Fr. Bob’s Weekly Reflections

Not many people are honest enough or brave enough to ask the question in today’s Gospel. Just think about you asking some friend, or perhaps, more courageously some enemy, “Who do you say that I am? What do people think of me?” Or take a step forward and ask yourself, “Who am I?”

We have a dramatic scene in today’s Gospel. Jesus and His disciples are walking along and a woman comes up to them, in hysterics. She is crying with the intensity of a mother whose child needs help. She is not a Jew, but she must have heard of this Wonder Worker who cures people.

On a dark winter night in a small Midwest community, the two-story home of a young family caught fire. The parents and children made their way through the smoke-filled home to the outside.

Today we read the story of the Transfiguration. I often wonder why the Apostles were so surprised by what they saw on that mountain. They discovered - beyond, behind and within - the Man they had known for so long. It was a moment of insight.

Some time ago, a magazine ran a story about a teenager who belongs to the Santa Clara swimming club. Every morning she gets up at 5:30 a.m. to hurry to an outdoor pool for two solid hours of swimming, after which, she goes to school.

When Jesus interpreted the parable of the weeds, He talked about the world with good and evil people. He specified that the task of weeding questionable people out of the community was not part of the disciples’ job description.

Today, we have a sower who went out to sow seeds. According to the parable, he wasn’t very careful. He tosses the seeds wildly, helter skelter. All over they fall on exposed soil. First rocky, thorn choked soil and then, almost by accident rich soil.

Two men sit in a bar. They’re good friends, like brothers. After a few drinks, one says to the other, “Tell me what hurts me.” The other replies, “How do I know what hurts you?” The first man replies, “If you do not know what hurts me, how can you be my best friend?”

A man by the name of Clarence Jordan published what became known as the cotton patch version of the New Testament in the 1950s and 60s.

Some time ago, a group from the University of Southern California became curious about why some people succeed while others with equal talents and opportunities fail.