prayer

Personal prayer for the reader

Thursday, First Week of Lent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for March 13, 2025

Esther C 12, 14-16, 23-25, Psalm 138: 1-3, 7-8, Matthew 7: 7-12

Today’s readings appear to be quite clear about what they are trying to tell us. Rely on God when you are in need, call to God for help and God will answer and turn your mourning into gladness. It is important for us to recognize our need for God. In more ways than we may care to admit we are dependent on God and should seek God’s help especially when we are desperate, feeling alone or overwhelmed. That is an important fact of the spiritual life.

However, the difficulty I think is we’ve all had times in which we needed help or wanted God to help someone who was clearly in need and the problem we faced wasn’t solved or the good we prayed for didn’t happen. So I think the question is, why does Jesus tell us in very plain language that “everyone who asks, receives and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened?” No doubt you have prayed for someone who was dying and they did not recover. You have prayed for people who needed food and assistance yet their needs went unmet. How are we to understand what Jesus and the Psalms say when we read, “I called for help and you answered me.”

I have often heard people try to deal with this situation by saying that God did answer their prayer but God said no. I think there are other ways to think about this that are closer to what our faith is trying to tell us.

Consider Deuteronomy 4:29-30, talking to the Jewish people, God’s chosen people, God says,

“When you have grown old, when you have grown corrupt, doing what Yahweh regards as wrong and so provoking his anger you will vanish from the country which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will be utterly destroyed. Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, only a small number will remain.

If however, from there, you start searching once more for Yahweh your God, if you search for him honestly and sincerely, you will find him. You will suffer everything I have said but in the final days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice.”

 What this passage suggests is that God isn’t promising the Jewish people a rescue from their devastation, but rather an open door to welcome them home when they seek to be close to him.

I think that we have too readily thought of this asking, seeking and knocking in terms of our physical needs and current situation. I think what Jesus is talking about is deeper. His is a view to our outlook and attitude towards life, our trust in God. Will we be overwhelmed and give up or no matter what happens will we make the best of it? Even if “the best” means working through really difficult situations. I don’t think God promises us that life will be easy, or that he will rescue us from physical peril. I do think God offers us the chance for life to be rich, full of wonder, beauty and meaning. God says if we come looking we will find life offers us that outlook, a faith that allows us to see the big picture and be happy with our place in it. Isn’t that what we really want, a life of meaning, to see where good comes from. To know that we counted for something, that we made a difference in this world. I think we can all put up with difficult and even devastating times if we knew the result was worth it.

Let me give you one simple and concrete example. We’ve all seen stories on TV about the family whose house is destroyed but no one is hurt. All they can say is how glad they are that all the kids are OK and they’ll figure out what to do next because they’re so glad everyone is still together. That’s the kind of deeper meaning and values that are addressed by the seeking that Jesus is talking about. When everything has gone wrong with the way we think things should be and we can we still see that life itself is good and worth living then God has opened the door and we have been given what we were looking for.

Monday, First Week of Lent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for Monday, March 10 2025

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, Psalm 19:8-10, 15, Matthew 25: 31-46

Today’s readings are so straight forward we might be tempted to think there is nothing left to say. Leviticus is a list of rules of behavior, the Psalm says God’s laws are perfect and Matthew says at the end of time Christ will separate who goes to heaven from those who doesn’t.

I don’t think these readings are trying to frighten us into good behavior. Too often we focus on the last judgement scene and take it literally as what some future reality will look like. I think it’s more about recognizing that human behavior has consequences. It’s saying God values what people do. Our behavior is important in the grand scheme of things. What we do matters to how life turns out.

Leviticus itemizes a list of behaviors that are all about loving and respecting our fellow human beings. These are concrete practical statements about how to act. This list finishes with the command we all recognize because Jesus famously uses it to answer the Pharisee who asks what is the greatest commandment of the Law. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But this is not just a list of rules. It is an invitation by God for us to be holy. It’s in the second line of this reading, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” God is saying be like me. Be my friend by doing what I do. Act this way because that’s how I act.

When we get to Matthew, we find out why in Leviticus God gave those guidelines, why it’s so important to love and care for our neighbor. The Son of Man explains, twice, once to the saved and again to the damned, that everything we do for or against others we do to the divine presence. God is here with us, a part of life in this world. That means everything we do in this life has ultimate consequences and importance. Each of us lives a life of value to God and therefore is significant to the life of the world. Each of us will make a difference with the life we live. The only question is what kind of difference. Today’s readings say we are invited to do what God does and be holy as God is.

