Before we have a look at another new parable for this Sunday, it would be helpful I think to take a little time with our first reading, this short passage from the book of Amos. If you don’t know Amos, he was a prophet who lived in the 8th century before Christ, and he preached…

By now, we are quite familiar with the notion that Jesus told parables to help people think about their lives. Rather than giving people instructions, Jesus asked them questions so they could change their mind about a certain number of things, a certain number of people, and even change their minds about God. In the…

There are a few sayings in the Gospel known as the “difficult words of Jesus” and we certainly encounter some of them today in the first verses of our passage. Jesus says to the crowd: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brother and sisters, yes, and even…

In the past weeks, we have become acquainted with many of Jesus’s parables, and we have learned that parables were one of Jesus’s favorite ways of teaching. Instead of telling people what to think, what to believe and what to do, Jesus offered stories with many layers of meaning so people could reflect on their…

What would you say faith is? Sometimes the most simple questions are the most difficult! There is an easy answer though. You could say that every Sunday, after the sermon, we often announce at church that we “confess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed”, so this is probably what it is, right?…

If you remember from last week, we talked with the Lord’s prayer about the way Jesus used to teach. One of the things we noticed about Jesus’s teaching is that it was simple. Jesus made religion accessible to all the people, even to children. He used everyday language that all could understand. Now we also…

Today we hear in our Gospel the words of what we call the “Lord’s prayer”, the “Our Father”, a prayer that of course most of us know very well. What is really striking to me is the simplicity of this prayer. It’s even more simple in this version of Luke – you may have notice…

The passage of the Gospel this week is the continuation of what we have heard last Sunday. If you remember, we talked about the freedom Jesus gave to the people to receive him, or not; to follow him, or not. With our reading of the letter of Paul to the Galatians, we also talked about…

In her memories, a famous writer tells the story about how, as a young girl, she decided she couldn’t believe in God anymore. Before she completely made up her mind though, she says that she went in her room, told God about her intentions and summoned Him to manifest Himself in case He wanted her…

A few days ago, we noticed that we start Lent with the same reading every Ash Wednesday, and it is true also for our First Sunday in Lent – although we read each time from a different Gospel; Mark, Matthew or Luke – we always start with the famous stories of Jesus in the wilderness…