The Touch

Sometimes, we’re afraid to approach God. We’re afraid to pray, go to confession, or approach for communion. Perhaps we haven’t fasted, or we’re embarrassed by our sins. Or, perhaps, we just don’t feel worthy of God’s love. This is common,

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The Test of the Rich Ruler

13th Sunday of Luke  If the rich young ruler had obeyed all the commandments since his youth, if he was an upstanding young man, why wasn’t this enough for Jesus? How could he be lacking anything? Today, a young ruler

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A Broken Promise?

Sometimes we read scriptural promises that we know aren’t true. Our reality doesn’t seem to match the reality of the Bible. How are we to understand this? In today’s reading, we hear Jesus promise that “nothing shall harm you.” But,

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The King’s Return

We all like comfort food. It reminds of good times and gives us a warm feeling inside. Comfort food is like the status quo—it’s what’s familiar to us. So, why was it a problem when the servant played it safe

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The Holy Temple And Virgin

What happens when holiness encounters the holy? In today’s feast, we find out. On November 21, we celebrate a biblical story that isn’t in the Bible. It’s the story of the Virgin Mother entering into the Jerusalem Temple as a

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Fetuses and Slaves

What if the translations we hear are wrong? What if we choose different words? Would that change our understanding of the passage? Today’s reading is one such reading. When this is read, we hear about infants being brought to Jesus

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To Be or Not To Be . . . Raptured

We hear about the end of the world from various Christian groups all the time, and they use this verse to justify it. But, in a strange twist, they turn the whole verse around and get it wrong! You’ve probably

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God’s Gift

Sometimes, it feels like we can do nothing right as Christians—we’ll always be in debt to God. Jesus, though, makes it clear that entrance into God’s kingdom is by the free gift of God so that we don’t have to

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The Rich Fool

9th Sunday of  Luke Why would a question about inheritance lead to a parable about a greedy rich man? Today’s parable was originally prompted by a question. A man approaches Jesus and says, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide his

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Our Unworthiness

At some point, everyone feels unworthy of approaching God. Jesus is the great doctor who heals us by grace so that we are all made worthy by God of approaching and experiencing his love. Matthew, as we all know, was

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