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Gospel Mark 6:1-6 Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Reflection What Jesus is trying to say in this gospel, is that there is something about the Ministry of Jesus that is very ordinary, meaning that Jesus did not come in some mysterious, mystical way. He was born of a woman. He grew up like the rest of them, slowly growing in wisdom and understanding. They remember him at so many parties and festivals or whatever. He was just one of the ordinary people. And for that ordinary person to be giving the kind of wisdom that he shared with people just didn't make any sense to them. And it's the same with us. God comes to us and works through us in our ordinariness, our imperfection. He uses us as his instrument of resonating his love to other people. And we do it not because we are perfect or have reached some high level of being a lover and a forgiver and a good person. No, he does it through our ordinariness. Closing Prayer Father, your beauty is in your humanity, your honesty, your ability to be approached, your emotional life that is responsive to people's pain. All of this is the natural way in which you see your work being done in the world by each of us, through our ordinariness you do extraordinary work, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark  5:21-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him and a large crowd followed him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat. Reflection In this gospel, we have almost a simultaneous healing of two figures one a woman, one a young girl. And what we see so clearly is Jesus’ power to take away that which robs us of life, be it a disease that debilitates and takes away our energy, or whether it's death itself. And what it seems so clear to me that if you truly believe that, then one of the things that should disappear from our way of seeing the world is fear. Fear is the great enemy, because it tends to tell God that we are frightened and something will be taken from us that we need essentially, and he has promised us he will take care of everything we need. So be aware of fear. And when you feel it, turn that fear into trust, into a God who can do what he promises. But he demands, and asks for faith. Closing Prayer Father, we worry. We have anxieties. We have doubts. And yet we know that this is part of our human nature. But each time we experience these negative feelings, we need to respond to them. Not with a sense of shame, with a sense of having an opportunity to exercise what you ask us to do, to turn away from fear and replace it with trust in God. And we ask this In Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 2:22-40 When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted —and you yourself a sword will pierce— so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Reflection The thing that’s interesting about this gospel is that Simeon and Anna are the two people that had some foresight into what it was that Jesus would become, how he would work in this world. And it's so fascinating that as they explain this to Mary and Joseph, they seem surprised. Like they didn't realize this. Yet they must have known that he was special because of the way he was born. But still, it shows how natural in these stories we see the evolution of God revealing himself into the world it’s the way he does it with each of us, naturally, slowly, insight after insight, until we become fully aware of the mystery of God entering into us and changing everything. Closing Prayer Father, awaken us to the mystery of the incarnation happening within each of us. Help us to be open to the transforming gift to the Holy Spirit's presence that enables us to resonate your love, your life, your truth to those around us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: January 29, 2023 Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13 | 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 | Matthew 5:1-12a Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with our mind and love everyone in truth of heart.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:35-41 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” Reflection What is fascinating about the life of the disciples is that they really didn't understand fully who Jesus was until He died and rose and the Holy Spirit descended upon them. So throughout their life with Jesus, you see them at times being absolutely astonished or afraid. They were either overwhelmed by what he could do or afraid that he wouldn't do what he promised to do. They're so human. And that is the journey. The journey is not that we accept God and then all of a sudden we become perfectly attuned with him or that we understand fully who he is or who he is invited us to be. Keep his patience in this growth process. It is what the kingdom is made up of. People growing, not people having achieved everything, but people growing into who they are meant to be. Closing Prayer Father, you have power. More power than we could ever imagine, yet at times we seem timid in asking your power to be used through us to accomplish what we ask. We ask with a fear that you will not listen or that you can't do this or you're too busy to do this. Give us confidence in your power. You want to share it with us. Let us invite it into our lives and we ask this In Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:26-34 Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” He said, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private. Reflection Jesus often uses in parables the idea of a seed that is entered into us and the seed itself, when it is there, begins to break apart and then bursts into life and something grows that becomes rich and bountiful. It's a beautiful image of the Yes that he asks us to say to him when we grow and understand what it is that he's offering us. The new life, the new way of seeing ourselves in the world. It's not that we say yes to something we fully understand. We say yes to a promise, and when that promise is held within our hearts, trusted in and believed in patiently waiting for the fruitfulness to show. Then we've truly entered the Kingdom of God. Closing Prayer Father, give us patience. Understanding. That when we say yes to you we are believing in a process that takes time. That seems to go forward. Seems to go backwards. Seems that we get better then we get worse. All of that is part of what it takes to be in the Kingdom of God. It's we who say yes, it's God who does the work. And we ask this In Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:21-25 Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible;  nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,  and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given;  from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Reflection Many people wonder why God allows evil in the world, but what it is is an opportunity for us to face the illusion of what evil promises. To expose evil as corrupt and destructive. But the way it exists is usually below the surface, it's not noticed, and it has tremendous power when it's not seen for what it is. And so the Kingdom of God is about exposing evil for exactly what it is. And that's the light of the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us wisdom, understanding, a way of seeing the world where evil makes no sense. That's the reason it's there, because it needs to come into the light and be named for what it is. Closing Prayer Father, give us the courage to look at things that are often hidden. Help us to reflect and see who we are and what we're doing, and ask the spirit to awaken us to what is true and what is false, what is helpful and what is harmful. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 4:1-20 On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, "Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear." And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. He answered them, "The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven." Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no roots; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” Reflection There's a theme that runs through all the parables, through all the teaching of Jesus. Something is offered and that which is offered must be received, longed for, and one should be open and ready to go through any transformation that is necessary for this truth to take root within them. But Jesus pointing out many people do not really want what it promises. They don't want to be changed. They don't want something new. He said, That's why I speak in parables, because I want them to have to look for and try to figure out what I'm saying. And if they're not interested in the depth of what's behind and hidden in these parables, they're not going to listen to anything that is explained to them perfectly. He longs for a quest inside of us all, to hunger for his message, for his truth, and to be willing to be radically changed by it. Closing Prayer Father, create in us a longing, an awareness perhaps of the emptiness that our life might have when we aren't really understanding the role that God has given us in this world. Give us a sense of the emptiness that might be there so that we can find that which fills us, that which gives us purpose and meaning and enthusiasm for all that we are called to be to the people around us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  Mark  3:31-35 The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Reflection Jesus is underscoring a frightening thought that what it takes for us to be able to receive what God is offering through Jesus. We need to know who He is and we need to accept all that He gives. He is our brother. He is the mother that gives us a life. He is the father who has created us. He sees so clearly in his work that his work is the most important thing in his life, more important than himself or his family or anything. He longs to do the work of God, and that is to awaken everyone to God's intimacy with them. Closing Prayer Father, your intention, your longing, is to transform us into being part of a family, a union, a communion that can never be broken. It is life. It is like a family's life to us as a child. So this teaching of Jesus is a life to us as we grow, evolve, and grow in our understanding. Bless us with receptivity. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:22-30 The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.   Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit.” Reflection Power we have over evil is a gift. It is not within us. And the gift comes through a person. Through the words, the actions, the life of a man God named Jesus. If we separate ourselves from him, if we're divided against him, if we choose not to allow him to do anything for us, we cannot claim that we have the gift of freedom from sin. We’ll be caught in the sin. But when we deny the source of forgiveness and say we refuse to accept it, of course we are still then without forgiveness. To say no to this gift is insane, and evil is insane. Closing Prayer Father, all you ask is our openness to receive the gifts that you offer us, that you won at a great price. Help us never to resist these gifts, never to deny who you are in us, lest we fall into a place of darkness. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Original Airdate: January 22, 2023 Isaiah 8:23—9:3 | 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 | Matthew 4:12-23 Almighty, everliving God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure that, in the name of your Beloved Son, we might be found in good works.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:20-21 Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Reflection How did Jesus deal with his critics? I think it might have been easier for him to deal with the critics of the temple because they were seen in his mind as those who were very, very dangerous and needed to be silenced. But this opens up another way of understanding the tension that he lived in, and that is to lose his family's support, to be called crazy, out of your mind. It just reminds us that when we are taught to be the instrument of God's teaching, we need to have a commitment that isn't weakened by criticism. We expect to be criticized when we speak the truth by those who live in lies. Closing Prayer Father, give us the confidence in the commitment that you have given to us to manifest your teaching your truth to those around us. Help us to do it, not so much by telling them where they're wrong, but by awakening them to something they see within us. Help us to be the message, not just talk about it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:13-19 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. Reflection It's clear that Jesus wanted his message to continue and he needed teachers. And the best way to describe the word apostle is that they are the ones who do the teaching. But before they can become apostles, they have to be disciples. Disciples are learners. And when you think about these 12, they had the experience on a daily basis for a very long time to be around Jesus. I think it's interesting that they learned more by watching him wondering about him than they did about his telling them what to say. It's the same with us. We have to first listen and learn, and that experience. Closing Prayer Father, you give us two roles that we never, never lose. We're always learning and we're always proclaiming what we learn, what we believe in, what we trust in. Help us to sense the gifts that you have given us. We are always working with you for the world. That is the thing that gives us purpose. That is the thing that gives us value. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:7-12 Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known. Reflection It was more difficult for people to understand the heart of the teaching of Jesus, that he was really presenting himself as the son of man, a human being filled with divinity. And when they wanted to make him God, that was blocking the whole notion of what he’s come to reveal. He's not telling us that we can be gods. Nor is he saying all that God needs to do is come here and heal and fix everybody. No, the work is us being filled with divinity and then doing what Jesus did. That's the heart of the message to become an instrument of healing through us, not from us. Closing Prayer God's plan is not that we become perfect. That we lose our humanity. Our humanity is a key ingredient, our sinfulness, are our shortcomings are key ingredients in keeping us in the place that God longs for us to be as an instrument of his power, working through us, and not that we become the source of the power. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 3:1-6 Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us." Then he said to the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. Reflection It's rare in a gospel passage that we have an insight into what Jesus was feeling. This one is very interesting. He was experiencing the resistance from the church that he came to transform, and it made him sad and he was grieving it. At the same time, he was really angry. And what I believe is so important in this is to realize that Jesus had the same longings that we have for the freedom from those things around us that seem to be blocking us from the greatness, the beauty of who God is in our life. It's all right to be angry and to be sad that the world is where it is and teaches the things that it teaches that keep us from the kingdom. But you have to know that you have, as Jesus did, the power to heal and to bring life.  Closing Prayer Hypocrisy was one of the things that we could see clearly that Jesus was revealing as he worked with the Pharisees. They acted as if they were living the life that God had called them to through the temple discipline. But they weren't anywhere near what they were supposed to be. This was the sadness in Jesus, not so much that they didn't believe in him, but that they wouldn't receive what he offered. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices