Lent 4A

Lent draws the faithful – sometimes kicking and screaming – to a period of spiritual preparation and renewal in anticipation of the coming jubilance of Eastertide. Throughout the history of the church, candidates for Holy Baptism would often engage in rigorous study, prayer and fasting during Lent. It was also the time when those who…

In many cultures of the world, the first day of April is kept as April Fools’ Day, a day for shenanigans, generalized tomfoolery, and practical jokes played on unsuspecting family members, friends, and co-workers. Most of us have been at one time or another the butt of someone’s silly pranks on this day, perhaps even…

Eddie was the extrovert in the community for the disabled in the assisted living unit. He always plunked himself down right in the middle of where the action was – in a chair by the mailboxes, at the entrance to the dining room, or right in front of the TV in the sitting room. He…

“Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” — 1 Samuel 16:12 Remember that survey course of English literature you took back in high school or college? You probably used a textbook that was, in essence, a collection or anthology of literary classics representing the wisdom of many centuries and cultures. It was a…

How human Samuel is in today’s reading! His story begins with him grieving over the disobedience of Saul, over the loss of a great king to selfish interest and, if we read further in the story, ultimately to madness. Just like us in our Lenten journey, Samuel reluctantly agreed to God’s call to set aside…

Monuments attract outcasts. This is as true today as it was in our Lord’s time. Walk outside the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, a.k.a. the National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C., and you will find today’s outcasts, the homeless. If you had walked outside the Temple in Jerusalem, mentioned in today’s Gospel, you would have…

It seems fitting to begin this meditation with a free translation from the Scots poet, Robert Burns: “Oh, that some power the gift could give us, to see ourselves as others see us.It would from many a blunder free us and foolish notion.” Certainly, if we could see ourselves through our neighbors’ eyes, most of…