My Dad just retired a couple of years ago, and so he finally has time to achieve a long-held dream of his: raising goats. After he retired, he worked for months on the fence around his pasture, built a “goat tote” for his pickup, and ran a water line out to a trough. Then, when […]
I think I was in first grade when I first saw the film “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s a film that just about everyone has seen, because it’s such a whimsical and timeless story. From the magical land of Oz to its expressive characters, to the memorable music, The Wizard of Oz envelops you in […]
Practice what you preach. It’s one of those Biblical phrases that has worked its way into our language and culture, and we repeat it, whether or not we realize where it came from. Although it’s a slight reworking of Jesus’ exact words, it’s undeniable that the phrase comes from this gospel that we have just […]
We are nearing the end of harvest time, and it’s very fitting that, for the past several weeks, the Church’s cycle of readings has given us several parables about harvesting. We have been hearing parables about workers in a vineyard quibbling over their pay. We have heard about two sons, one who says he will […]
Well, it may not feel like it yet, but summer is officially over, and the season of fall is upon us. The fields are being harvested, the days are a bit shorter, and soon enough, the highs will fall out of the 90s. Those of you who are farmers are busy laboring in the fields. […]
If you’re a baseball fan, you know that one of the most important offensive stats for any given player is his batting average. Batting average is the percentage of times a player gets a hit out of the number of times he’s up to bat. Most major leaguers have a batting average in the .200s. […]
One of my favorite things to do when I was in seminary was to make the short walk over to St. Peter’s Basilica. No matter how many times I entered, I couldn’t help but smile and feel a great sense of wonder and joy. I still remember the first time I entered the basilica. It […]
The events of the past week in Charlottesville, Virginia have shaken our nation. The white-supremacist protest, the counter protest, and the ensuing violence that left one woman dead and many others injured is a reminder that, despite the progress made by the Civil Rights Movement, racism still persists in our society. We are saddened to […]
For the last two weeks, we have been hearing Jesus’ parables from the Gospel of Matthew. Today is part three of our trilogy of parables, and here they come, rapid fire, about the Kingdom of Heaven. We get three parables in our gospel passage today, and we even get a bonus lesson at the end, […]
Well, as promised, today we are in part two of our trilogy of parables from the Gospel of Matthew. And this week again Jesus uses the imagery of farming as well as baking—two things I know y’all know how to do, because so many of you are kind enough to share with the fruits of […]