Cup o' Joe

Readings for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Job 38:1, 8-11;  Mark 4:35-41 With apologies to Jim Morrison and The Doors, I've got to borrow the title.  Jesus invites his followers to leave one side behind, get in a boat and travel to someplace new - on the other side.  But what happens, as so often does, is that we experience storms, upheaval, fear along the way.  What d...

Readings for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Ezekiel 17:22-24;  Mark 4:26-34 Today we hear three separate parables - one from Ezekiel and two from Jesus.  All remind us how God continues to work on our behalf, often without any knowledge or help from us.  God not only goes before us to prepare the way, but God fans to flame the seed within us that is the Holy Spirit, inviting...

Readings for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Genesis 3:9-15;  Mark 3:20-35 We talk about two things today (sorry - at length!  I know, I have to get these pods back down towards 20 minutes!  It's on my radar): how we are back in Ordinary Time and exactly what that means for us and 2) the story of the fall of humanity and how that is not just something set in the past.  It's...

Readings for the Feast of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ: Exodus 24: 3-8; Mark 14:12-16; 22-26 On this feast, we recall not only the words of Jesus, but the words of Moses - and what that sacrifice demands of us.  We are not mere observers of God's action.  We participate.  And that is wonderful and scary.  We are meant to be taken, blessed, broken and shared.  O...

Readings for the Feast of the Holy Trinity - Deuteronomy 4:32-34; 39-40; Matthew 28:16-20 Brothers and sisters, no matter how hard we try, we will never wrap our minds around the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.  And that's ok.  God didn't make us to do that.  But that doesn't mean that we don't experience it's reality in our midst everyday.  And it also doesn't mean that we can...

Readings for the Feast of Pentecost - Acts 2:1-11;  John 20:19-23 This weekend, we celebrate one of the high feast days of the Church - the coming of the Spirit to the early Christian gathering.  How did the Spirit come?  Well, through a strong driving wind in an upper room, of course.  We hear that in Acts.  Or was it through the breath and forgiveness of Jesus that Easte...

Readings for the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus: Acts 1:1-11;  Mark 16:15-20 We hear two different accounts of the ascension of Jesus in today's readings - one from Luke, one from Mark.  And while there may be differences between them, both point to the same idea:  Jesus trusts you and I.  We have been prepared.  The mission and ministry is now in our hands.  Are we...

Readings for the 6th Sunday in Easter - Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48;  I John 4:7-10;  John 15:9-17 All three readings are too good to set one aside - and a common thread runs through all three.  What, exactly, does love look like?  The answer, particularly in the first reading, will surprise you.  And if it doesn't, I'm not sure I did a good job explaining it... Special th...

Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - Acts 9:26-31;  John 15:1-8 The further we get from Easter, the less "Eastery" our readings sound.  Today we hear of Paul attempting to find his footing in Jerusalem among the apostles and Jesus speaking to us of grapes and vines and fruit that will remain.  But what does this have to do w/ the celebration of Easter?  What lessons are we...

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Acts 4:8-12;  John 10:11-18 Peter follows closely in the footsteps of Jesus in our readings today - both through his actions and then as fearlessly speaking the truth to power.  But what he reminds the leaders of Israel is also good for us to recall - that in the economy of God, nothing is useless.  There is nothing that need be thrown away...

Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter - Acts 3:13-15, 17-19  Luke 24:35-48 Special Guest, Eileen Piper (VP of Life Long Missions at FOCUS Ministries) joins Joe to help break open to Scriptures for this Third Sunday of Easter.  Within we hear how nothing can keep us from the love and forgiveness of our God.  Acts puts those words into Peter's mouth, while the Gospel shows us what for...

Readings for the Feast of Divine Mercy - Acts 4:32-35;  John 20:19-31 On this Second Sunday of Easter, we focus on the Divine Mercy of our God.  What, exactly, does that Divine Mercy look like?  It looks like peace in the midst of our fear and doubt and hurt and despair and darkness.  Christ enters into our spaces, our tombs, not because we deserve it but because God's life and...

