THE TOUCH THAT HEALSWisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43 Sue Knutson was hiking alone in the mountains when her foot slipped between two boulders. She felt sharp pain in her ankle, and then collapsed on her back.Miles from civilization, Knutson, a nurse, held her leg in the air and used the only resource available—her hands—to reduce the swelling and shooting pain. She held her hands a few inches from her ankle and breathed deeply and slowly. The pain began to ebb, and after thirty minutes she was able to limp to the road unassisted. At the
LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE…?Job 38:1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41 Monty had severely handicapped limbs, the result of polio. Through dogged determination, he got a degree and a job. Then he developed a vision problem; doctors discovered that his retinas were becoming detached. Monty found himself facing blindness and immobility. We can identify with Monty’s experience. There is so much turmoil and suffering in our lives. When we think things have quieted down, more turmoil erupts. We wonder how much more can we take! That’s probably the unasked question in the disciples’ minds in today’s gospel!The incident happens
START UP!Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34 Jeff Bezos started an online bookstore in his garage in Bellevue in 1994. Today, Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer.Larry Page and Sergey Brin started a search-algorithm project in a friend’s garage in 1998. Today, Google is the most trafficked site in the world.In 1976, twenty-year-old Steve Jobs hand-built fifty computers in a garage in Cupertino. Today, Apple is the most valuable tech company in the world. Everything starts small, including the kingdom of God! It is a startup! In the gospel, Jesus gives two images of the kingdom.The first image
MISUNDERSTOOD!Genesis 3:9-15; 2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1; Mark 3:20-35 A teen wrote: “I feel misunderstood. When I have difficult things going on in my life, I can’t talk to anyone in my family about it; they usually tell me that they get what I’m feeling. They don’t. Has anyone else had the same experience or am I crazy for having these emotions?”An adult said: “I feel trapped in a world that judges me at every turn and yet never bothers to try to help or understand.” Sounds familiar? Have you ever been misunderstood? Has anyone taken your words/motives and twisted them around?
LIVE THE EUCHARISTExodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Some years ago, some students were standing at the entrance of their college of theology. A woman, dishevelled and distraught, came running and pleaded with them to save her. She had escaped from a nearby quarry where she was a bonded labourer; she had been beaten and branded. Incredibly, her “master” was a devout Catholic who came for the Eucharist every Sunday; he was esteemed in the church and a noted philanthropist.During communion one Sunday, a lady was nudged by the lady behind her. She snarled at her, abused her, and
THE HOLY TRINITYCELEBRATE-IMITATE OUR 3-IN-1 GODDeuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20 Multi-tasking is a way of life today… with many multi-function devices to help us! Think about the 3-in-1 stylus-laser pointer-pen. AIO printers print-copy-scan-fax. Today’s smartphones do virtually everything! With all these multi-functioning devices, it shouldn’t be difficult to accept the notion that one God can exist as three persons! Our God is “multi-function” (though we ought not to reduce God to function)! It is proper to attribute the work of creation to the Father; the work of healing and redemption to the Son; and the work of guidance
THE CUSHION OF THE SPIRITActs 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25; John 20:19-23 A submarine, under test, had to remain submerged overnight. A terrible storm hit the coast and battered the ships in the harbour.The next morning, when the sub resurfaced, the harbour master asked the captain: “How did the storm last night affect you?”The captain looked at him in surprise: “Storm? We didn’t even know there was one!”The sub had reached an area sailors call the “cushion of the sea.” Though the winds battered the ships at the harbour, they never stirred the deep waters; the submarine
PASSING THE BATONActs 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23 or 4:1-13; Mark 16:15-20 The 4×100 relay is a thrilling event. The most exciting/important time is the baton exchange; many races have been lost because of poor exchanges. Since 1988, US quartets have been disqualified or haven’t finished the event eleven times at the World Championships and the Olympics – even though they had the fastest runners – because of botched baton exchanges. The Ascension is Jesus passing the baton to his disciples in the great human and Christian race. He has prepared them over three years and especially over the 40 days after
TOTAL SELF-GIFTActs 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1 John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17 In his book Love is a Costly Thing, Dick Hillis describes a mother he encountered during a trip to Africa: “She was lying on the ground, holding a tiny baby in her arms. I put a cooked sweet potato into her hand; it was all I had. Her strength was almost gone, but her tired eyes acknowledged my gift. Taking a bite, she chewed it carefully. Then, placing her mouth over her baby’s mouth, she forced the soft warm food into the tiny throat. Although she was starving, she used
REMAIN IN MEActs 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8 A few days ago, our gardener was trimming the plants. There was something noticeable about the trimmed parts on the ground. Within minutes these started wilting and soon died.Now one might say: “Duh! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that! Obviously, a branch/twig cannot live apart from the plant.”True! But seeing the wilted and dying twigs drilled home this truth. Jesus uses this fact of nature as a metaphor for Christianity. In his farewell discourse in John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: “I am the vine, you are the
