The Pastor's Desk
August 2014
August 31, 2014
The language of Jeremiah as he addresses his yearnings to God—he says, “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped” (Jeremiah 20:7)—indicates a close and personal relationship with God. It is one the prophet obviously cherishes despite the derision and reproach it brings him. In the Gospel, Jesus indicates a similar...
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August 24, 2014
In John’s Gospel, Peter is called to be a shepherd. He is expected to lay down his life for his sheep. And tradition tells us that he did just that. But today we think about the durable rocklike quality that Jesus needed in a leader. Peter was appointed to his leadership position for reasons we are not able to fathom. God knows, and...
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August 17, 2014
“Let all the nations praise you!” (Psalm 67:4) today’s psalm response exclaims. In the psalms and other Hebrew scriptures, this kind of invocation is actually an invitation to God to act, to intervene in human lives in a manner that will cause everyone—not just the Chosen People—to give praise. Stated a bit more...
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August 10, 2014
Even when we arrive, we are often distracted. We think ahead, or we review an unsettled past. Nonetheless, we are at our best when we truly show up. We are most fully ourselves when we are absorbed in something worthy of us: creative work, good conversation, prayer. In these instances we are wholly ourselves and wholly outside ourselves....
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August 3, 2014
We are called to reach outside ourselves and find God there, too. The reality of grace has sustained and nourished people beyond numbering. The church never tires of telling the story of the loaves and fishes. It is narrated no less than six times in the four Gospels. We imagine the hesitant apostles reaching into the baskets and...
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