6/24/2018
Pentecost 5B

The wind was whipping water over the gunwales, and the waves were throwing the boat around like a toy boat in a bathtub. The disclples shouted to Jesus in order to wake him up, and out of fear, “Lord, don’t you care that we are perishing?” Jesus answered his frightened disciples’ plea for help by calming the storm with just a few word, “Peace! Be still!”.

From the disciples’ perspective, this was it; they were going to die, and Jesus didn’t seem to care.

6/17/2018
Pentecost 4B

A few years ago a friend of mine, Father Mike Ferrito in San Jose, learned without warning that he had to undergo surgery to remove a third of his large intestines, because of something doctors found in a regular annual exam. I visited him at the hospital to check on him, pray for him, and anoint him. I gave him one of Ruthie’s blessed angel coins. He closed his hand around the coin, and told me that this really meant a lot, and he wanted to tell me why…

6/3/2018
Pentecost 2, Year B, Proper 4

In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people of Israel what laws God had given them. One law was to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. Over the years this morphed into a collection of rules that governed what could or could not be done on the Sabbath Day.

I remember visiting my aunt and uncle in Florida. They were Methodists – strict Methodists.