Lent (Page 18)

Note: Today’s blog post was written by Lauren Urzetta Frye and our Junior and Senior High Youth Groups utilizing their reflections on the readings. March 22 Readings: Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62  and Jn 8:1-11 This past Sunday I had the privilege and blessing to gather with our Junior High and Senior High teens at our “Bounce Back” retreat at Seneca Park. It was a beautiful day filled with sunshine, laughter, and smiles, and the teens finally had an opportunity…

March 21 Readings – JER 31:31-34; HEB 5:7-9; JN 12:20-33 I love the first reading from Jeremiah where we are told that God is making a new covenant with the people.  Unlike the prior covenant, this covenant will be “written on their hearts” and will emerge from within people. For me this reflects deep spiritual development.  Generally when we are starting something, we often need a good deal of structure in order to “learn”.  The teaching comes from the outside. …

March 20 Readings – JER 11:18-20; JN 7:40-53 Today’s readings are not easy ones.  They are filled with the toxicity that can arise within the human heart.  While we are creatures that can rise to amazing goodness, humans can also get pretty nasty.  Today we hear stories of angry people plotting against Jeremiah and Jesus.  Nicodemus (the religious leader who visited Jesus at night) tries to defend Jesus only to become a similar target. I often think of the Mark…

March 19 Readings: 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22; Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a Today’s readings mark the feast of St. Joseph.  Joseph is always an interesting character to consider and he appears in the gospels of Luke and Matthew (which we read today).  While the two versions emphasize different things, there are some consistencies: He is engaged to Mary who is found “to be with child” and he remains with her anyway even though the law would…

March 18 Readings – EX 32:7-14; JN 5:31-47 In our first reading, we meet a bold Moses! God is getting ready to strike down the people because they have been unruly and disrespectful as they started worshipping the golden calf.  Moses says, “Hey, hey, Big Guy, take it easy…Remember what you promised us…”  So God thinks it over and changes God’s mind.  Apparently it would have been in bad taste to destroy one’s own people in the middle of the…

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…

(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…

(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…

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…

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…

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…

(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…