Blog Posts from June, 2019

“How can I, unless someone instructs me?” (Acts 8: 31)

The readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time use imagery and ideas that are readily made contemporary, especially when they’re plugged into our society and economy. Begin with Elisha and Elijah, and Elijah’s command by God to mentor Elisha. Mentorships are experiencing a mild revival; employers are figuring out (again) that in many situations “one size fits one,” and that some skills can only be learned in time and through practice and repetition. The worth of receiving guidance from someone who has attained mastery is slowly being restored as a public good.

Guacamole costs extra

I lean on Pope Francis’s insight – and let it guide all ministry – that realities are greater than ideas, from Evangelii Gaudium. Jesus knows this and he shows it to his apostles in the Gospel today, on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The plan, the idea for looking after the five thousand, is to have the people fend for themselves in the nearby farms and villages? It is a terrible plan. The reality? The reality is that the ministers have fishes and loaves. “Give them some food yourselves” (Luke 9:13), Jesus tells them. And he takes it from there.

Trinity Sunday

Yesterday (Wait: Robert, are you saying that you only started working on your Sunday homily yesterday? Um, yes? Listen, it was a busy week, okay? Especially Friday …. Thanks again to everyone who came out for and supported the 2019 Capuchin Walk for the Hungry) Brother Rob Roemer received a call from the downtown convention center, that there was a surplus of box lunches left over from an event. So he took the Saint Ben’s van to the Wisconsin Center and loaded them up.