The Better Part

Luke 18.9-14 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n (Adults, this week we hear another moral parable. Our 3-6 year olds do not need to hear this yet. But as small little people, they know how to be in right-relationship with God.) In the Word of God, we often hear about prayer. We know that prayer is listening to God and talking to God. We know that we can pray with our words and we can pray with our bodies, too. In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable about t

Luke 18.9-14 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable about how we should be when we pray. We remember that parables are little stories to help us understand. In this parable, there are two people who go to the Temple to pray. The Temple is the most holy place in all Jerusalem, in all of Israel, because in the Temple, behind the great gold doors of the Tabernacle, is the Holy of Holies. Only a certain holy priest on a cert

Luke 18.9-14 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells another parable about prayer. We know that prayer is conversation with God, both listening and speaking. Conversation deepens relationships. This parable, then we can say, is about relationship with God . “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The people listening to Jesus know Pharisees and tax collectors. Pharisees are good people

Luke 18:1-8 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n (Adults, petitionary prayer is not natural to 3-6 year olds. Their prayer is characterized by thanksgiving and praise. This reflection focuses on how our lives can be prayer.) In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells us something about prayer. Some people say that prayer is "talking to God." That is true—prayer  can be  talking to God. But we have to wonder if prayer is only  talking to God. "Jesus told them a parable ab

Luke 18:1-8 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells us a parable about prayer. We know that parables are stories, little mysteries that invite us to ask the question: What more  can Jesus mean? “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ There are two people in this parable: a judge—s

Luke 18:1-8 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells us a parable about prayer. We know there are different kinds of prayer, different reasons for praying. We can pray in thanksgiving for the blessings we enjoy. We can praise God, telling all the world how great and good God is. The kind of prayer that most people know, though, is prayers of petition or intercession—asking for God's help for ourselves or for someone else. This is th

Luke 17.11-19 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n In the Gospel for this Sunday, we hear about ten people who are sick who ask...

Luke 17.11-19 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n A strange thing happens in the Gospel for this Sunday. On the way to Jerusalem,...

Luke 17.11-19 Listen here to the Gospel and Reflectio n Much of the time, Jesus preaches to the people about the Kingdom of God. He...