Category: Sunday Warm-up

All by the Grace of God

Feb. 26 Mat 4:1-11

The first Sunday of Lent we always hear the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Jesus is tempted with all kinds of power if only he would let go of his obedience to God.

Divine Perfection

Feb. 19 Mat 5:38-48

“Be as perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”, that is Jesus’ message to us this weekend. Our immediate response naturally is, “Really Jesus, you really expect us to be on that level,

Feb. 12 Mat 5:17-37

This weekend we hear Jesus re-interpreting what would have been key laws of his time on murder, adultery, and the taking of oaths. His teaching builds upon the beatitudes and describes what we now can call beatitudinal living.

Let Your Light Shine

Feb. 5 Mat 5:13-16

Last Sunday, Jesus gave us the beatitudes, the foundation for the new covenant that has displaced Moses’ Ten Commandments. What follows is this week’s teaching,

A New Covenant

Jan. 29 Mat 5:1-12

We have the gospel reading of the Beatitudes this weekend. This passage of Jesus’ teaching on the mountain top is an echo of Moses receiving the ten commandments.

A Willing Heart

Jan. 22 Mat 4:12-23

This Sunday, we hear about Jesus calling the first disciples. Andrew and Simon immediately drop their fishing nets and begin to follow him.

You have to wonder how they could do that to follow this unknown person.

The New Covenant

Jan. 15 John 1:29-34

We hear John the Baptist proclaim Jesus as the Son of God and the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. John symbolizes all the best that Israel could muster up to that time.

Hope in the Darkness

Jan. 8 Mt 2:1-12

We celebrate the three wise men’s visit this Sunday. We tend to paint a very warm and fuzzy picture of this event, but really the setting is a bleak one.

True Faith

January 1

We revere Mary as the Mother of God this Sunday, but it’s good for us to remember the circumstances by which she began this journey. Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable and she had to wonder what kind of life she could offer this child. Her husband apparently had very little money and what little he did make was taxed heavily. They lived in a violent and turbulent time.

God is with us

Dec. 25 Lk 2:15-20

In Christmas, we celebrate God entering our earthly life in a new and powerful way. Jesus is the Emmauel or God with us.

Are You listening?

Dec. 18, Mt 1:18-24

How do you know when God is sending you a message? Joseph in today’s Gospel gets the message from an angel through a dream. Joseph must have been attuned to listening to God or else he would have just rolled over and went back to sleep.

Rejoice!

Dec. 11, Mt 11:2-11

One guarantee of life is that it will always have its tribulations and challenges. It’s hard to maintain a sense of hope and optimism in difficult times.