Homilies

Breaking open daily scripture

Memorial, St. Benedict

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for July 11, 2025

Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30, Psalm 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40, Matthew 10:16-23

After sitting with these readings this week what strikes me is the consistent care and concern that God has for his people no matter where they go or what they do. The Genesis story tells of the Israelites being uprooted to go far from home so they can survive the famine. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is sending his disciples to places unknown.

Yet in both stories God is going to be there. In Genesis Jacob hears God say explicitly not to be afraid to go to Egypt because God will be with him. There is even the promise to bring them back. What more can you tell someone who is going away to comfort and encourage them but that they will return home safely. In Matthew, Jesus doesn’t say being a disciple is going to be easy. Rather he warns his disciples that they are going out among wolves. But no matter what happens God will tell them what to say and when they “endure to the end” they will be saved.

I also don’t think this is pie in the sky stuff. It is not a Pollyanna view of the world where people are simply reassured that everything will be “all right.” Jesus says disciples must be wise as serpents, simple as doves. He knows families will be divided and suffer from the loss. He doesn’t suggest they take on futile causes, so if one town rejects them they are to move to the next. And we know that once the Israelites go to Egypt not everything is going to work out well the whole time they are there. But we know that God does keep God’s promise, the Israelites, led by Moses, do return from Egypt to prosper as a nation.

It suggests to me that just because God is close to us and part of our lives, that doesn’t remove the difficulties or challenges or decisions that life presents. But it does say that if we are open to it. God will comfort us and care for us in ways that will surprise us and free us. I think it suggests exactly what the Psalm says, “The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted; their inheritance lasts forever. They are not put to shame in an evil time; in days of famine they have plenty.” God will help us be our best selves.

 Whether we have plenty right now or if we are starving in some way, what we need to do is look for the God who took Jacob to Egypt and brought him home. The God who brought Joseph, the son believed to be dead, back to see his father, so they could cry on each other’s shoulder. The God who saw his own son slaughtered on a cross but who seeks to provide our every need. This God, the Psalmist says delivers the just from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him. Are we taking our refuge in God? Are we giving God the chance to act in our lives? Are we asking for help when we need it? Do we let others in to be a part of what we need? Are we there when others have the courage to ask for the help they need? We heard what the Psalmist said this morning, “Do good that you may abide forever, for the Lord loves what is right and does not forsake his faithful ones.” God and us we’re in this life together.

Tuesday, Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for July 8, 2025

Genesis 32:23-33, Psalm 17:1b,2-3,7-8,15 and Matthew 9:32-38

Today’s world is complicated. That is a blessing and a curse. Our choices are many but we can’t have it all. I believe one popular phrase is, “Fear of missing out,” FOMO. How do we sort through the wonderfully varied choices and find what is best for us? Some things are good for us and some things aren’t. What’s more, the longer we live the more things change around us and within us as well. It’s not easy to understand, much less manage, the world and our feelings and desires.

I’m talking about this primarily because of Jesus’ observation in Matthew’s Gospel today, “And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” I think we can understand harassed and dejected all too well. We may not know about sheep and shepherds but we understand the idea. We need some kind of guide or guiding principle to help us sort out what’s important from what’s not.

One of the things about the Bible is how concrete it is. The stories are very specific. Sometimes that can get in the way of understanding them because it’s all set in times long, long ago. However, the point of concrete, specific stories about what happens to people is that they are trying to tell us where to look for our answers. Where? In the absolutely specific, concrete events of our lives. What is happening for us? Are things getting better or worse? Are we happy or not?

The question about people being dejected comes right after Jesus has driven out a devil from a person who couldn’t speak and then could. Matthew says, “the people were amazed and said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’” I suggest we have to take seriously what we see happening around us and within us. This is a question of seeing. Are we looking or trying to avoid what we see? Can we be honest with ourselves about what we see? That is not always easy to do.

That’s the message in the Genesis story. Jacob has lots going on in his life: two wives, eleven children to get across the river and all his possessions as well. He’s not some person taking time out to go on a retreat to find himself. Stuff is happening right now. In the midst of that activity someone starts a wrestling match with him in the middle of the night. Jacob stays with it all night. He has no idea who he’s contending with. But come morning things have changed, his opponent has wounded him but the fight produces a new man. No longer Jacob, he’s now Israel. To have your name changed in Biblical stories is to be a different person.

Jacob in the dark of night, when he couldn’t see anything, didn’t know who was challenging him, was fighting through a time of uncertainty, unknowing and confusion. Jacob keeps going until dawn when he can see, recognize the challenges and amazingly ask for a blessing. Genesis says, he won’t let go until what is hurting him blesses him. He gets his new name, becomes a new person, because, “you have contended with divine and human beings
and have prevailed.”

It’s not easy to acknowledge what is keeping us down but fighting until we know where the good things are is what we need to do. We need to get through the night until dawn no matter how hard that is. Like Jacob, we may find it God was with us all along in ways we didn’t understand.

Today’s Psalm sums it up, “Though you test my heart, searching it in the night, … on waking, I shall be content in your presence.”

Tuesday, Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time

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Scripture Reading for July 1, 2025

Genesis 19: 15-29, Psalm 26: 2-3, 9-12, Matthew 8: 23-27

Maybe it’s obvious, but for me the key to today’s two readings is the parallel between saving Lot and saving the disciples in the storm. In both cases we have people of “little faith.” Lot is reluctant to leave Sodom. God’s messengers literally have to drag him and his family outside the city and still he doesn’t think he can make the hills but needs to go to a small town that closer. The Apostles are totally unnerved by the storm at sea and need to wake Jesus because they are “perishing.” Both the Apostles and Lot’s family are saved not because of their own actions but because of their relationship with someone else who is a “friend of God.”  Lot is Abram’s nephew and the disciples are, of course, Jesus’ disciples.

It seems to me that the message is pretty simple. If you are in real trouble, “we are perishing,” the right move is to reach out to God for help. So regardless of what you may think about the historical facts of miracles in the Bible, the story is saying the God has the power to change what seems like hopeless situations. Nothing is inevitable. Life can be different than the way it looks at the moment. That’s what happens for Lot in Sodom and the frightened disciples at sea.

I would argue that it isn’t even about having a great confident faith in God’s presence. This story suggests that even if you’re unsure, reluctant and even resistent God can bail you out if you just follow instructions. Lot hesitates to leave, then argues with his divine savior about where he’s going and still ends up safe before literally fire and brimstone rain down on everyone who stayed behind. Sometimes you have to wonder what it takes to see the right path. I think that’s the point. Seeing the right path isn’t easy but there is help if we’re open to it.

So, to the emphasize the point, the same is true for the disciples in the boat with Jesus. They think it’s the end and Jesus has to calm both wind and waves before they feel safe. If you ask if it really happened, it’s the wrong question. Again, it’s what the story is saying about God’s relationship to all of us. We’re all in the same “boat” and God’s presence is with us. We just have to ask for help even when we are of little faith. The idea is God is the one with the power to transform, we aren’t expected to have all the answers. But recognizing our own uncertainty is probably part of the solution. Then we may be able to express what we hear in today’s psalm, “O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.”

Tuesday Octave of Easter

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Scripture Readings for April 22, 2025

Acts 2: 36-41, Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22, John 20:11-18

Today’s readings explore the amazing depth of what Jesus’ resurrection means. In the Gospel, Peter has just recounted the history of God’s revelations in Hebrew Scriptures to the surprising recognition on the part of the assembled Jews. Crucially they were “cut to the heart” and in that recognition of who Jesus was they ask what should they do? Peter explains they need to repent of their sins and be baptized “in the name of Jesus.” They need to pledge their lives to Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The part of this reading that strikes me as most significant is what Peter says next. Those who repent and are baptized will receive the “gift of the Holy Spirit” to fulfill “the promise made to you … and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God may call.” This is massively inclusive. At the time it certainly was meant to include the Gentiles, non-Jews who weren’t Abraham’s descendants. For me it feels like a call to us today who are “far off” in time and not just heritage. We are being called to see the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection in our lives and not just as a religious belief but as an offer of presence.

What I mean by an offer of presence is what I think today’s reading in John’s Gospel is about. Peter and the disciples have just left the tomb after discovering it empty. But Mary Magdalene overcome by emotion remains and looks inside to find two angels who ask her why she’s crying. Mary replies that someone has taken Jesus body away and she’s trying to find him. In her loving search for Jesus, he appears to her but she doesn’t recognize who she’s talking to and repeats her plea that she will take away the body if this man will just tell her where Jesus is. Only when Jesus calls her by name, does she recognize him and he cautions her not to cling to him and tell his disciples he has not yet ascended to his Father. Now she goes to tell them, “I have seen the Lord.”

I think John has told us a story of what Resurrection means for us. As I have written in other reflections, recognizing God’s presence in our lives is not an obvious experience, it takes time to see the presence of God that is right there in our lives. When Mary first “turns” around she thinks she’s talking to a gardener. Remember Jesus is someone she knows really well, so you would think she’d recognize him immediately. But Resurrection means Jesus has been transformed in a way we don’t fully understand. Mary has no experience that will help her see a divine presence. So Jesus asks her to identify what is going on for her and what she wants. He asks her to think about who she is in this moment. Then Jesus addresses her by name. In these times a person’s name was considered to hold their whole identity. When Mary hears her name called, she recognizes who she is, and she recognizes Jesus. I believe this is the pattern John is trying to explain to us. God’s Spirit promised so long ago to Abraham and then through Jesus to everyone else is here if we take the time to look deep within ourselves and the life around us. Jesus’ death on Good Friday ended the history of human separation from God. Jesus Resurrection is the demonstration of a new life in which God’s Spirit is present to us as today’s Psalm says, “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” We just have to learn how to recognize God’s presence as it exists in each of us and the lives we live.

Good Friday

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for April 18, 2025

Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9,

John 18:1-19:42

Good Friday recounts Jesus death on the cross. This happens because people killed him. It didn’t happen to pay off a God who had been tracking human offenses and needed repayment. It did happen because God had been trying to save humanity for centuries and people didn’t understand the true implications of the message from prophets, priests and history. Jesus dies because people’s hatred and fear destroyed the best efforts of the Son of God. Except, of course, people didn’t really destroy those efforts they only managed to kill the messenger, as we so often do.

What we are still trying to take to heart communally is that God wants to give us a life of beauty and peace. We generally find it hard to believe that offer is real. So some person, a real, in-the-flesh human being, had to demonstrate the peace and love of God’s presence so the rest of us could recognize what God’s peace, love and joy would look like. By doing that, Jesus literally changes history, changes the reality we live in by accomplishing what God has wanted since Adam looked across the garden. In Biblical terms, Jesus does what Adam failed to do. People now live in a world where God’s will has been done. At least once.

The problem is, it cost Jesus everything to do it. So it doesn’t look like a victory. Only Easter solves this problem. But that’s a discussion for another day. Today, he dies brutally because by remaining faithful to a life of love, mercy and generosity the political and religious powers of the time were threatened. Today too, radical Christian living threatens the status quo. People in power want to keep it. Privilege expects to keep privileges and doesn’t worry about those damaged in the process. This is the weight of human sin that fell on Jesus and everyone else who now knows there is divine value in living out of love. Jesus came to show us a God that literally lives with us and he was therefore subjected to all the tragic evil a defensive human race could muster.

It’s crucial that we get this right because otherwise we twist the message into a horror. God’s message is that God is with us, takes on our sins, our failures, our fears and hatred in order to give us a chance to live freely, generously and happily. This death of Jesus isn’t about God exercising justice because of humanity’s failures, it’s about God absorbing the consequences of human injustice. God will take and transform the worst we can dish out into a glorious tomorrow. (OK, that is Easter.) Jesus’ death is the demonstration that God means business, “I do what I say,” in this case, that God’s life lives with us.

This is not an easy message. Because Jesus does absorb everything the Romans could do to him. He died. That means being a Christian, one that is trying to live as Jesus did, can be a dangerous and costly life choice. Jesus death doesn’t fix the human condition. It only succeeds in establishing the possible. That’s why the St. Paul warns “we are baptized into his death.” Living a Christian life should change us and it will cost us something. How much depends on what each of us can manage to risk, to love, to give of ourselves accepting that what happens may not look like success. The key is that we live out of love, giving as Jesus did, and therefore, establishing that no matter what life often looks like, God’s love, care and generosity do exist in this world.

Friday, Fifth Week of Lent

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Scripture Readings for April 11, 2025

Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18: 2-7, John 10:31-42

What attracted my attention in today’s readings is the point John is trying to make in the Gospel. The pharisees are picking up rocks to stone Jesus for pretty plainly claiming to be God’s son. Why does this seem strange to me? After all John’s writing a Gospel, literally a story of good news that claims Jesus is God, one with the Father and that makes all the difference for us today. Why should this catch my attention?

I think the point that strikes me is that besides the big religious question of whether Jesus is the Son of God, the pertinent issue for me is these guys are questioning Jesus’ identity. They are challenging who he claims to be and that is very relevant to us today. We are acutely aware, today even more than generations before, of what personal identity means for our happiness and ability to succeed in everyday life.

If we start with personal identity, I think there is an encouraging message these readings have to say to us right now. Jeremiah’s in a very similar situation. People he considers friends are waiting for him to trip up so they can “take … vengeance on him.” They think “any misstep” of his will lead to him being “trapped.”  But Jeremiah says he will trust that God will save him because God knows their “mind and heart” and will put them to shame. This same line in my favorite bible translation, New Jerusalem Bible, is translated as, God the “observer of motives and thoughts.” God knows who everyone is deep in their soul. What does God do in this situation? God “rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.” This is not about economic poverty this is about the fragility of our souls. Who of us has not felt the challenge when friends or loved ones question our motives, our desires, our inner most feelings. It is hard to stay true to oneself when others are dismissive of what we value.

This is exactly what’s happening to Jesus in the Gospel. Even though he is doing lots of good things. People don’t see that as evidence of who he really is. They seek to stone him for who he claims to be. Here is the key to this story in John’s Gospel, “they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.” He escaped from their power, the power to question his identity. He was strong enough to know who he was and not be intimidated.

As is often the case, today’s Psalm tells us what Jesus knew, what Jeremiah did and what we should do, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.” If we believe that Jesus was the presence of God on this earth. Then we can trust that God is active deep within us and available to rescue us from the actions, attitudes and beliefs that can be destructive of our wellbeing.

Wednesday, Fifth Week of Lent

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Scripture Readings for April 9, 2025

Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95, Daniel 3:52-56, John 8:31-42

Today’s readings are about the challenge of living what we believe. Both readings pit the believer against the establishment of the time. For Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the challenge is the pagan god and statue set up by Nebuchadnezzar. In John’s Gospel, Jesus faces a group of Jews, some of whom think as descendants of Abraham they are automatically God’s children.

What stands out for me in Daniel is the comment of Nebuchadnezzar that these men “yielded their bodies” rather than worship a god other than their own. They acted on their faith. The situation they were in was not some theoretical exercise or test to see if they could answer the catechism questions correctly. They lived their faith by the decision they made in that moment. That’s something that is relevant to us. Do we believe enough in the love and mercy of God to make tough decisions when the prevailing authority wants us to do the opposite?

Jesus faces a similar situation with Jews who think their heritage affords them the privileged position. Today this might look like Christians who know their Bible or Catholics who know all the catechism answers. It’s one thing to know about your faith and another thing to actually trust in God day to day. That’s what Jesus is pointing to when he says, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham.”

The way John presents this argument Jesus sees these people as slaves of sin and therefore not only not free but as children of the evil one. If they were children of God they would recognize Jesus as the authentic voice of God. Today we probably wouldn’t suggest the same dichotomy between believers and non-believers. But it is fair to remind ourselves that faith exists only to the extent we live it. Faith is not primarily a mental exercise. It is trust in a God who shares our lives, loves us, forgives us, and supports us in ways we often may not recognize. The choices we make may not be as dramatic as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego facing a fiery furnace but assuredly they are just as important in making us who we are. Sometime we have to, just do it. Because if we believe in Jesus’ loving God then we too must be loving, forgiving and supportive of others even when it may not seem like such a good idea. There is no other way to be a child of God.

