Scripture Reflections for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Consider, for a moment, if your sources of hope and trust shift between good times and bad. When things are going well, are you more likely to trust in yourself..."

"I would like to focus on the brief but extremely powerful passage from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, which is our first reading for this weekend. It is taken..."

"The readings for this weekend pose a blunt question: whom, finally, do you trust? “Trust” is meant here in an absolute sense. Where do you base your life? In God..."

“talking about the Kingdom of Heaven: trying to live with ideals and live through difficulties even when we cannot see how God is helping, but still being prepared to live in the trust that that help is real”

"In December, a young widow died of Hepatitis B in the Palabek refugee settlement camp here in northern Uganda. She was 34 years old and she left behind four children,..."

“the Christian life is a life lived in accordance with the values of the coming Kingdom of Heaven...we stand out because our way of life is from the future, and is therefore both timely and timeless at the same time.”

“Many were destitute, hungry, mourning and despised by the local population. At the economic level they are certainly not blessed. Yet Luke calls them blessed!”

“We need to recognise that it is not the fact of suffering itself which implies blessedness; as is made clear in the fourth beatitude, it is those who suffer “on account of the Son of man” who are happy”

“To be able to love and accept ourselves, to give someone else the support of love and maybe some guidance if it is needed, even to be able to make someone feel better about themselves, is to bring a kind of healing that is very real and very important. It may not be spectacular but it can still be a miracle.”

“it is through transcending the trappings of this material world that we live in that we are truly blessed in finding our ultimate reward in Christ Jesus and the kingdom of God”

"Detachment is a key theme in the spiritual masters. It means that we must detach ourselves from all of those created goods–sex, money, power, pleasure–that are not our ultimate good...."

“It is significant that Jeremiah’s oracle does not say that the “one who trusts in the Lord” will not experience heat or drought, but rather that he will stay green in the midst of it”

"So begins the prose introduction to Michael Quoist’s Poem, “There Are Two Loves Only.” That title and the poem crystalize today’s readings. Selections from the poem are printed in bold..."

"Friends, when our heart belongs to anything in this world, we live in an empty and lifeless spiritual space. But when our heart belongs to the Lord, the rest of..."

"Our life takes shape in relation to that which we are willing to trust. What then is worthy of our trust? Worldly powers can disappoint and will all ultimately fail..."