So, very often in the Old Testament, this is what happens. A prophet speaks to a group of people, calling them to turn back to the Lord. And what does the group of people do? They say no! They reject God, and bad things happen. They dig a hole that they cannot get out of. But the fantastic thing about the first reading for this Sunday is that Jonah, a prophet, speaks to the people of Nineveh, calling them to repent and turn back to the Lord. And what do they do? They say, “Yes!” They repent, and they turn back to Him. And what happens? There is freedom. There is a deepening of the relationship. They are blessed. It doesn’t happen often in the Old Testament, but this reminds us of what happens when we say yes to God. I think a lot of the time, when we say no to God, what happens? We dig a hole that we cannot get out of. But when we say yes to God, that brings freedom, that deepens our relationship. Be an authentic son and daughter who trusts their Father.
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Hungry for Jesus
Okay, so let’s talk about sushi. It is a common experience that when people eat sushi, they feel more hungry afterward. There are so many factors to this. White rice is quickly digestible. There is very little protein within sushi. The salty soy sauce that we consume also makes us really, really thirsty and really, really hungry. All these factors combined do not satisfy us. In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus…
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Accused For Failing
Like this message if you have ever messed up or failed, and then someone accused you for it. Accusation hurts. It unlocks shame in our hearts. And that is one thing not present in this Sunday’s first reading. In Genesis, Adam fails. And so, right after Adam’s sins, what does God do? He asks one symbol question, “Where are you?” He does not accuse. He does not say, “Well, I knew you were…
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Embracing Shame
Defensiveness, denial, rationalization, avoidance. What do these things have in common? It’s what we do when we avoid shame. None of us like to experience shame. None of us like to experience suffering. And we love to avoid. We love to deny. We love to distract ourselves because shame does not feel good. Here is the gospel, though, where Saint Peter does the same thing. He tells Jesus…
