~~~SisterSea~~~

April 18, 2021 -- Originally written in 2018 The liturgical season of Easter is the only time that our readings are all from the New Testament.   During this season the first readings are from the Acts of the Apostles.   Today's reading from Acts is another occasion where our Roman Catholic Lectionary differs from the Revised Common Lectionary and omits scripture verses.   This textual omission significantly changes the meaning and therefore our understanding of the scriptural message.     Today's first reading is from Chapter 3 of Acts, some of the beginning verses were read last week.   In it there is a cripple beggar outside the temple, where Peter and John are about to enter.   Peter tells the beggar, “‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you.”   Peter then cures the man in Jesus' name.   Then we are told the man jumped and began to walk “and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” ...

  There is so much in today’s readings but we’ll have to settle for an elaboration of the second commandment with a slight detour via the money-changers.   I used to think of the second commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain,” in terms of cursing or swearing oaths.   However, I’ve come to believe that to dishonour what is God’s is to dishonour God, that is, we take the Lord’s name in vain. Sheep by Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie We are all God’s children.   Our Creator gave us teachers, starting in biblical times with the prophets and ending with Jesus.   In post biblical times, there are men and women whose lives and writings show us that God continues to send us teachers, if we would only listen.   St. Francis of Assisi and Dorothy Day are examples of what I mean.   In St. Francis’ time, lepers were the outcasts of society, forced to live apart.   Before his conversion, Francis found lepers intolerable.   Then...

First Sunday of Lent—February 21 st , 2021 Since, I’ve been a priest, every year we’ve had a Lenten program that dealt with one or another of the environmental issues facing us, such as the soil, water, air and so on.   Today’s first reading called me to a deeper reflection about animals.   In today’s first reading, God makes, and promises to remember, the covenant being made between the Creator-of-All and every living creature—between God and the Earth.   Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is shorter than the accounts given by Matthew and Luke.   Yet, Mark tells us something the other two accounts don’t, that is, Jesus was among wild beasts .   Why did the Evangelist think this was worth noting in his account of the gospel?   We can meditate on that.     The first reading suggests that, in God’s eyes, the destiny of humans and the destiny every living creature are intertwined.   If we look earlier in the bo...