Category: Sunday Warm-up

Letting Go to Love

Nov. 5, Mt 23:1-12

The path to greater holiness is not about climbing some ladder of success that seeks power and prestige. This is what the Pharisees stood for and what Jesus excoriates in chapter 23 of Matthew’s gospel.

Oct. 29, Mt 22:34-40 Law of Love

Sometimes the message is just too simple. Jesus wraps all of the Jewish law into one sentence: love God, love your neighbor, love yourself.

So simple and if we lived it,

“Give to God what is God’s”

Mt 22:15-21

Pharisees pose to Jesus the question is it lawful to pay the Roman census tax. It’s a trap. If Jesus answer yes, the people get angry because the tax is oppressive and hated.

Oct. 15, Mt 22:1-14

The simple message coming from Jesus this Sunday is check your priorities. God must come first above all things and your discipleship of Jesus must be real and heartfelt.

Being Fruitful

Oct. 8 Mt 21:33-43

What God wants is for his vineyard to be fruitful, to produce a bounty of good grapes. And what are those grapes?

Our second reading points the way when we hear “whatever is true,

Workers in the Vineyard

Oct. 1 Mt 21:28-32

Vineyard work is not easy. You are out in the sun the whole day picking grapes and the loads get heavy. It’s not fun work.

All are Loved Equally

Sept. 24 Mt 20:1-16

On the world’s terms, labor must be rewarded fairly. Equal pay for equal work, but not all labor has the same value. Disregarding that rule will bring problems.

Mercy and Forgiveness

Sept. 17 Mt 18:21-35

We heard in the gospel of a previous week that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever is loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Mt 18:15-20

Forgiveness and the Cross

Of all the virtues Jesus wanted His disciples to possess and practice, forgiveness probably tops the list. The word forgiveness appears in the Gospels more than any other word.

A Cross-like Love

Sept 3 Mt 16:21-27

Simon Peter did so well last week. He was acclaimed by Jesus to the point of being awarded a new name. This week, however, Jesus chastises him as being a Satan trying to divert Him from His mission.

Who do you say that I am?

Aug. 27 Mt 16:13-20

Who do you say that I am? This is the question Jesus poses to his apostles in this Sunday’s Gospel. It is also the most important question that we need to answer in our lifetime.

Great is Your Faith!

Aug. 20 Mt 15:21-28

Our tendency to put people in groups with a ranking is as old as there are people. In the minds of the Jewish people,