Word in the Hand

Palm Sunday  Mark 11:1-10 Would n't it be lovely , just one year, not to have the  ho rro r of Good Friday looming over this  event? For some  paradox  of time to switch the end ing of the week to something  less guilt - ridden .  One of the hardest parts of the Gospel for me to read without  shuddering a t what was going to happen ne xt.  Ignatian Spirituality embraces the practice of imaginative meditation as well as contemplative prayer. Placing yourself in the Gospel can teach, heal and inspire.  This year , the thoug ht occurs to me that Pope Francis may well be joining Jesus in having a Palm Sunday moment or two.  For both of them, all t hat time in the desert, the m essage was being passed , believed, ignored , dismissed.  Until the summo ning of the Spirit   brings them  out of the soul thirsting, dryness  and the unending str u ggle  of the d ar ken ed and dr y valleys of hopeless n...

Gospel Luke 2:15-20 House shrine Assisi When the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told. It may be a surprise to learn that the word ‘hospitality’ doesn’t mean what we think it means –like many words it has lost something in translation and in tradition.   These days we imagine that it means having friends and loved ones around the table. To be generous to those we love; to celebrate togetherness. As hope...

Gospel Mark 12:38-44  In his teaching Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’   He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’ The treasury gives many the opportunity to give a great deal. There is not one but thirtee...