Daily Archives: September 5, 2023

Advice for the Day

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Want a to-do list for today? Today’s first reading from 1 Thess 5:11 has some great advice: “encourage one another and build one another up“.  Sincere encouragement offers and number of benefits to the other: happiness, self confidence, resilience, and more. Offering encouragement doesn’t take a lot. It can be offered in words of praise, positive reinforcement, a verse from Scripture, or simply being there for someone when they need it. Would that we all would consistently do this for one another.

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The Sum of Some Things

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There is all kinds of counting going on in the Bible. Consider the Old Testament. The first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch) has counts of the entire population, of only the priestly groups, and of males eligible for the military, the number of Jacob’s family members who went to Egypt, of the Israelites who left Egypt, and of the exiles who returned to Judea. Counting was used for military and labor conscription and of course, the age old people’s favorite of  taxation. The New Testament has some advice about counting. Luke 14 asks what person would not sit down and count the costs before undertaking a major building project. Continue reading →

Sins against you: prelude

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This coming Sunday is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. In our previous post, it was noted that Matthew 18 is considered one of Jesus’ discourses. The focus is on instructions for the community of believers. Within such a community there is opportunity both to harm and to care for others, and the health and effectiveness of the group will depend on the attitudes to one another which are fostered. While our gospel reading is Matthew 18:15-20, consider the following passage as a prelude to our reading. Continue reading →