Fr. Bob’s Weekly Reflections

The Good Shepherd - Carole King wrote some lyrics in a song that could be applied to our Gospel of the Good Shepherd: “Looking out on the morning rain, I used to feel so uninspired.

Bette Midler in her song, “The Rose” sings, “It’s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It’s the dream afraid of waking that never takes a chance. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.”

Many years ago there was a movie called the “Seventh Seal.” In one scene, death takes the form of a human person, and appears to a man.

Upfront, it is hard for me to resist preaching a sentimental homily about butterflies and bunnies or a family Easter Sunday that would send you home smiling.

Today we start the holiest week of the year, and the week moves from Sunday to Saturday. The mood of the gathered assembly will also move, from adulation and adoration to murder, mourning, and mayhem.

We hear in our gospel today about some people who have come to Jerusalem for the Passover. They have heard about this miracle worker Jesus.

Many years ago there was a song performed by a man named Meatloaf. The chorus of the song went like this: “I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever going to love you. But don’t be sad, don’t be sad, ‘cause two out of three ain’t bad.”

Our second reading today is, perhaps, the highpoint of Christian literature. Paul tells us that the crucified one is the stumbling block, the absurdity for the unbeliever.

This Gospel of the transfiguration is so rich; there is so much for a homilist to talk about. For the first time, the apostles saw beyond and behind and within the man.

A young man by the name of Piri Thomas once wrote a book called, “Down These Mean Streets.” It describes his conversion from being a convict, a drug addict, and an attempted killer.