15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) July 11 (Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Psalm 69; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37)

What does God want from us? How should we live? What is right and wrong? These are questions that people have wrestled with for centuries.

People being what they are tend to create answers to those questions that are unbelievably complicated and abstract. Sometimes they are even spiritually, psychologically or physically damaging. Human sacrifice, religious violence or religious justifications for grave injustices are just a few of the darker possibilities.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) July 4 (Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 66; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20)

How can we rejoice when there isn’t much to rejoice about? Calls to be joyful when we are in the midst of tragedy, depression or other difficulties can be hurtful and infuriating. And yet that is exactly what the prophet is telling the people of Israel to do. Jerusalem was in shambles — the exiles returned from Babylon to find ruin and decay. After decades there seemed to be no significant change and the beautiful images from the earlier prophecies began to ring rather hollow. Rejoice — right!

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 27 (1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21; Psalm 16; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62)

Recruiting was a bit simpler in ancient Israel. All Elijah the prophet had to do was throw his mantle over Elisha and his life changed forever — no protests, no excuses and no attempts at evasion. It doesn’t appear that there was a long anguished search for self-identity and his “professional” options were rather limited and clear-cut. Perhaps people were more focused on their life that was right before them and clearer on the reason they were alive.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 20 (Zechariah 12:10-11; Psalm 63; Galatians 3:26-26; Luke 9:18-24)

For whom shall the people mourn, and who is the one who has been pierced? Scholarly theories abound, and it is very difficult to even date these oracles from Zechariah. But evidence suggests that they address a broken and impoverished nation that has recently returned from exile in Babylon.

The glorious victory and radiant future promised by the exilic prophets has not materialized, and the Jewish nation is torn apart by dissension within and threats from without.

This famous oracle speaks of a time when the people of Jerusalem will come to their senses and have their own hearts broken with the knowledge of their own injustice and sin. Even repentance itself is a gift from God, and the spirit of compassion and supplication promised by God will begin the process of healing and renewal.

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

There is nothing as painful as the knowledge that one has let God down. God had been very good to David — He plucked him from insignificance and obscurity and anointed him as King of Israel, saving David from his enemies in the process. God heaped blessings on David and was prepared to do even more.

Body and Blood of Christ (Year C) June 6 (Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11-17)

In many narratives there is greater meaning in what remains unsaid and unexplained. The passage from Genesis seems mundane and innocuous enough. After returning from a minor skirmish with the enemy, Abraham shares the booty with a mysterious figure named Melchizedek. But then the questions begin.

Ascension of the Lord (Year C) May 16 (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:17-23; Luke 24:46-53)

We should beware when our perception of God’s will meshes too smoothly with our own fears, desires, worldview and opinions. While God has His own purpose and plan, human beings have their own — and it is usually of a very different and far less noble nature.

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C) May 2 (Acts 14:21-27; Psalm 145; Revelation 21:1-5; John 13:1, 31-33, 34-35)

What was it like to be a follower of Jesus Christ in the first century of our era? We are so used to a rather comfortable and undemanding Christianity that we can fail to appreciate the struggle, sacrifice and abandonment to divine providence that characterized the first Christians.

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year C) April 25 (Acts 13:14, 43-52; Psalm 100; Revelation 7:9, 14-17; John 10:27-30)

Religious controversy is nothing new. New ideas and hot-button issues are always guaranteed to stir up passionate debates as well as the darker side of the human psyche.  

In this sense we share much with the people of the first century depicted in the pages of the New Testament. Paul and Barnabas recounted Israel’s lengthy salvation history (omitted passages) and proclaimed the Messianic status of Jesus by portraying Him as the fulfilment and summation of that history. Although some were intrigued and open to their message, it stirred up controversy among many others. People do not like change, especially when cherished ideas or traditions are challenged. Zealous “defenders of the faith” mirror the story’s intolerant behaviour in our own time.

Third Sunday of Easter (Year C) April 18 (Acts 5:28-32, 40-41; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19)

It is extremely difficult to remain silent when we have exceptionally good news. The words burn within us and we can hardly wait to share something wonderful. Imagine how much more difficult it would be — if not impossible — to remain silent when the news we had to share had a universal and life-altering impact.