Friday, Fourth Week of Lent

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Scripture Readings for April 4, 2025

Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22, Psalm 34:17-21, 23, John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

          These are readings about division and conflict. John’s Gospel was written at a time of division in their community and it’s reflected here in the argument over who Jesus is. Some people wonder if he is the Messiah while others want to kill him. A similar outlook is portrayed in Wisdom. Sinful people are plotting against an upright man, a good person who they despise because he is good and is a challenge by his very life to their behavior. The Psalm voices what God offers, mercy and love regardless of past behavior.

          Do we face the same challenges today? Can we decide how to act in the face of daily life? Is this about what is hidden? Are there things that block our ability to be honest with ourselves and others, about how we feel and want to act. Maybe this is about false fronts, clever deceptions that mostly fool ourselves. Can we uncover where we are truly coming from. Some people in Jerusalem thought Jesus was just from Nazareth in Galilee. They believed that the Messiah would come boldly from some hidden place. Therefore, this couldn’t be the Messiah. But like the people in our Wisdom reading they were being misled by their own defensive attitudes, jealousy and self-absorption.

“We see him as a reproof to our way of thinking
The very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
For his kind of life is not like other people’s
And his ways are quite different.” (Wisdom 2:14-15)

Jesus was in fact coming from a very hidden place, the divine life of his Father.

 But to accept that takes knowing “the hidden things of God,” hoping for “the reward of holiness,” and believing in “a reward for blameless souls.” (Wisdom 2:22)

          In today’s language, I would say it takes an openness to life and the people who care for us. Facing what we hide, our own failings and fears. That’s the only way to see ourselves honestly and be able to live a life that doesn’t seek to crucify those who are different or simply disagree with us. To recognize that we don’t need to be defensive.

          We need to listen to what our Psalm says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” It’s just that we have to accept that we too are brokenhearted and need the love and support of all the people around us. That’s how we experience the love of God by getting beneath our facades into our hidden places so we can live the life we were meant to live, one of love, generosity and gratefulness.

Thursday, Fourth Week of Lent

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Scripture Readings for April 3, 2025

Exodus 32: 7-14, Psalm 106: 19-23, John 5: 31-47

We are in the midst of Lent. Lent with all its rules about fasting, abstinence, works of mercy and prayer. All those rules and practices however are meant to do one thing, bring us into a closer, deeper relationship with God, with Jesus. I think that is what our readings are about this morning. They are about what it means to have a close relationship with our God, an honest to goodness, every day, husband and wife, brother and sister, known each other for years, drinking buddy relationship with God.

That is exactly what happens in the reading from Exodus when God is angry with Israel and wants to destroy them. God’s friend Moses tells him it’s not a good idea. This is like one good friend talking to another. Visualize this, the two of them are standing next to each other, Moses has his hand on God’s shoulder and he says, “I know you’re really angry and just want to put an end to them all but you went to all that work to get them out of Egypt and now you want to throw it away? And think about it, the Egyptians will say you never wanted to save them in the first place you just brought them out here to kill them. So you are not going to do your reputation any good. Take a deep breath and settle down a little. And remember those promises you made to Abraham and Isaac that you were going to reward them for the work they did. Those two mean a lot to you, don’t they?”

This doesn’t sound like a conversation between a lowly human being and the almighty God. It’s one person confronting another about what she is intending to do. It’s pretty blunt and very bold. Only really close friends can talk to each other that way. That’s what these readings are all about, being close friends with God.

That is also one of the points the Jesus is making in John’s Gospel. He is saying that the people who don’t believe in him don’t have a friendship with God to start with. He’s making it clear that if you are only interested in your own success, if all you care about is what others think of you, then you’re never going to listen carefully enough to hear God speaking in the midst of your own life. You are focused on the superficial stuff.

