Tag Archives: questions

Asking “why”

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Maybe we should call this “Second Chance Sunday.” The first reading is the well-known story of Moses and the burning bush. But one needs to remember the reason Moses is out tending sheep in the desert of Midian is that he murdered a man back in Egypt and is on-the-run from the authorities. Yet God will give him a second chance and a major role in rescuing the Israelites from slavery. That’s a heck of a second chance. He takes advantage of it. Moses is leading a flock of sheep now, but will soon be leading the people of God in their Exodus to the promised land. Continue reading →

Who we ought to be

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Note: it was pointed out that I had not posted the homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent – so…here it is.

There are questions that are rooted in curiosity, such as, the stained glass windows in our church; where did they come from? There are questions that are seeking necessary and important information. There are all manner of questions: choice, open, rhetorical, probing, motivational, leading, and many more. But right there in the middle of the second reading is the question of questions brought to us by St. Peter: “…what sort of person ought you to be…”  Heck of a question. Continue reading →

A week of questions

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There is always continuity in the readings for daily Mass, especially the gospels. Often there is continuity in the story itself. The readings for the previous two days came from the gospel of St. Matthew. They described questioning of Jesus by the chief priest and elders of the Temple, wanting to know by whose authority Jesus was teaching in the Temple precincts. But Jesus turns the tables on them (having already overturned the tables in the Temple courtyard) and asks them questions about what was religiously playing out before their eyes, beginning with the ministry of John the Baptist. Lots of questions. A good week in which to ponder such things. Continue reading →

Prime Questions

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I have always like numbers. I have always wondered about numbers. Often, we don’t think about them, just using them for their great functional attributes – keeping score, setting goals, etc. But sometimes we should ask how/why numbers are used. For example, why were Levi’s 501s and WD-40 given those names? Levi Strauss lost all of its records in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. It does not know why 501s are so named. WD-40? It was the name from the product development lab: Water Displacement, 40th formula.

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