A Psychologist looks at Scripture

Send us Fan Mail This Gospel is very different from all the Gospel stories.  It describes a mystical vision, an experience shared with Jesus, Moses and Elijah and Peter, James and John.  Peter’s offer to build three tents clearly indicates that he didn’t understand what was happening.  His experience is similar to our experience of the Spirit.  We often misunderstand and miss recognizing the Spiri...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Gospel from Mark just simply says Jesus experienced temptations.  We have to look at the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to learn just what those temptations were.  I considered focusing this podcast on those specific temptations.   Upon further reflections I realized it might be a good idea to look at temptations in general first.  The first thing I want to draw your attentio...

Send us Fan Mail In the Gospel Mark describes an encounter between a man with leprosy and Jesus.  There are many things going on here.  We hear a lot about lepers in the time of Jesus and Jesus cured many of them.  Leprosy is a brutal disease.  Not only did the disease attack the body but the leper was excluded from society.   This reminds me of the early days of the AIDS crisis and more recently...

Send us Fan Mail The disciples find Jesus praying.  Jesus had got up before dawn to find time and a place to pray.  The first thing Jesus says is "let us go to the nearby villages".  It may have been tempting for Jesus to stay.  He was successful, the people responded well and people were being healed.  It looked like Jesus had a very successful day.  It would make perfect sense to stay....

Send us Fan Mail We don’t hear very much in present society about unclean spirits.  Its not a term we hear very much about. I like many thought Jesus was talking about evil possession.  I propose that in today’s Gospel the unclean spirit may be aspects of ourselves that undermine our beliefs.  Let me give you some examples to help you understand what I am trying to highlight. Examples of unclean s...

Send us Fan Mail We sometimes hear about the need for repentance.  What exactly does repentance mean for followers of Jesus?  Alongside of the call to repentance in the Gospel is the call to discipleship.  I wonder if there is a connection.  Understanding repentance is an important step in developing our spiritual life. Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us Fan Mail Today's Gospel occurs at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  We learn that community plays an important part in the development of our faith life.   One of the first things that Jesus did was calling disciples to build community.    Pope Francis described the Church as a field hospital for those who are hurting and in need of support.   In this podcast we will look at how...

Send us Fan Mail There is a lot going on in this Gospel.  There are a few points I want to bring to your attention and hopefully useful to you for reflection. Matthew 2:1-12 tells the story of the arrival of the Magi  to honor the birth of the newborn king Jesus.  We don’t know very much about these individuals.     Theologically, they represent the Gentile non-Jewish world. Their presence reminds...

Send us Fan Mail In Luke 2:22-44, Jesus is presented in the Temple.   The presentation of the first born child in the Temple is a routine custom in the Jewish faith in biblical times.  Everything changes with the appearance of Simeon and Anna.   Simeon prophesizes the mission of Jesus and provides for us directions for individuals who desire to live their Christian faith. Complete our 1 Minute Sur...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Gospel focuses on Joseph, the foster father of Jesus.  We don’t hear much about Joseph. The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25 gives us insight to what kind of man Joseph was.  In this Gospel, Joseph learns that Mary, the woman he is betrothed to is pregnant by someone else. Joseph’s response is powerful and based on his values and beliefs not on his emotions.  He does the right th...

Send us Fan Mail John readily admits he is not the Messiah and points out that there is someone more powerful than he who is coming after him.  John clearly knows and is true to his mission .  It is unknown if he knew the Messiah was Jesus.  Likely he didn’t know the Messiah was Jesus until after he baptized Jesus.  We have John recognizing Jesus as the Messiah in John 1:35-37 when he directs two...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Gospel introduces John the Baptist.  We know a lot about him but there is still a lot more we’d like to know.  His mission was to prepare the people to receive Jesus.  His birth was prophesized by the prophet Isaiah 40:1-5,9 and Malachi 3:1-5.  Jesus quotes Malachi in Matthew 11:10 which suggests Jesus recognized John the Baptist as the one prophesized in Isaiah to be the...

Send us Fan Mail This Gospel from Mark is brief and to the point.  Keep watch and be prepared.  At first glance this Gospel sounds God is looking for a chance to catch us unaware.  I seriously doubt that is true but rather this Gospel, like so many others, we are called to be aware of life challenges.   This Gospel might remind you of an earlier Gospel of the 10 bridesmaids 5 were prepared while 5...

Send us Fan Mail The first part of this Gospel Jesus describes the day of judgement were everyone will be put into one of two camps - Sheep or Goats.  My problem is few people are totally good and few people are bad without redeeming qualities.  The second part of the Gospel Jesus points out that being good means being compassionate.   The call to be compassionate is very personal doing good for o...

Send us Fan Mail In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells the story of a man going on a journey and entrusting his property to the care of his servants.  He lends 5 talents to one servant, another two talents and finally one talent to a third servant. The obvious interpretation to this parable is to make use of the talents that God gives us.  They are meant to bring about positive results not buried or den...

Send us Fan Mail Jesus tells the story of 10 bridesmaids.  5 were ready to welcome the groom, with oil in their lamps while the other 5 were not ready.  When the bridegroom was finally coming the five foolish bridesmaids asked the wise ones for help.  They were told go buy some oil for themselves.   When they came back they were not admitted to the wedding feast.  The Gospel ends with the warning...

Send us Fan Mail Today we are focusing on Matthew 23:1-12.   This Gospel focusses on the Scribes and Pharisees.  There are three points I want to bring to your attention.  This Gospel gives us insight about who Jesus is.   It is clear that Jesus has a preference for those are defenseless and the poor.  He criticizes the Pharisees because they did not help those who are heavy burden.   It is clear...

Send us Fan Mail This Gospel is aspirational.  We are called to love God.  As simple as this Gospel is there is a very powerful challenge to love God with our whole heart and soul.  We may feel very broken in our desire to live this Gospel.  It appears absolute and insurmountable.  Wait, there is more!  You are to love our Neighbour as yourself.   Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us Fan Mail The Gospel, Matthew 22:1-14 is the parable of a king inviting people to his son’s wedding.  The story serves as a metaphor for what Heaven is like.  The message is quite radical.  We have a king whose invited guests refuse to come.  It is abundantly clear the king’s invitation is not a priority in their lives.  Everything else is more important.  I The King’s response, however, is...

Send us Fan Mail In this Gospel Jesus is asked by the Pharisees whether the people should pay taxes to their Roman occupiers.  It is a trick question designed to entrap Jesus.   Jesus however uses the opportunity to teach us what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  Complete our 1 Minute Survey

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