Readings from the Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday - Romans 6:3-11;  Mark 16:1-7 Easter stands out from the rest of the Church's liturgical year as the high point.  And while it may stand out, it does not stand apart.  Easter walks hand in hand with Good Friday.  And so it's only appropriate that the readings we hear this day are from Holy Saturday - that place where Good Friday a...

Readings for Passion (Palm) Sunday - Isaiah 50:4-7;  Philippians 2:6-11;  Mark 11:1-10 The readings carry the power today, as we enter into this holiest of weeks.  And so because of that, we hear all three.  What do they have to say to us today, all these years later?  And what can we carry with us this week to ponder as we walk alongside Jesus?  Two main focuses this...

Readings from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jeremiah 31:31-34;  John 12:20-33 I know, I know - I'm not getting any shorter, and I promised you quicker podcasts.  You may have to get me to put that in writing.  But these readings are too good to leave at a surface level.  And they have much to say to us about Lent.  My friends, if this Lent has not been all you've hop...

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) - 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23;  John 3:14-21 Our readings directly name two incidents and Jesus alludes to a third where the darkness present seemed insurmountable.  But in each case, God shows up in a unique, surprising and unexpected way - reminding us that there is nothing that God cannot redeem and make good.  We have reac...

Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent - Exodus 20:1-17;  John 2:13-25 The readings we hear today are long, but they are packed.  In the first reading, Moses gives the Law to the Hebrew people - the 10 Commandments.  And while it can be easy to think of all as equal (and perhaps they are), I think one, maybe two, rise above the others.  And one of these may surprise you.  O...

Readings for the Second Sunday in Lent - Romans 8:31b-34;  Mark 9:2-10 Every First Sunday of Lent, we hear the same story - Jesus in the desert.  The same is true for the Second Sunday of Lent where we hear the story of the Transfiguration.  Today we get Mark's version.  But in truth, it's pretty similar to Matthew and Luke.  Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mou...

Gospel for the First Sunday in Lent - Mark 1:12-15 Jesus, having just been baptized in the Jordan River, is driven by the Spirit into the desert, to spend 40 days attempting to discern what it means to be the Beloved Son and what that calls Him to.  And so we enter this same period - 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  40 days set aside to listen to the same Spirit, driving us an...

My apologies for the glitch that caused this to be loaded 36 hours later than usual! Readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Lev 13:1-2; 44-46;  Mark 1:40-45 Our readings tie together very easily this weekend, focusing in on the purity laws of Leviticus, specifically dealing with leprosy.  Yet in the Gospels, Jesus doesn't stay distant.  Instead, Jesus touches the leper and...

Readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Job 7:1-4, 6-7;  Mark 1:29-39 Is not humanity's life on earth a drudgery?  So begins our first reading out of the Book of Job this week.  And it doesn't really lighten up from there.  We hear of Job questioning the meaning of life and the presence of suffering in the world.  And while we may not live at that level very often,...

Readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Deuteronomy 18:15-20;  Mark 1:21-28 The first reading today speaks of how God will raise up a prophet from within their "own kin" to lead the people - and points directly at Jesus in our Gospel today, who speaks and acts with authority.  So if our readings all speak about Jesus and his role, what do they have to say to us?  Only this -...

Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jonah 3:1-5, 10;  Mark 1:14-20 We pick up today where we left off last week - God's invitation and humanity's response.  Today, we hear about Jesus at the beginning of His ministry inviting those around Him to reprioritize their lives.  Rethink who they are and what they are about.  And in doing so, what does that invite us to leav...

Readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19;  John 1:35-42 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time?  What happened to the First Sunday?  No time for that nonsense - we are off and running.  Jesus has been baptized and he is about the work of the Kingdom.  First item of business?  Gather those interested in helping him with that task.  Will you hear...

Readings for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord - Isaiah 60:1-6;  Matthew 2:1-12 On this feast when we hear of the Magi following the light of a star, we hear Isaiah remind us that darkness continues to cover the earth and thick clouds cover the peoples.  This reading, which was written over 2500 years ago, continues to ring true today.  Yet light shines all around us, if we have...