Blog (Page 31)
Not Forgotten
March 17 Readings – IS 49:8-15; JN 5:17-30 As the saying goes, “I am not sure who needs to hear this but…” So for whoever needs to hear this, God has not forgotten you. The passage from Isaiah starts off by saying all the ways that God will restore us, come to our aid and release us. The people of Israel say, “Ummmm, that’s funny because it seems like you have totally forgotten us. I mean, look where we are…
The Sea Snail
(Note: Today’s post is from guest blogger Rev. Mary Ramerman, our former pastor of Spiritus Christi. She continues to write and lead reflection groups when she’s not engaged with her grandchildren.) March 16 John 5:1-16 Jesus has traveled to Bethesda where there is a healing pool of water. In the pool are many blind, lame, and crippled people. Laying near the pool is a paralyzed man who has been ill for 38 years. In the scriptures, people who are ill…
Healing Power
(Note: Today’s post is from guest blogger Rev. Mary Ramerman, our former pastor of Spiritus Christi. She continues to write and lead reflection groups when she’s not engaged with her grandchildren.) March 15 John 4:43-54 Jesus is healing again. This time it is the Roman Official who comes to beg Jesus for healing of his son. I wonder what that was like for both of them. The Romans were oppressing the Jewish people; they are enemies. Now one comes…
God So Loved The World
March 14 Readings – 2 CHR 36:14-16, 19-23; EPH 2:4-10; JN 3:14-21 Truth be told, I often struggle to make sense of the scriptures and today’s readings are no exception. Here’s what I see going on. Our first reading from Chronicles is trying to make sense of the collapse of Israel and its being conquered and captured by a foreign power (Babylon). In exile, the people reflect that it must have been because of something that they had done or…
I Am Ready
March 13 Readings – HOS 6:1-6; LK 18:9-14 In the first reading, these lines really struck me: “Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away…For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Have you ever been in a relationship with someone (lover, colleague, friend) whose bond with you seemed strong – until it was tested – only to reveal that it wasn’t that strong? Or…
Cedar and Cypress
March 12 Readings – HOS 14:2-10; MK 12:28-34 I am increasingly aware of how often trees show up in the scriptures – particularly in the Hebrew scriptures. In the reading from Hosea, we hear about the Lebanon cedar and the cypress trees as metaphors for faithfulness. The Lebanon cedar was known as the “king of trees” because it had such strong roots and could grow as tall as a 120 feet high (that’s about the height of the Liberty Pole…
Discerning God’s Voice
(From guest blogger Rev. Celie Katovitch. Rev. Celie has been a member of Spiritus Christi for 7 years. March 1 was her first day as a parish priest at Spiritus. ) What a beautiful trio of scripture readings we have for today. The first two harmonize around the theme of listening. First, the prophet Jeremiah speaks powerfully about the need to take time to incline “the ears of our hearts”— as the old phrase goes— toward God, so that we can…
Patterns That Are True
March 10 Readings – DT 4:1, 5-9; MT 5:17-19 Today we hear a few different messages. In Deuteronomy, Moses is addressing the people and encourages them not to forget what God’s done for them and brought them through. “Teach this to your children,” he says. Maybe that’s something to be mindful of today: Remember what God’s done for you or seen you through. Journal about it or talk to someone about it. This is all part of the practice of…
Am I Supposed to Forgive That?
March 9 Readings – DN 3:25, 34-43; MT 18:21-35 The Lenten readings spend a lot of time focused on mercy and forgiveness. They probably anticipated that we would need to keep hearing about it. To that end, I have really appreciated so many people who have been commenting on this blog – offering personal stories of difficulty with forgiving. This is a reality in our lives that we can’t just spiritualize or pretend doesn’t exist. Peter might be in the…
Embracing the Unexpected
(Post by guest blogger, Lauren Urzetta Frye, youth minister at Spiritus Christi Church and seminarian at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School) March 8th Readings 2 Kings 5:1-15 and Luke 4: 24-30 In today’s readings we are presented with the motif of “the unexpected”, and I think it is more than safe to say we have all had our fair share of “the unexpected” throughout this past year. In the first reading, an unexpected essential character in the story is an…
Turning Tables
March 7 Readings – EX 20:1-17; 1 COR 1:22-25; JN 2:13-25 Today it might be important to work backwards with the readings, and I suspect that this commentary is sure to spark some thoughts and feelings… We hear today a very famous passage about Jesus and the money changers in the temple. Here we have one of the only recorded times when Jesus gets angry and damages property. Often this passage is read from a spiritualized viewpoint focusing on the…
Mercy
March 6 Readings – MI 7:14-15, 18-20; LK 15:1-3, 11-32 In today’s readings, mercy is the name of the game. Micah speaks of how God takes us back – time and time again – and then the gospel delivers the powerful story of the “prodigal son.” In the Muslim circles that I have moved in, I often hear the phrase, “Allah, the beneficient, the merciful” and it has always caught my attention. In fact the “personal” names for God in…