Mary M. McGlone

Spiritual Reflections: Whether we are learning with Jesus or challenging boundaries with the Canaanite woman, the Gospel calls us to question what are often considered legitimate limitations. 

While he was at prayer, the storm went to sea and Jesus knew how that tended to terrify his group of followers. When he thought about his frightened friends, what did he do? He headed out to help them the only way he could.

Spiritual Reflections: We aren’t being asked to walk on water, but to act like we believe that God’s love for us and in us is more powerful than chaos, evil and apathy. 

Today’s reading from the Book of Daniel is apocalyptic literature, a type of writing designed for people under great stress. It assures them that no matter how powerful the forces of evil seem, no matter how much suffering enemies inflict, God will win in the end, so there’s nothing to worry about.

Spiritual Reflections: The Transfiguration’s message is not apocalyptic. Jesus doesn’t boo away the demons. Instead, he shows us what every human being can become when open to transforming love.

Were there weeds in the Garden of Eden? The day I heard that there is such a thing as dandelion wine I started to question the either/or classification of plants as good or weed. Who are we to judge?

"I give praise to you, Father ... for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to little ones.” 

”Get over yourself!” Nobody has probably said that more radically than Jesus in today’s Gospel. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me ... whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

What is a prophet? A prophet is someone called by God to read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel. 

The author of this Sunday’s selection from Deuteronomy (we’ll assume he was a man, because women didn’t have the leisure time to learn to read and write) was writing history in the form of a homily he attributed to Moses. 

 ”God so oved the world that he gave his only son.” Who is this God? One of the images of God that has most captured the Christian imagination comes from Michelangelo’s depiction of the creation of Adam. 

A little noticed detail in the Pentecost accounts is that the Spirit descends on community groups, not individuals.