Cup o' Joe

Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family - Col 3:12-17,  Luke 2:22-40 On this Feast of the Holy Family, we remind ourselves of two things:  1) this is not the Feast of the Perfect Family, but rather the Feast of the Holy Family.  And in reminding ourselves of that, we look into what holiness is.  And 2) we remember that faith is not certainty.  Faith is walking in the mid...

Readings for the Mass at Night, Christmas - Isaiah 9:1-6;  Luke 2:1-14 Sorry, 4th Sunday of Advent.  You were given the boot in favor of some of the best readings of the year that come later that night.  This week, we carefully and slowly read through two of the most beautiful readings you will ever hear about God's love and desire to be close to us.  Do not be afraid.  Al...

Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Advent - Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11;  John 1:6-8, 19-28 As we draw nearing to the time of The Coming, we turn our focus on ways we can further open ourselves to allow Christ to be born within our hearts and within our worlds.  We also hear John the Baptist confronted by the religious leaders of his day, asking him to answer two questions that are essential in th...

Readings for the 2nd Sunday in Advent - Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11;  Mark 1:1-8 Every Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist is introduced to us.  John, of course, was the precursor pointing away from himself and instead pointing to the One who was bringing the Kingdom.  "In the desert, prepare the way of the Lord."  As we take one step closer to the celebration of God's presence i...

Readings for the First Sunday in Advent - Isaiah 63:16B-17, 19B; 64:2-7  Mark 13:33-37 Welcome to our new liturgical year!  And every year, it can be easy to fall into the idea of Advent being merely birthday planning.  We know a birth is coming up on the 25th and we have some preparations to do in order to celebrate that past event well.  But I urge us all (yes, including myse...

Readings for the Feast (Solemnity!) of Christ the King - Ezekiel 34:11-12; 15-17   Matthew 25:31-46 We conclude our liturgical year with this feast day celebration.  Special Guest, Bridget Zenk, and I explore the idea of what it means to be living under royal leadership; what are steps we can take to help us be more like sheep and less like goats;  and another take on what it m...

Gospel for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 25:14-30 In this liturgical year's last Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear a familiar parable about a master going away on a journey and investing talents in each of his servants.  In today's pod, we break open that idea and ask 1) how can we discern what these talents are and b) to what end are we invited to use them.  Thanks to Mipso...

Readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Wisdom 6:12-16; Matthew 25:1-13 Is there a difference between wisdom and knowledge?  Anyone able to quote Isaiah and the Gifts of the Spirit (think back to our Confirmation!) would say yes, but what exactly is the difference?  Is one more valuable than the other?  And how can it be obtained?  Wonderful questions which our readings...

Readings For the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10; Matthew 23:1-12 Don't come to today's readings for consolation.  Instead, come for strength, because that's what we see from Jesus and that's what he exhorts from us.  Anyone can profess to be a follower of His and proclaim themselves good.  But God knows the heart.  God knows our real intentions.  A...

Readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Exodus 22:20-26; Matthew 22:34-40 We do Jesus a disservice to think that he did not deal with the many struggles we have to deal with today.  He went from conflict to conflict - and we see another one today.  Once again, the Pharisees are trying to trap him.  But once again, he sidesteps their efforts.  And in doing so, Jesus give...

Readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 45:1, 4-6;  Matthew 22:15-21 Two mighty Gentile figures take center stage today, but for different reasons.  Yet both have something very powerful to teach us.  We cannot limit God and we always must be aware of whose image we bear and who or what has our allegiance.   Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition...

Readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 25:6-10a; Matthew 22:1-14 My friends, the readings don't get better than what we hear today.  In two separate images - one from Isaiah and a parable from Jesus - we hear about the goodness and magnanimity of God.  All are invited.  All are welcome.  It's not just an idea - it's the Kingdom of God.  But we must be "wort...

