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.

VATICAN CITY - Vatican officials are making strategic phone calls to some of the world's most far-flung dioceses, trying to verify that in each of the world's inhabited time zones there will be an organized hour of eucharistic adoration coinciding with 5-6 p.m. Rome time June 2.

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.

Some years ago, a woman shared this story at a workshop. She had a six-year-old son whom she had conscientiously schooled in prayer. Among other things, she made him kneel beside his bed every night and say aloud a number of prayers, ending with an invocation to “bless mummy, daddy, grandma and grandpa.” One night, shortly after he had started school, she took him to his room to hear his prayers and to tuck him in for the night. But when it came time for him to kneel by his bedside and recite his prayers, he refused and crawled into bed instead. His mother asked him: “What’s the matter? Don’t you pray any more?” There was remarkable calm in his reply: “No,” he said, “I don’t pray any more. The sister teaching us at school told us that we are not supposed to pray, she said that we are supposed to talk to God ... and tonight I am tired and have nothing to say.”

VATICAN CITY - With humor and passion, Pope Francis shared highlights of his personal faith journey and explained some key points of his teaching to an enthusiastic crowd of representatives from Catholic lay movements.

The ideals of parish life aren’t hard to identify. Priests everywhere remind people in front of them on Sunday they are the Church — a community bound together by sacrament and the word of God. It isn’t just the building that is named after a saint but every family and each individual whenever they come together to worship and reach out for the kingdom of God.