounded by a culture that tells us to market ourselves, to climb the ladder, to make our mark on the world. The truth we learn today is that God's way is different. The readings today call us to change, they present us with a radic