Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 20, 2021

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Don’t be afraid; God is with you

Gospel: Mark 4:35–41
He asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

One can continue to live in the world of fear and chaos, seeing oneself orphaned or alone without the power of God, living in a world controlled by the power of Satan or the demonic. Or one can be open to hearing the message and promise of this Jesus in whom we are told that the kingdom of God has come into our midst and now offers a whole new future for our world and for our lives.

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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 13, 2021

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What nature teaches us about the kingdom of God, and God’s care for us

Gospel: Mark 4:26–34
What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?

If there is some overall wisdom to be gleaned from parables, it is this: God’s ways are not our ways. … The struggle for the kingdom is carried out in our divided hearts, where we sometimes mutter “‘Thy kingdom come’ without fully realizing that we might have to pray ‘My kingdom go’”.

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The Body and Blood of Christ, June 6, 2021

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Gratitude for all God has done for us and for Jesus’ gift of Himself must lead to action

Gospel: Mark 14:12–16, 22–26
While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.

We can work to fulfill what this meal symbolizes—reconciliation and community, welcome to sinners and strangers, God’s embrace of all God’s creatures.

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Trinity, May 30, 2021

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The Triune God is always with us. We have been commissioned by Jesus to evangelize.

Gospel: Matthew 28:16–20
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Jesus commissions not perfect disciples, but people who both worship and doubt as they stand at the edge of the world that is passing away and the one that is coming to them.

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Pentecost, May 23, 2021

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The Spirit of God is always with every one of us

Gospel: John 19:20–23
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”

The Spirit isn’t up ahead of us, cleaning out and arranging our heavenly quarters for our arrival—someday. Rather, the Spirit is here and now, urging us out to work at community building, peace and justice, love and reconciliation; helping us overcome destructive addictions, opening our eyes to God, so present in the world around us—in others, nature and in the wonders of our own beings.

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