Bible

Love God, Love Your Neighbor

The Mass readings for today included Deuteronomy 6:2-6 and Mark 12:28-34. In the first reading, Moses gave the law to Israel to “…love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In the Gospel, Jesus expanded on this by adding, “You shall love your neighbor […]

God Cares Through Suffering

This morning I read the scripture for today and the words from Romans 8:18 hit my heart. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.I thought these were especially meaningful considering my thoughts yesterday on suffering. Also, this was written by Paul, […]

Redemption Through Suffering

Tonight in my Bible class, we finished studying the book of Job. The verse for our prayer and contemplation was Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” As I meditated on these words, my thoughts went immediately to my father. I know that […]

Joy For Jacob

Today was my son Jacob’s birthday. At Mass this morning, the first reading was from Jeremiah 31:7-9. It started, “Thus says the LORD:Shout with joy for Jacob”I poked my sister and we chuckled. A few minutes later, my mom caught the connection as well and poked me. We chuckled too. I thought, I do shout […]

Favorite Psalm

As we finished the book of Psalms in my Bible class, the last homework question was, “What is your favorite Psalm?” This was a tough question as I found so many of them meaningful. I recognized quite a few from my days in the church choir. Then, I recognized even more in the contemporary Christian […]

St. John’s Cave

Many years ago I worked for St John the Evangelist parish. There I met some of the most amazing, faithful, and caring people. Many of them are still friends and we continue to stay in touch. That in itself is a blessing. Today, a friend sent me a picture of the shrine to St John […]

Small Groups

I had my online Bible class tonight. When we met in person for the first 2 years, we met in small groups for the first half hour discussing the homework. As we talked, people shared their faith experiences as well. Last year was online and completely lecture based with no small groups at all. This […]

Psalm 22 Connection

I worked on my Bible class homework tonight and loved getting a deeper understanding of the Psalms. In particular, Jesus quoted the first line of Psalm 22 when he was hanging on the cross. This would have led the people of the day to be reminded of the entire Psalm. It is basically an outline […]

Into the Psalms

I was talking with my sister the other day about what an emotional roller coaster life seems to be at this point in time. This is something that I have been really struggling with during the past few months. I described it as a nightmare that I couldn’t seem to get out of. As much […]

Same Theme

Sometimes I can feel like I am very alone and that perhaps God has forgotten about me and my troubles. Then, if I am listening and paying attention, I hear the same themes over and over again. I take them as messages from God. The reflection I heard on today’s Gospel reminded of that same […]