Today’s gospel is from Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount, Luke 6:36-38. Typically the exegetical break is to include Luke 6:27-36 together with Luke 6:37 beginning a new thought. Not that they are not connected, but nonetheless a new train of thought.
27 “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.29 To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. Continue reading
In our well-known account of the Transfiguration, Peter simply says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” Of course, he could mean Mount Tabor all in and of itself. It has an amazing 360-degree view of the Jezreel Valley, the mountains of Samaria, Mount Carmel, the Golan Heights, Mt Gilead, Mt Horeb, the whole of Galilee, all as far as the eye can see. On a clear day it is where heaven and earth meet. There atop a mountain, the place where man has gone to meet God, where human and divine touch, the meeting place of the temporal and the eternal. Matthew, Mark and Luke describe the miraculous event of the Transfiguration, as does 2 Peter 1. We celebrate the event that was the revelation of Jesus’s divine nature, exalting him above the Law/Moses and all the prophets/Elijah, foreshadowing his death, and prefiguring his Resurrection. Maybe Peter understood what was unfolding or maybe he was flummoxed and all he could come up with was “…it is good for us to be here.” I am not sure I would have understood what I was seeing much less think of something to say. 
From time to time, I am asked “if the parish could use…” and what follows is a litany of things old and beloved, unusual and familiar, new and used, useful and whimsical, and the occasional, “I don’t know what it is, but it seems like it is holy.” The conversation is hardly ever (perhaps never?) with a person from the millennial or Gen Z demographic. At this point in their lives, they live unburdened by too much stuff and do not yet have the same emotional connection to things as did the generations before. They are a mobile group and thus don’t want a lot of stuff when moving house or moving to a new city. IKEA will do just fine until things settle. 
Today is my one day off and I am normally not given to posting…or doing much of anything beyond reading a book, taking a walk, and thinking about lunch. Such are the occupations on my days off. Did I mention a nap? Anyway…. I was struck by two Lenten reflections on the gospel for the day that came my way this morning: one from Bishop Barron and the other from Deacon Connor Penn, a seminarian and transitional deacons for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida. Today’s 
The gospel from 
Lots of people share that they have failed to put God first in their lives. I inevitably ask them “What do you mean?” What follows is often akin to the deer in the proverbial headlights. I often follow up with something like, “What does it look like to put God first in your life?” Not easy questions to answer off the cuff, on the fly, but then this is Lent. Probably a pretty good question to ponder during this season.
Next Sunday is the 
“After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” Turn the page and we hear the opening verses of today’s gospel: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” This passage is famously known as the Temptation in the Desert (or the Wilderness) 
We celebrate lots of weddings here at Sacred Heart. It is a young vibrant parish with young professionals forming about 1/4 of the households. Add to that a beautiful church and you will have lots of weddings!
friarmusings 