In the Gospel for today we hear the story of the man born blind.  Now, I don’t see that well. But I wasn’t born blind. To be born blind, that takes blindness to a whole new leel. Yet, I’ll admit, my eyes aren’t that good. I was out west skiing with my family.  The...

Life had been hard for the nameless woman at the well that day. We’re told she had been with five different men. With the heartache of all that there was a price to paid, the loss of her reputation. Her past was widely known. In a smalltown word gets around quickly....

On the mountain that day with his disciples something extraordinary happens. Before their very eyes Jesus is transfigured. And it's spectacular! But being his typical self, Peter comes up with what he thinks is a bright idea. Hey Jesus, how about if we build three...

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns against the perils of hypocrisy.  But what is hypocrisy?  In English, hypocrisy means pretending to be more virtuous or religious than we are.   In Greek, hypocrisy is more generally associated with play-acting in the sense of adopting a...

If we were to ever hear Jesus say things that seems totally unreasonable today would be the day. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you”. Those don’t seem very reasonable to me. Come on Jesus! Life is already hard enough. You...

The Beatitudes we just heard in Luke's Gospel contrasts how in life there are two different paths we can take. There is the path that leads to blessings and there is the path that leads to woes. The choice is ours. I don’t know about you, but I have stories about...

The psalmist bids us to proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations, and they are marvelous indeed!  The first chapter of John’s Gospel begins by waxing eloquent about the eternal Word of God who became flesh.  Became one of us, so that we might become one with...

It was the early 1970s in a small town deep in the heart of Teas. A star high school football player who has a bit of the rebel decides to grow his hair long. So,  sure enough, by the end of summer his long locks are now peeking out from under his football helmet. The...

Legendary rock star Jim Morrison of the Doors died tragically young in Paris at the age of 27 on July 27, 1971. Interestingly enough two other rock star legends of that era, Jancie Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix also died at the age of 27, and all of them within two years...

Today we mark the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  The Advent wreath is fully lit; the poinsettias have arrived (though they are hidden until Christmas Eve).  Most of our Christmas shopping is done, and the anticipation of children, especially, for Christmas is high.  I...