Cup o' Joe

Readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; John 1:29-34 If you're like me, it can be easy to fall into the trap of praying to God and assuming God will do all the work.  I'll sit by and spectate while God does the heavy lifting.  And while that hold seeds of truth (it is always God's action and not ours), God needs our assistance.  God needs our yes.  For...

Readings for the Feast of the Epiphany: Isaiah 60:1-6; Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12 Sometimes God is hidden in plain sight - we simply have to have the eyes to see.  But it's not that easy.  To be pulled and stretched into a larger image and understanding of God, we have to let go of previous images, take God off the shelf on which we've placed God, and re-think our understandings.  It...

Readings for the Feast of Mary, Mother of God (Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 16-21) For eight full days following Christmas Day, the Church celebrates what is called the Octave of Christmas.  Eight days of Christmas!  This eight day period ends every year with the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.  But why does the Church do this?  Why is Mary held in suc...

Readings from the Mass at Night, Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:1-6; Gospel of Luke 2:1-14 (The Message translation) God's Word carries all the power this week.  God, in God's great vulnerability and desire to not remain distant, is born into the chaos of a stable and into the chaos of our world.  That alone is worthy of celebration.  But it was not a one time event.  What we celebrat...

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent - Isaiah 7:10-14; Matthew 1:18-24 My friends, the time of waiting is coming to an end.  But just what is the purpose?  What exactly are we waiting for and why do we celebrate it?  Ambrose and Duns Scotus would tell you - it's all in the name.   Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for our intake and outtake music.  Have a comment, cr...

Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10;  Luke 11:2-11 Our readings today invite us to look for God in places we don't expect - like dry deserts or unforeseen happenings.  John the Baptist couldn't understand what Jesus was doing - so much so that he began to doubt whether he was right to point to Jesus as the One to come.  But Jesus gently reminds John what the...

Second Sunday of Advent - Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12 Matthew puts the favorite phrase of Jesus into the mouth of John the Baptist today: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"  This phrase most likely does not mean what you think it means.  It is not calling us to individual penitence.  Instead, it is inviting us to think differently.  To reimagine our world. ...

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent - Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 24:37-44 Human nature is to look for God in ways that God has come to us (individually or collectively) in the past.  "God did it this way in Scripture, so that is the way God will do it again." Or "I experienced God in this place in the past.  So I have to keep going back to that place to find God again."  Maybe those...

The Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe - 2 Samuel 5:1-3; Luke 23:35-43 Hey listen, who am I to disparage a Grammy award winning, multi platinum recording artist?  Mad props to Lorde.  But she got it wrong.  When we talk about Royals, it's not about Cristal, Maybach or diamonds on our timepieces.  No gold teeth or Grey Goose.  It's about dying so anot...

The Readings for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mal 3:19-20a; Luke 21:5-19 We are nearing the end of the liturgical year, and so the readings have a feel of looking toward the end of time.  But are they really?  In fact, they have already happened.  And are happening right now.  And will happen then, too, whenever "then" is.  For our worlds are continually changing and...

Readings from the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time:  2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14;  Luke 20:27-38 With apologies to The Boss and the blatant rip-off of the title off of one of his albums, today we look deeper into resurrection.  The idea of resurrection had to grow within Judaism...it wasn't there from the beginning.  And so even in Jesus's time, there were those who didn't believe in i...

Readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time: Wisdom 11:22-12:2; Luke 19:1-10 Listeners today get my best Shrek impression (which, frankly, isn't that great) - but it invites us deeper into Scripture using a wonderful story of a short man looking to see Jesus.  If we find ourselves within these readings, then we, too, have to ask - what boundaries keep me from seeing Jesus?  And what am...

Readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18;  Luke 18:9-14 Thankfully, God loves us all equally.  But God seems to have a unique love for the poor, the orphan, the widow.  I can't pretend to fully understand what that is about, but it seems to come from a place of genuine need.  The destitute have no need for pretensions or to put on airs.  Their...

Readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Ex 17:8-13; Luke 18:1-8 Jesus speaks to us about the topic of prayer once again using a parable, but this one can be a bit muddy.  Combining the first reading with the Gospel, are we to understand using prayer to mow down our enemies?  Do we have to cajole God to get what we want?  Prayer can be a mystery.  This week, we attempt t...

Readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2 Kings 5:14-17; Luke 17:11-19 Today we break open a story you know inside and out - but it's about so much more than mere gratitude.  It invites us to know ourselves and to trust those needs to a God that  knows our deepest needs even more than we do, to move forward in trust that the unseen can happen and to know that our salvation lies i...

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4;  Luke 17:5-10 When Jesus called Peter out of the boat, everything in Peter's understanding of the world around him told him that this was foolish.  No human can walk on water. But what Peter chose was to believe in the vision of the One who called him out.  And so he took a step.  That's not the Gospel we hear today, but it...

The readings for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Amos 6:1a, 4-7;  Luke 16:19-31 Unlike last week's readings, this one is not hard to interpret.  In fact, it hits us right between the eyes.  Don't listen to these readings or this podcast unless you are ready to be trapped in the truth.  Both Amos and Jesus reach across the centuries to speak to us here, today.  Give us e...

The Readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Amos 8:4-7; Luke 16:1-13 Last weekend, we heard Jesus give us three parables that were fairly straight forward and easy to understand pointing us toward who God is and how God views the lost.  This weekend, Jesus gives us another parable that is much harder to wrap our minds around, but it points toward the same place.  And so to help us...

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, verses 1-32 I read the long version of the Gospel for this weekend's 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  You may hear the short version at Mass, but it's too good to pass up.  Today Jesus, in the form of story telling, reminds us who God is, how God is, and who we are and the value we carry.  All of us.  No exceptions.  It's too good to miss. Origina...

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 14, verses 25-33 Just one reading today, but one is enough to challenge us on many fronts.  Jesus confronts the throngs following Him and draws a line in the sand and asks us which side do we wish to be upon?  We're either all in or we're not.  God can work with either side but it's those in the middle that are pretending something that God can't work with.&n...

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Luke 14:1, 7-14 There is a clear thread through our readings today that speaks about humility.  And since that connection is so obvious, we explore what humility is and what it is not in this episode.  But there is a parable at the end where Jesus invites us to ask, who is around our table?  And why is that important both to them and to us? Original Score...

Isaiah 66:18-21;  Luke 13:22-30 On this 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, the readings are filled with both incredibly good news and incredibly hard news.  And both are true.  Everyone is invited.  All are welcome.  Nations from the north, south, east and west will stream toward the Lord's holy mountain.  All peoples will be gathered in the Kingdom!  But the way is n...

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10;  Luke 12:49-53 In these readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we look into the role of prophet, and the rewards a prophet reaps.  It's no walk in the park, Kazansky.  Oh yeah, you and I have been baptized into that role, too. Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Wisdom 18:6-9; Luke 12:32-48 Usually when we talk about thieves, our minds turn to sinister activities and nefarious individuals.  Not today.  In this episode, we are invited to take stock of those walls we put up to keep out the very Thief that desires to get in.  And why do we do so?  And perhaps most importantly, can that Thief be trusted so as to tear down the walls that we...

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23   Luke 12:13-21 What is it we seek?  What do we possess and what possesses us?  In the end, does any of this matter?  Heady questions, but Jesus (and Qoheleth) walk us down that path this week.   Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk