Fr. Bob’s Weekly Reflections

Discipline is a bad word, none of us really like it; it conjures up something arduous and painful. To choose a life of discipline is to choose the narrow way.

It is always a temptation to preach the Gospel of Jesus in a selective manner.

There is a novel called The Man Who Lost Himself; in one scene the main character of the story trails a man to Paris.

One day long ago, someone interrupted Jesus with a question any of us might find ourselves asking. Parents had died and there is an estate to settle.

In Eugene O’Neill’s play, “The Great God Brown,” we see a man on his deathbed and he is frightened.

In some ways, this Martha and Mary story can be annoying to many of us. You do not want to be seen as too much like Martha; ignoring the guest or like passive Mary.

We hear about a famous road in today’s gospel, the road to Jericho. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a favorite haunt for robbers and outlaws.

In the first reading, Isaiah tells us in graphic language what Jerusalem meant to the Jews. It was the center of worship, the center of their lives.

It is obvious from today’s gospel that Jesus is not promising us a rose garden. He cannot even promise His followers a place to lay their heads.

Corpus Christi. Sixteen hundred years ago a Bishop of Jerusalem addressed some converts on the Holy Communion that they were to receive for the first time. He said, “When you come up to receive, make your left hand a throne for the right, for it is about to receive a King.” Cup your palm and so receive the Body of Christ, then answer “Amen.” Take care not to lose part of it. Such a loss would be like a mutilation of your own body. Why if you had been given gold dust, would you not take the utmost care to hold it fast? Be careful not to let a grain slip through your fingers, lest you be so much the poorer.