Knowing where we came from is important in many ways, especially in preparing for where we are going. I’m not talking just about the our physical birth and ancestry, but also our faith and family’s spiritual heritage. Today we hear the Gospel from Matthew 1, which begins with “The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ.”
Most of us can relate to being invited to a wedding, where we dress up and prepare for a big celebration with dinner and fellowship. In a similar way, we are preparing for a most special event in just a few weeks. It’s an invitation from God to draw closer to Him, through Jesus’ birth and coming into the world. The Gospel from Luke 14 is unique, and read annually two weeks before Christmas on the Sunday of the Forefathers of our Christian faith. This parable illustrates both
There are basic events and morals to every story. In this Gospel story about the bowed woman, of course we learned about Christ's mercy, and his power to heal. But sometimes there are secondary meanings in addition to the obvious details.
In today’s reflection from the bulletin and the Youth Sermon, we talked about light and darkness, seeing or being blind, belief versus unbelief. The beggar from the Gospel reading, Bartimaeus, had heard about Jesus and His miracles before meeting Him that day. He was also familiar with the Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets. His sense of hearing was heightened since he wasn’t able to use his eyes, and he was both prepared and eager to encounter the Messiah.