Send a text

Jesus reveals he's the Messiah only three times in the Gospels (here, to a Samaritan woman; and twice at his trial). He sees her wounds but also her resilience and faith. Despite pain, she's tied to her community. I wonder if these qualities made her a good candidate for Jesus to share his true identity with her.

Unlike the sceptical Pharisees, she grasps who Jesus is—and leads her village to him. In John 4:40–42, the Samaritans invite him to stay two days. Many villagers believe through his words, telling her, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; we have heard for ourselves, and we know this is truly the Savior of the world." This verse is incredible. The people are converted by the preaching alone. There is no record of miracles events – no healings or people getting fed. The people are converted by the Word alone. This is a different scenario from what Jesus usually experiences.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send a text

The Transfiguration stands out from accounts of Jesus' healings and teachings. There's a group of miracles that feel different—perhaps even puzzling—but they're deeply spiritual. Consider Jesus walking on water and inviting Peter to join him (Matthew 14:22-33); calming the storm amid the disciples' pleas (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25); turning water into wine at a wedding (John 2:1-11); finding a coin in a fish's mouth for the temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27); or casting demons into a herd of pigs (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39). You might think of others.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send a text

In today’s podcast we focus on Matthew’s account of Jesus completing 40 days in the desert. It is not clear whether Matthew is drawing a connection between Jesus’ time in the desert and the Israelites wandering around in the desert for 40 years. What is noteworthy is that we have Jesus being tempted by the devil. The temptations give us insight into the heart and mission of Jesus.

The first one is the devil suggesting that Jesus turn the stones into bread. Jesus is clearly hungry. He had fasted for a long time. It would make sense, at least superficially, to use his power to regain his strength. Jesus is not seduced by this reasoning and realized the ends did not justify the means.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us a text

As we develop our faith life our view of the law will change from following the letter of the law to the spirit of the law. Jesus was often critical of the Pharisees who lived by the letter of the law and chose not to recognize the purpose of the law. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus accused them of meticulously paying tithes on tiny herbs like mint, anise and cummin but ignoring "weightier matters" like justice, mercy, and faith, showing their focus on literal compliance over the Law's spirit. Jesus called them "blind guides" for straining gnats (minor ritual impurity) from water while swallowing camels (major violations), highlighting disproportionate literalism on trivial purity laws Matthew 23:24.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us a text

In today’s Gospel Jesus describes living our faith in three metaphors that would be easily understood by the first listeners. Also, I suspect the choice of the metaphors may have additional meaning too.

The first metaphor that Jesus uses is comparing the impact of faith on others to the impact of salt on seasoning our food. The use of salt today has changed radically. We still need salt to prevent such diseases as hyponatremia and impacting insulin absorption for diabetics. Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure. It is not unusual for physicians to suggest to their patients to reduce their salt intake. I urge my listeners to hear these teachings in the context they were made. 2000 years ago, salt was a cherished commodity. Salt was used in food to improve taste. Other spices such as cinnamon and cumin were imported and available to the wealthy while other herbs and spices such as mint, thyme, garlic and onions were available to the average person. Salt was still very important, and, in many cases, people were paid in salt (or used it as a form of currency in various ancient societies where it held high value for preservation and trade. The word salary is from the word salt; reflecting the fact that many people were paid with salt.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us a text

In the podcast today we are introduced to a segment of the teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes gives us insight into the mind of Jesus. There is some debate about what Jesus actually meant but let’s look more closely. The Beatitudes are also found in Luke’s Gospel with some differences. For example, the first Beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us a text

This Gospel describes the early beginnings of Jesus ministry. The death of John the Baptist seems to be the trigger for Jesus, and he begins by inviting people to join him in his mission. There are two points I want to draw your attention to. In most cases one would expect the disciples to ask Jesus, but we have it the other way around. Jesus is asking them. It is noteworthy that Jesus is asking them so early in his ministry.

Most of the disciples as far as we can tell were invited by Jesus for particular reasons, reasons that we can not be sure of. We do know that its not because they were particularly good or that they had achieved any special accomplishment. It is noteworthy to mention that we don’t have any record of Jesus inviting any of the Pharisees.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us a text

The lesson for us is not to get alarmed if we have periods of doubt or question aspects of our faith. As pointed out, these are signs of an adult faith. I invite you to see doubts as an invitation to explore, to be curious, to question and be motivated to resolve the doubt. The sad part is that so many people just hold the tension and do little or nothing with their doubts. Some people are worried that their faith is weak and are reluctant to do anything or seek help. This is probably the worst possible choice. Check out the podcast about Disbelieving Thomas published on March 31, 2024. St. Thomas and his doubt experience can provide insight into understanding those periods of doubt in our own faith journey. John the Baptist’s faith life will be a source of spiritual hope for you.

Complete our 1 Minute Survey