Tag Archives: Luke 8

Faith That Shines

Posted on by

“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.” (Luke 8:16)

Jesus uses a simple image—a lamp—to teach a profound truth about discipleship. 

Think about the purpose of a lamp. Lamps are meant to shine, to give light. We can put them on timers or systems like Alexa.  You can set your family room lights to turn on 20 minutes before sunset. Why? Because we know that’s when the light is needed. That’s when the light can fulfill its purpose: brighten the darkness, illuminate, make clear the way to go, to be the beacon of hope like a lighthouse to a seafarer.

And so it is with our faith.

Continue reading →

Family

Posted on by

The gospel for this morning comes from Luke 8

The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him
but were unable to join him because of the crowd.
He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”
He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” Continue reading →

Persistent or Presumptuous

Posted on by

This coming Sunday marks our journey in Ordinary Time, the 30th Sunday in Year C. You can read a complete commentary on the Sunday Gospel here.

9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ 13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Luke 18:9-14) Continue reading →