Fr. Bob’s Weekly Reflections

Scripture tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. That goes for people as well as events. It has been two thousand years since Philip and Andrew from our Gospel story walked this earth, but we all know people just like them.

Samuel Coleridge was an English poet. One day as he woke up he remembered he had dreamed the lines of a poem, even the title, Kubla Kahn. He did not have to compose the lines, they were all in his head.

Amos in our first reading is having a hard time. He has been sent by God to tell the king and government that they should start mending their ways, but no one will listen.

Today’s situation in the Gospel must have been very painful for Jesus. He had gone home for a short visit, but instead of receiving a warm welcome He was greeted with a cold shoulder.

Imagine yourself in a large, crowded sports event trying to get toward the exit. People are moving in the same direction, jostling along and bumping into one another. A tap on the arm or tug on the sleeve goes entirely unnoticed.

Today’s Gospel tells of a sea voyage that was made a long time ago… a long way off…The location was a small body of water called the Sea of Galilee, which most of us have never seen and probably never will.

There is an old truth that we will reap what we sow. That is the metaphor in today’s Gospel, the seeds we sow. As we go through life, we all sow seeds. Do we ever stop and think, what are we planting in our children, our friends, or our co-workers?

How much would you pay a person to die for you? It sounds like a strange question, but people have died for others.

Today is Trinity Sunday. Our faith tells us there is but one God, and in thy one God there are three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This Feast of Pentecost is often called the birthday of the church. That is a good description, but there is a problem.  When most of us say “the church” we unconsciously think of the church as we know it now.