Every three years we are called upon to meditate and to live by the teaching of this strange yet familiar parable (Mt 20:1-16) that flies in the face of distributive justice: i.e., each one should be getting whatever each one deserves. At first, it...
Several years ago, walking through the woods behind our Seminary property in late April, as my eyes strained to spot morels, I was startled by the shy yet imposing beauty of tiny plants of yellow violets. Aren’t violet supposed to be blue? Those...
We should be grateful to Jesus (Mt 6:24-34) also for revealing to us this side of our heavenly Father’s tender heart. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life...
Once there was a wealthy woman who employed two servants in her home: a maid, and a cook. Every year at Christmas time the woman gave her servants an expensive gift. One year, however, the servants were surprised when their gift turned out to be a...
“Recently, I was sitting in a restaurant in Kansas City. A man about two tables away kept looking at me. I didn’t recognize him. A few minutes into our meal he stood up and walked over to my table, looked down at me, pointed his finger in my face...
Many regular churchgoers are familiar with the story of how Naaman, a foreign army general, was healed of his leprosy by the great Israelite prophet Elisha. However, I’d bet that relatively few of you know what happened next. The story, which is...
We are all quite conscious of the fact that only one of the cured lepers returned to give thanks to Jesus. And we are conscious, too, that the one returning was a Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19), one of those people despised by the pious and orthodox Jews...
You didn’t get there on your own . . . If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help . . . Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business . . . you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that...
