Geeky Catholic Dad

Gospel Reading: Luke 11:1-13 Highlight:  "What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?" Reflection: Is the message of this gospel reading that God will always give us what we ask for? Because if that's the measuring stick for prayer, I'd have lost my faith a long time ago. But that's not the message. The point of Jesus's question, "What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?" is not that a snake is different than what the son asked for. It's that the snake is harmful to the son. When we pray, God gives us what we need, even when we think we need something else. After all, what father among you would hand his son a scorpion, even if he asks for a scorpion? So maybe, instead of asking God for things that we want, we should ask him to help us want the things we need - the things God wants for us. Geeky Quote:  "Okay, you ask for it!" - Short Round,  Indiana Jones and the Temp...

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:38-42 Highlight:  "Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." Reflection: It might be hard to read this reading and not think that Jesus is missing something. "Jesus," we might say, "that's great that Mary is sitting at your feet and listening to you. But the laundry and the cooking will still need to be done. If we all just sat and listened, the world would fall apart." I don't think Jesus is missing something, though. Perhaps his message is just a little more nuanced. It's not that doing work is always wrong and prayerful stillness is always right. It's a matter of timing and priority. At the moment of this gospel story, Jesus was at Mary and Martha's house. So sitting and listening to him should have been the priority. He would have made sure that everything was taken care of. Martha thought that if she didn't take care of things, they wouldn't get done. We have to trust th...

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:25-37 Highlight:  "When he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side." Reflection: This reading might not be very challenging at first glance. After all, the priest and the Levite who ignored the injured man were probably two of the people who handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. So of course they didn't act charitably. It's easy, then, to identify with the Good Samaritan. But what would I really do in a situation like this? What have I done in situations like this? The priest and Levite had convinced themselves they had good reasons to steer clear of the victim in the story. They didn't  want to become ritually unclean, because then they wouldn't be able to do their priestly duties. Surely God wouldn't want them to neglect their duties, right? Someone else will be along to help that poor, wounded man. Do I hide behind similar excuses? Is God calling me to be more charitable to the hurting people I encounter? Geek...

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 Highlight:  "If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you." Reflection:  This verse doesn't usually stick out to me when I read this Gospel passage, but it did today. It's about wishing peace for people, and really, to wish peace for someone is to love them. Jesus is advising us to love people, even if we don't think they will be receptive to that love. It's not as if we have some limited amount of "love" that we have to use sparingly, giving it to nice people but avoiding those who are unkind. Jesus doesn't tell us to wish peace for the peaceful, but wish pain for the aggressive. We should love and evangelize everyone we meet. And if they are not receptive to us, Jesus assures us that he will give us peace. Geeky Quote:  "Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they." - Yoda,  Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Prayer:  God, ...