Today’s readings have some of the raw materials of every great James Bond story. Bond’s success depends on his meetings with Q, who equips 007 with the tools he’ll need to accomplish his mission. “Equips” is the key word here…
Those weren’t lepers in today’s readings. They were sightless—blind as Helen Keller. But by God’s grace, some were given visibility of who they were in relation to God—and to their neighbors. And like Helen Keller, their breakthrough moment was the…
The Grand Canyon is on many bucket lists of “things to see before you die.” Of course before venturing out to this site from some hotel or campground, who wouldn’t want to start the day with a nice breakfast? Maybe…
There’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy—but always an important moral in both. The parable of the rich man who winds up in hell while the poor man he ignored to death ends up in God’s eternal presence is…
Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah but what’s confusing you Is just the nature of my game. Mick Jagger could have had Jesus in mind when he wrote “Sympathy for the Devil.” At least he…
A coupon has no intrinsic worth other than the value a manufacturer prints on it. A penny isn’t intrinsically worth a cent but its maker vouches for that value. A debit card’s worth goes up and down, depending on the…
Business people could learn a lot about management from Jesus. He wasn’t just a carpenter; he was a craftsman who knew something about planning a project. Good planning requires wisdom, which is the theme of today’s readings. Poor planning and…
In today’s gospel reading from Luke Jesus puts another Pharisee in his place and offers him some practical advice to boot. He tells him how to win friends and influence people with one simple direction, which I’ll paraphrase: Never pay…
Today’s readings give us God as a hands-on General. The first reading from Isaiah has Him recruiting troops (“They shall bring your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the Lord…’Some of these I will take…
The stereotypical image we have of old-style religious zealots is of someone dressed in sackcloth and ashes, warning people to “Repent!” In their own times if they weren’t called zealots they were called insane, or maybe even dangerous. Nevertheless, their…