Afraid of Death?
Okay, so have you ever seen a Samoan war chant? One of the most intimidating things you will ever see in your life. The war chant is taunting the other team, taunting the enemy, saying, we’re not afraid of you. There’s nothing about you that makes us scared. We are confident. We are not scared of you at all. This is precisely what St. Paul is doing in the second reading for this Sunday. He is saying directly to death…
Moral Authority
Guys, Muppet, Yoda, beats CGI, Yoda, any day of the week. We see this in The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke Skywalker is Yoda’s apprentice. Luke follows everything that Yoda says because Yoda has moral authority; we see this moral authority and the gospel for this Sunday at the wedding of Cana. Mary says to the servants, do whatever he tells you, and they do it because Mary has this moral authority; because of…
Sacrifice For Jesus
Okay, so in the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is not trying to be an economist. He’s not concerned about what happens to the S&P 500. He is not worried about how much Bitcoin to give to the poor. Jesus is talking about our sacrificial hearts. In the gospel, the rich provide some of their money, and the poor widow gives all she has. Jesus is not concerned with numbers. He’s concerned with our…
Best Practical Self-Help
So lately, my internet algorithm has been leading me to practical self-help stuff. So apparently, I need help. But the reality is, most of us attend self-help groups because we want to grow. We want to grow in our social skills and our health: Jesus and the gospel offer efficient guidance. Jesus says, Don’t store up treasures and riches for yourself. That will not fulfill you, that will not satisfy you, that will not bring you…
The Right Ambition
Elon Musk, Simone Biles, Dwayne ‘The Rock, Johnson, Mulan, Tony Stark. What do all of these people have in common? Ambition. They have this drive to be great. In the gospel for this Sunday, James and John, the Sons of Thunder, have ambition. All they want to do is sit on Jesus’s right and left and be the most awesome. And the crazy thing is Jesus doesn’t take that away from them. Jesus…
Do Not Mock God
So, Christianity 101. Never ridicule or mock or laugh at God because God is always right. In the gospel for this Sunday, people ridicule, mock, and laugh at Jesus for what he says. And in the end, Jesus is correct. The little girl rises, and she is alive. A lot of the time, we do not understand God’s ways. But God promised He is the way, the truth, and the life. And we can rely on Him even if we do…