What’s up with the ‘b?’ I base my Sunday gospel ‘homilies’ on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ reading calendar, which is synchronized with that of the Catholic Church. Today’s reading lists the reading with the ‘b’, which is unusual, as scripture verses are typically not divided into English letter parts. Upon cracking open your Bible, you will notice that the beginning of John 17:11 on the webpage does not exist in the actual verse. Instead, it has apparently been adapted from John 17:1 as a proper beginning to the reading, since it is only part of Jesus’s entire “prayer” and would be confusing without the addition. Since I would also like to focus on only verses 11-19, I chose to keep the ‘b’ in my post title. So, with that cleared up, onto the reading!
Filed under: Homilies | Tags: commandments, friends, Jesus, love, slaves, The Golden Rule
There’s a whole lotta love in today’s gospel reading. God’s love for Jesus, Jesus’s love for humanity, humanity’s love for God and Jesus, and, of course, our love for one another.
Filed under: Reflections
There’s a joke that goes like this: a Christian and an agnostic are debating the historical Jesus. The agnostic says to the Christian, “Jesus never even said that he was divine!” The Christian says, “You’re wrong.” She flips open her bible and says, “Look, right here. Jesus says: I am de vine, you are de branches.”
Filed under: Reflections | Tags: i am the good shepherd, Jesus, sheep, sheeple, the good shepherd
In the Gospels, Jesus alternately refers to himself as a both a good shepherd and the “lamb” of God. It is not to confuse us; it is important to understand the context for each, which, as I hope to show you in this letter, Jesus gives plenty of.
Letters From Timothy 