The Sheep

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Easter for Year C of the Lectionary Cycle. The gospel invokes one of the most often used images of God: the shepherd. The Prophet Ezekiel couches the promise that after a long succession of bad shepherds (kings) who fed themselves off the flock, God himself will come as the Good Shepherd. That pastoral imagery is a central part of John 10 and is always used as the gospel for the 4th Sunday of Easter:

Year A – John 10:1-10 (sheepfold, gatekeeper, sheep recognizing the voice)
Year B – John 10:11-18 (“I am the good shepherd”)
Year C – John 10:27-30

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Taking a moment

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In her Sunday column, Tish Harrison Warren talks an aspect of our humanity. I think the larger arc of the story is part of something that I ponder: the role of technology in improving our lives. It is an age old argument with the promise of a better future, in part, enabled by scientific and technological discovery and implementation. For example, back when I was only single-digits old, my maternal grandparents lived in Utah. It might as well have been Mars. One did not simply “catch a flight” and travel cross country. With modern air travel Utah is but a few hours away, perhaps even non-stop. If my single-digit youth was here in the 2020s, Grandma and Grandpa Obray would have only been a zoom call away. And that would have been a good thing. I hope I would be able, interested, and willing to “catch a flight” to Paradise, Utah to visit the family homestead. Continue reading →

The cords of life

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About ten years ago I was serving as Pastor at Sacred Heart in Tampa. I had been in Tampa for six years and had no aspiration or desire to be elsewhere. It was the year that Pope Francis was elected. The joke in the parish office was that I was waiting for a call from Rome telling me that I have been appointed Papal Household Swim Coach.  Oddly enough, it was only a few weeks after the election when the parish telephone rang – and on the other end was a call from Rome.  It wasn’t an offer to be  swim coach, but rather it was the Minister General of the Franciscan Order worldwide asking me to consider a new job.  It was not a pastoral job, but a full time job more akin to running a business – and in a place where people wear sweaters even in summer. As a vowed Franciscan it was something I had to consider and take into prayer.

And then came the gospel for this week. Continue reading →

Things you need to know

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A friend sent me this list of things you just have to know!

  • On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year. 
  • A dentist invented the electric chair. I think he didn’t have many repeat patients.😂
  • TYPEWRITER is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
  • A snail can sleep for three years.
  • The “pound” (or hashtag) key on your keyboard (#) is called an octothorpe.

You never know when you need to fill in the gap in conversation at some gathering!

German Reform: princes, patricians, and peasants

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In a previous post we introduced the dynamic of taxation as one element of the German Reformation. But who was specifically the target of Imperial and Papal fund raisers? To answer that one needs to consider the social strata of all who would be caught in the taxing nets of the “outsiders” – the Pope and his ostensibly all-Italian Curial mafia, or, the gapping maw of the Holy Roman imperial court. Continue reading →

Following Jesus

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This Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter. Our gospel describes the Apostle’s encounter with Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias. Fishing and breakfast are completed. Peter has been restored from the denials of Holy Week and now he is commissioned anew.

18 Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” Continue reading →

Gamaliel

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In today’s first reading we see religious politics in play in the Sanhedrin which consisted to Sadducees (the majority) and Pharisees. The Sadducean leaders were so enraged by the defiance of their orders, they wanted to put the apostles to death. For such drastic action they needed the support of the Pharisaic members of the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees commanded much more public respect than did the Sadducees and it was important to have them “on board” in a case like the present, in which the defendants (apostles) enjoyed the people’s goodwill.   Continue reading →

Do you love me?

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This Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter. Our gospel describes the Apostle’s encounter with Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias. As noted previously, after a fruitless night of fishing, Jesus sent the disciples back out with the result that they just caught a “boatload” of fish. They had not recognized Jesusm, but now they have hauled catch ashore and Jesus (whom they now recognize) has prepared breakfast. Continue reading →

Seamless Catholics

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What does it mean to be a pro-life Catholic? What issues come under the umbrella or pro-life – certainly abortion and euthanasia. Some people are surprised to discover capital punishment is also on the list. There is a lot more on the US Bishops’ list of issues to which we as Catholics are called to take into prayer and action. It includes topics such as trade and debt, climate change, poverty, and more. It is a wide range of issues which have in common the deeply held conviction of the sanctity of life from conception to natural death. Admittedly the issues which bracket the timeline are more focused: abortion and euthanasia. As horrific as they are, as issues, they are easier to frame morally and focus action and prayer. But the issues in the between become more challenging to garner a consensus of action among the faithful. We are challenged to have a consistent ethic of life that is enacted in our Church. Continue reading →

Something curious

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Take a moment and peruse John 3 taking note of who is speaking. The exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus is clear (vv. 1-21). The testimony of John the Baptist is clear (vv .22-30). And then you come today’s gospel (vv. 31-36). It is hard to know who is speaking. If it is John the Baptist, then it is amazing God-inspired insight and no less powerful than Peter’s confession in the Gospel of Matthew. It is more likely that it is the Gospel writer offering a commentary. Continue reading →