Readings from the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 5:1-7;  Matthew 21:33-43 We hear two stories today that are almost identical - but both hold a hard mirror up to us and invite us to be honest about who we are and where we are within the story.  Where is it that we look for our identity?  And how far are we willing to go to protect that? Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her...

Readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Ezekiel 18:25-28;  Matthew 21:28-32 Jesus tells us a parable - A man had two sons...but it may not be the one that comes to mind when you hear that phrase.  Today we are presented with two ways of being in the world.  We can live inside of our small world, or decide to leave that behind for life in the Kingdom.  Our initial reacti...

Readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 55:6-9;  Matthew 20:1-16a Isaiah reminds us in his word that God's ways are not our ways.  So Jesus tells a parable that emphasizes that very point - the Kingdom of God is like a vineyard owner who goes out at various points of the day to hire workers.  And when the end of the day comes, each one gets paid the same wage.  T...

Readings for 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sirach 27:30-28:7; Matthew 18:21-35 Say what you want about Peter, but he asks good questions.  He gives us another one today - how many times must we forgive?  But Jesus doesn't take the bait.  Instead, Jesus invites Peter to a new vision.  Peter is essentially wondering if there is a time and place where we can set forgiveness aside...

Readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Romans 13:8-10;  Matthew 18:15-20 We set aside the first reading this week (but it's a good one - Ezekiel 33!) in favor of the second reading, where Paul reminds us that Love is the fulfillment of the law.  To the extent that we love, we are fulfilling where the law points us.  But don't confuse love with mere sentiment or soft melodie...

Readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jeremiah 20:7-9;  Matthew 16:21-27 The readings this weekend pick up immediately following where we left off last week - Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is and Peter correctly responds.  But Peter couldn't leave well enough alone.  After Jesus describes where this calling will take him, Peter attempts to talk him out of it.&...

Readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 22:19-23;  Matthew 16:13-20 So often within our lives of faith, we can easily become overwhelmed with data and to-do lists that we can lose our way and forget why we are doing what we are doing.  But really, our faith can be distilled down to two questions - and we get one of them in our Gospel today.  And we need to answer it h...

Readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 56:1, 6-7;  Matthew 15:21-28 This weekend's Gospel is such an interesting one.  We hear and see Jesus presented in a unique manner not otherwise seen in the Gospel.  Jesus shows resistance to the outsider.  Was this a test?  Was it a cultural blind spot?  I don't have that answer.  But what we do know and wha...

Readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a;  Matthew 14:22-33 We get to hear two incredible readings today depicting God with us in the midst of our storms.  Yes, it focuses on God's power over nature.  But it also focuses on our reactions.  Are we able to discern God's presence?  And if we are able, what does that invite us to?  It's not fo...

Paul's Letter to the Romans, Chapter 8, verses 31-39 I know, this weekend is the Feast of the Transfiguration and the above reading is nowhere to be seen (or heard) within the readings we will hear this weekend.  But we've been working up to the above reading for the past 7-8 weeks and it's simply too good to pass by.  So we take a detour this weekend and focus on what may be one of the...

Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 44-52 Jesus presents us yet more parables about what the Kingdom of God is like - this time using images of treasure found and nets in the water.  But the addition that this series of parables give us that the past two weeks did not is our own involvement.  We are active participants in this parable and our decision is crucial.  What is the King...

Gospel for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 13:24-35 Jesus shares with us three more parables, once again using images simple to understand such as planting seeds in a garden, a mustard seed and yeast.  All of these things point us to the Kingdom of God.  They also point us to ourselves.  We are that garden and we are filled with both wheat and weeds.  Jesus says to l...

Readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 55:10-11;  Matthew 13:1-23 This weekend, we are reintroduced to a parable we've heard many times - a sower went out to sow some seed.  And in God's abundance, this seed is thrown hither and yon, recklessly, time and again.  The lavish nature of God knows no bounds.  To what end?  So that some seed may find good ground....