Fr. Bob’s Weekly Reflections

There is so much contained in our gospel today we could spend the whole day discussing it. So I would like to concentrate on a single word spoken by God the Father to Peter, James and John

It’s the first Sunday in Lent and I should be writing a homily about Christ’s temptation in the desert. But as I look around and listen, I feel that much of our world and country are in the desert.

The saying from our gospel that we all know so well, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It is a command that has often been used to justify our brutality.

The gospel today contains a rubric for the Eucharist. Rubrics are directions in the official book that we use for mass. They are printed in red ink.

Dr. David Livingstone, who died in 1873, was a Scottish missionary and explorer. He spent over half of his life serving in Africa.

In April of 1986, two gray-haired men greeted each other in Tokyo’s airport. Both men had tears in their eyes, one man was an American named Ponich.

Peter and Andrew had just finished their daily work of fishing. They were stretching their nets so they will dry in the sun.

Today there is a funny feeling in the church everywhere. The crib is back in storage, the Wise Men have returned to the East, the shepherds to their flocks, the angels have stopped singing.

We are all candidates for holiness no matter who or what we are. Who else but Jesus would have called Peter, the one who denied Him, and made him the head of the apostles.

This feast of the Epiphany has always been among the favorites of many people, especially in Latin cultures like Italy and South America.