This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. “The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.”
At the conclusion of their mission to the Galilean villages the disciples returned to Jesus. He had commissioned them to be his emissaries (Ch. 6:7–13), and it is appropriate to this circumstance that they should report to him how they had fulfilled their commission. While the word “apostles” is accurately translated in v.30, there is a tendency in modern reading to associate this with “the Twelve” and to associate the term with an official title. What might get lost is the whole purpose of why they were sent. Simply put they were missionaries. Continue reading
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:35-37)
“Off with you, visionary…never again prophecy in Bethel.” (Am 7:12–13) Amaziah, Beth el, Amos, Israel, Judah…. Isn’t it often the case that the first reading from the Old Testament is this jumble of odd names and places – and not enough of the story to really know what is going on? Let me fill you in.
All of us tell stories. Sometimes were are the hero of the stories about ourselves. Stories define us. To know someone well is to know his or her story—the experiences that have shaped them, the trials and turning points that have tested them. When we want someone to know us, we share stories of our childhoods, our families, our school years, our first loves, and so on. And there in milieu are the stories that inspire us. I wrote about 
James Carville, the Ragin’ Cajun, is an American political consultant and author who has strategized for candidates for public office. Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the Bill Clinton presidential campaign. Also interesting is that he is married to Mary Matalin, an American political consultant well known for her work with the Republican Party. They don’t talk politics at home. 
In the early summer of 1219, Francis left Assisi and traveled to Egypt, meeting with the Sultan of Egypt, Al-Malik al-Kamil. According to the Franciscan chronicler Jordan of Giano, informed by an eyewitness, a prophetess living in the Holy Land who was known as “the Tongue-that-Proclaims-the-Truth” declared to the friars: “Come back, come back, for the order is troubled by the absence of Brother Francis; it is divided and in the process of destroying itself.” Thus in May of 1220, the Poor Man of Assisi returned to Italy, where problems had been multiplying in his absence. In a prior article we mentioned some of the problems that had arisen, which Francis addressed. He then considered the future of the Franciscan movement. In September, 1220, he formally resigned his role as minister of the brothers. 
In 
Back in 1983 the division of the company I worked for bought an IBM personal computer and hard drive (they were an add-on, were only 10 MB and were about as expensive as the computer.) That was going to be our “competitive edge” or so said one of the senior executives. I inwardly rolled my eyes knowing that the rapid advance in the personal computer world / emerging technology would transform the business world as performance improved and prices dropped. I had already purchased a portable computer (ok…”luggable” would be a better description) that came with word processing software, a spreadsheet, and a database – and 20MB hard drive and for 50% of the costs of the new office computer. To put this in context, there was no Microsoft or MS-DOS. Unix or CPM were the operating systems de jour. OK … enough history. My point is that there is this underlying belief that technology would make our lives better – especially in the world of business. 
In 
