TWENTYTHIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Lk 14, 25-33
September 5, 2010

ADOLESCENTS AND OTHERS

The gospel this weekend is about not hoarding riches, it is about getting rid of excess baggage (‘possessions’) in our life, of actually ‘hating’ our families and our background.  I’d like to think about it all in a less than literal way. Literally, it is indeed a bit shocking.   I want to ponder what to do with all the ‘riches’ inside our minds, all the ‘excess baggage’ we carry around in our imagination.  A bit harder to do than get rid of old stuff in the storeroom.

22^nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

August 29, 2010

Lk 14, 1 and 7-14

BEING GOOD AT HUMILITY

In today’s gospel, Jesus is not in a synagogue, or on a boat out on the lake.  He is at table, at a meal.   He is comfortable, he is at ease, and he puts people around him at ease.  To be in his company is a joyful thing.  People invited him to their meals because they liked his style at these meals!  He did something for the gathering.  When he was there, there would always be something unexpected.

21st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 22, 2010
Lk 13, 22-30
GETTING TO HEAVEN

Certainly this gospel passage raises big questions: will everyone be saved? Will only a small number of us ‘make it’?  Are there some who are not saved? Is the gate of heaven really narrow? Will some end up weeping and gnashing their teeth forever?

ASSUMPTION OF MARY
August 15, 2010

It is not often that we have the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on a Sunday.  Perhaps that is why we are less familiar with it than we might be.  Someone once said, ‘this is the day when we assume that Mary is in heaven’.  It is more, much more, than that.

Today, Mary shows us ‘how to go to heaven’ and ‘how to be in heaven’.