The Better Part

Matthew 13.44-52 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflection In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus again tells three parables, just like last week! He must really like telling parables. He knows that listening to parables helps us to think about the Kingdom of God. Last week, when there were three parables, we thought about the middle parable—the Parable of the Mustard Seed, that teeny-tiny seed that somehow grows and changes into a tree! This week, let's again look at the middle

Matthew 13.44-52 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflection In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus still tells parables! He knows that people enjoy listening to parables, these stories that are both interesting and somewhat strange. They help us consider the Kingdom of God and what it could be like. Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” The Kingdom of

Matthew 13.44-52 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflection In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus again gives us three parables. Three parables and then an instruction that sounds like yet another parable. Perhaps he thinks we can handle all this! Let's think about what he can mean. Photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash Jesus begins with two parables that sound very similar:, “The kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his

Matthew 13.31-32 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflection (Adults, the Gospel this week is quite long and considers three of Jesus' parables. This reflection focuses on the parable that is sandwiched in the middle: the Parable of the Mustard Seed—an essential parable regarding the mystery of life.) In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells three parables. We know that parables make us think. They are stories that Jesus tells to help us understand something very important. Th

Matthew 13.24-43 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflection (Adults, begin by reading the Gospel aloud to the child, unless the child is a very fluent reader. It is a long Gospel, and a little troubling. But there is Good News!) In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells three more parables by the Sea of Galilee: two short parables caught between a longer one and its explanation. The two short parables may satisfy us. He tells the parable of the Mustard Seed, that impossibly ti

Matthew 13.24-43 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflection For the third Sunday in a row, Jesus talks about farming and sowing. Two weeks ago, we heard about taking his yoke, and we considered ploughing the earth to make ready the soil for sowing. Last week, we heard about the sower who flings wide the grain so that all the earth might produce wheat. This week we hear three parables: 1) the sower of the Wheat and the sower of the Weeds; 2) the person who sows a mustard seed; 3

Matthew 13.1-9 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection The Gospel for this Sunday has some great visuals. As we listen, we can imagine ourselves somewhere in the scene. Jesus leaves the house where he has been staying, and heads down to the beach by the Sea of Galilee. He only sits for a moment before people start to gather. They always come. This would tire most people out, but Jesus does not show it. He is so generous with his time. He will give the people what they want. A boa

Matthew 3.1-12 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n (Adults, the Gospel for this Sunday talks about repentance in the sense of turning from sin which our 3-6-year olds are not needing yet. However, the deeper reality, the reason why we repent is the essential point they need to hear, I think.) In the Gospel for this Sunday, we hear about John the Baptist who is a cousin of Jesus. John the Baptist prepares the people of Israel for Jesus who comes. Jesus comes to speak ab

Luke 18.9-14 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n (Adults, this week we hear another moral parable. Our 3-6 year olds do not need to hear this yet. But as small little people, they know how to be in right-relationship with God.) In the Word of God, we often hear about prayer. We know that prayer is listening to God and talking to God. We know that we can pray with our words and we can pray with our bodies, too. In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable about t

Luke 18.9-14 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable about how we should be when we pray. We remember that parables are little stories to help us understand. In this parable, there are two people who go to the Temple to pray. The Temple is the most holy place in all Jerusalem, in all of Israel, because in the Temple, behind the great gold doors of the Tabernacle, is the Holy of Holies. Only a certain holy priest on a cert

Luke 18.9-14 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells another parable about prayer. We know that prayer is conversation with God, both listening and speaking. Conversation deepens relationships. This parable, then we can say, is about relationship with God . “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The people listening to Jesus know Pharisees and tax collectors. Pharisees are good people

Luke 18:1-8 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells us a parable about prayer. We know that parables are stories, little mysteries that invite us to ask the question: What more can Jesus mean? “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ There are two people in this parable: a judge—s

Luke 18:1-8 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells us a parable about prayer. We know there are different kinds of prayer, different reasons for praying. We can pray in thanksgiving for the blessings we enjoy. We can praise God, telling all the world how great and good God is. The kind of prayer that most people know, though, is prayers of petition or intercession—asking for God's help for ourselves or for someone else. This is th

Luke 16.19-31 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n (Adults, the parable in the Gospel for this Sunday does not have much to say to...

Luke 16.19-31 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n (Adults, the parable in this Sunday's Gospel presents us with two very different...

Luke 16.19-31 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells another parable. This is his best way...

Luke 16 .1-13 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells an odd parable about a manager who did...

Luke 13.22-30 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable about entering the Kingdom...

Luke 12.13-21 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable. We know that parables are...

Luke 12.13-21 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n We know that Jesus died and is Risen. The Light of his Risen life continues to...