We need to recognize that even though the Jesus in John’s Gospel is addressing his Jewish contemporaries. The message can also apply to us. We have this huge advantage over the people who lived in Jesus’ time. We know this man lived, that he died and rose from the dead. That’s a pretty big demonstration of why we should believe in him. But we can have the same problem the Jews did if we don’t pay attention to our own relationship with God and to everything that is going on around us. For even though we have stories of Jesus life, death and resurrection let’s not forget that the Jews had stories of Moses, the Exodus, King David and all the prophets. If Jesus can accuse the Jews of not believing in his signs, we have to be sure to pay attention to the signs of love and blessing that are part of our lives.

Recognizing God’s presence can be too easily overwhelmed by news reports, negative attitudes from friends, the struggle to live each day with so much to do or maybe not enough to do. Life can seem overwhelming, in any case. We can overlook the beauty, the blessings, the wonderful people, the great little surprises that happen, the moments of peace and the excitement of a new challenge. These are the signs of our times. Will we choose to see them as God’s gifts? Will we be open to a relationship with Jesus that is based on who we are and what is important to us? That’s how friendships are formed. Two people are honest with each other about who they are and what is important to them. It is what Jesus offers us, a deep personal friendship, today in this life. Do we believe in God enough to accept the invitation? Or will we make the same mistake many Jews of Jesus’ own time did and just think he can’t really mean what he’s saying.

Wednesday, Fourth Week of Lent

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Scripture Readings for April 2, 2025

Isaiah 49:8-15, Psalm 145: 8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18, John 5:17-30

These readings are about the basics of our faith, the foundational principles we should never forget. In Isaiah, God is speaking about loving the people of God no matter what, bringing them back to an ideal world. The Psalm is about God’s mercy and how God is always with us. Finally, John’s Gospel makes clear that Jesus is God’s very presence among us doing God’s work.

It’s easy to forget some of this, to let the prescriptive rules of Lent or what was often a church culture that emphasized penance and the examination of our consciences to avoid sin push us down the rabbit hole of doubt, worry and fear. Rather we need to hear today’s readings and take them to heart.

God’s message has always been one of hope, beginning with the idea that we are not left to our own devices. Isaiah uses the extreme example that even if a mother were to abandon her child God will not abandon us. Jesus in John’s Gospel makes clear he does nothing on his own. What Jesus, a living breathing human being from the little town of Nazareth, does is the work God is doing. The person of Jesus is a message to us about how close God is to our lives. We do not operate on our own much as we might think we do. The question is, can we hear what God present in the world around us is trying to say? Can we read Isaiah and accept the possibility of a road, a pathway that cuts through the mountains of challenges, the stacks of worry, the treacherous terrain of life and provides the refreshing spring of water that satisfies our thirst?

Today’s Gospel is filled with statements of how Jesus does what God does, how Jesus can give life just as God gives life, how believing in Jesus takes a person from death to life. This is all about how God’s presence in Jesus, God’s presence in the world, is transformative and can make all things new here in this world, in this life. That is the promise of the Christian faith that we should believe.

In general, the challenge for us is we are often coming from a place where we struggle, falter and fail to live as we have hoped. We can feel guilty for little and big things. It all can become a problem, a burden that feels too big to solve. Which is where today’s Psalm can help remind us of God’s mercy.

The LORD supports all who stumble and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call on him from the heart.

No matter how off the path we might go, God, the one as near to us as ourselves, still loves and accepts who are and is ready for us let go of whatever is doing the damage. We can change our way of thinking, our attitudes, and how we feel about ourselves.

It is today’s Psalm that perhaps best captures the message:

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.

To this message of love and mercy we add the element expressed in today’s Gospel, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” God is still at work. Jesus is still at work. John is trying to tell us that the world is not finished but still being created by all who live in it. Because it’s a joint project, God and all God’s creation. We, with God, are creating that wonderful world Isaiah foresees and it’s to be done with compassion, graciousness and mercy supplied by God so we can try and try again, do better and find our path to a space of peace and joy.