The warnings are blunt and plentiful on the third Sunday in Lent. Repent, change your ways and bear fruit, or you will perish. The warnings are accompanied by God’s invitation to attentiveness: “Seek the Lord; call upon him…listen, so that you may live.” In the story of the fig tree, the landowner is patient and […]

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During Lent, we set our minds and our faith upon God’s promise of descendants as vast as the stars. We are a pilgrim people journeying by faith in the light of God’s promise. Paul declares that our citizenship is in heaven, a reminder of our mortality and the temporal nature of life. As Jesus laments […]

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Lent is a season of self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love, strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament. As we, like our Lord Jesus, journey through the wilderness of the world, we face, and struggle with, temptations. Paul encourages us to call upon the name of the Lord […]

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On Ash Wednesday, we begin a forty-day journey toward Easter with Christians around the world. Today is a day of fasting, repentance, and the imposition of ashes, reminding us that we will all die and return to the earth. As a fitting fast, Isaiah reminds us, “6Is not this the fast that I choose: to […]

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As Jesus’ appearance was changed on the mountain, the disciples heard a voice saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Jesus’ transfiguration began as he prayed, revealing him as God’s chosen Son. As Paul writes, “All of us are being transformed into the same image” of Christ. Over a lifetime God is […]

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Love. Do good. Be merciful. Joseph lived God’s love and mercy that reconciled him with his brothers. Jesus lived God’s love and mercy, always doing good for others, even forgiving his enemies. God’s love and mercy are unconditional, and God calls us to act with this same love and mercy, even toward our enemies. We […]

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In today’s gospel, Jesus’ words about “Blessings and Woes” lay bare our aspirational and self-centered world of wealth and instant gratification. Jesus’ words are challenging for us because, lost in our wealth, we often fail to use God’s blessings to help others. Jesus’ words “Woe to you” remind us that wealth and “the good life,” […]

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