Haste is our enemy. It puts us under stress, raises our blood pressure, makes us impatient, renders us more vulnerable to accidents and, most serious of all, blinds us to the needs of others. Haste is normally not a virtue, irrespective of the goodness of whatever it is we are hurrying towards.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 23 (Zechariah 12:10-11; Psalm 63; Galatians 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24)

Zechariah’s cryptic prophecy presents us with a question: Who was the one who was pierced and why? These and other questions remain unanswered from the historical point of view.

Each year we celebrate Father’s Day, a day on which we’re asked to get in touch with the gratitude we should feel towards our fathers. For some of us this is easy, we had good fathers; but for many it’s difficult. How do you feel gratitude if your father was someone who was mostly absent or abusive?

The Wizard of Oz is a true classic movie. One of my favourite scenes is when Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion arrive to see the Wizard.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 16 (2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Psalm 32; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-8:3)

For some people there is no such thing as “enough” — more power, money, fame and control over others is an obsession. King David had been given everything: dominion over the land, the crown of Israel, deliverance from danger and countless other blessings. God would have even added more if only David had asked. God only asked that David remember these kindnesses and walk in the ways of the Lord.

Several years ago, at a conference that I was attending, the keynote speaker challenged his audience in this way: All of us, he pointed out, are members of various communities. We live in families, are part of church congregations, have colleagues with whom we work, have a circle of friends and are part of a larger civic community. In every one of these there will come a time when we will get hurt, when we will not be honoured, when we will be taken for granted and treated unfairly. All of us will get hurt. That is a given. However, and this was his challenge, how we handle that hurt, with either bitterness or forgiveness, will colour the rest of our lives and determine what kind of person we are going to be.

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 9 (1 Kings 17:17-21, 22-24; Psalm 30; Galatians 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17)

Pain, suffering and death definitely challenge human endurance and put faith to the test. Most prayers plead for relief from pain, suffering or misfortune. For some, the experience leads to a deepening of faith and trust in God. For many others who feel that their prayers were unanswered, cynicism and a loss of faith in a benevolent higher power may be the unhappy result.

Recently an op-ed piece appeared in the New York Times by Frank Bruni, entitled, “The Wages of Celibacy.” The column, while provocative, is fair. Mostly he asks a lot of hard, necessary questions.

Late one pleasant evening, I was putting out the garbage. A neighbour stepped out with her garbage, too. Seeing me, she came over; I know her only by sight, but I like to get to know my neighbours, so I was pleased. Momentarily.

Body and Blood of Christ (Year C) June 2 (Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11-17)

In a good story there is almost always more than meets the eye. The plot and main characters in the foreground are not necessarily the only or the most important elements of the story. Characters that play important roles only much later in the story make brief and fleeting appearances throughout the earlier portions of the narrative. Reading the story carefully and with attention to detail will reveal aspects of the story that are missed by others.