Ash Wednesday

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for February 14, 2018

Joel 2:12-18, Psalm 51: 3-6, 12-14, 17, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2,

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Is anyone confused by today’s gospel? Jesus says in three different ways, don’t parade your religious practices around for others to see: don’t trumpet your alms giving, don’t make a show of your praying, and when you fast don’t make it appear like you are fasting. Yet here we are at Ash Wednesday and many of us will receive a great big cross of ashes on our foreheads. That isn’t exactly praying behind closed doors where no one will see. You can be sure everyone is going to see ashes all over your forehead.

So why does this reading question public displays of almsgiving, prayer and fasting when that is exactly what Lent asks us to do? Perhaps this story of Jesus teaching about traditional acts of piety isn’t about being modest or unassuming in our religious practices?

The first thing I noticed when I spent time praying with this reading was the repetition of the word, hypocrites. We have three different religious practices, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. But we have one type of behavior that keeps getting criticized, being a hypocrite. Whatever Jesus may be saying about almsgiving, prayer and fasting we know he finds fault with hypocritical behavior.

Every time the almsgiving, prayer or fasting is secret or hidden, it is rewarded by God.  When it is done for others to see, it is considered hypocritical behavior. I think, Jesus is saying the key to the value of our actions is the attitude we have in doing it. Unlike the hypocrite, our thoughts, our feelings, the hidden inner, secret part of us should match what we do in the open.

Jesus isn’t promoting hiding our almsgiving but rather a giving to others that expresses our real concerns. Jesus isn’t against public prayer, he wants our prayer to be about who we are. Jesus isn’t worried people will know we are fasting, he wants us to fast as a way to focus on what we may too often ignore, those inner feelings or attitudes we hide even from ourselves. Jesus wants us to ask ourselves, are we hypocrites? Do we live based on what we believe? Or do we cover our true feelings with phony behavior? Perhaps, it is what we hide deep inside that should concern us most?

So how does Lent and receiving ashes today help? Why the emphasis on almsgiving, prayer and fasting during Lent? The practices of Lent are meant to break into our patterns of behavior. Just as Joel called for trumpets to blow, just as Paul said this was the day of salvation, we need something to get our attention. Coming to get ashes, not eating meat today and on Fridays in Lent, giving money or our time to others, adding a time to pray or changing how we pray during Lent gets our attention so we can practice doing what God’s asks of us. We are being asked to make it intentional so it can become part of who we are.

To use a baseball analogy, think of Lent as our annual spring training. Lent is about getting ready for the regular season. In every sport we understand that to play the game involves learning the skills, doing the drill to get it right. We need to practice what we are going to do during the game so it is part of us. Lent is practice for the game of everyday Catholic life.

We all know everyday life is responsible and rigorous. It is taking care of our children, making decisions at work, building loving relationships, figuring out what is the most important use of our time. The question Jesus poses is: will what we do each day match our Catholic faith? Will what we do, match our innermost feelings and attitudes? What we do with Lent could make a difference. Make the decision to do something different in Lent, put in the practice it takes to make a difference every day from now on.

Friday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture for Friday, February 28,2025

Sirach 6:5-17, Psalm 119: 12, 16, 18, 27, 34-35, Mark 10:1–12

When I first read today’s gospel I thought I should recuse myself since like many people today I am divorced and remarried. However, I decided that’s exactly why I should tackle this reading from Mark because it’s important to me personally.

I think today’s readings, as a group, provide a wonderful toolkit for talking about the definitive response Jesus gives the Pharisees when they question him on divorce.  Jesus plainly says, twice, God didn’t make us for divorce. He says the law of Moses that allowed for divorce was simply there because Moses recognized that people are hard hearted and gave them a legal alternative. Jesus says however that is not God’s plan. I would point out he is taking this issue beyond the legalistic approach the Pharisees are asking about. This is where Jesus usually goes, way beyond the rules people have set up to the ground of our relationships, to what God intends.

So now consider the selection of verses from Sirach, one of the Wisdom books in the Old Testament. This author is talking about how tricky it is to find a good friend. That person needs to be tested and too often friends are superficial and when tough times happen they desert you. In this discussion it sounds to me like great dating advice. Who should you look for? The essence here is someone who shares your values. But it’s tough to find that person. Sirach estimates that a best friend is one in a thousand. How much rarer is a spouse?

Where I’m going with this is the reality of the human condition. Just as Jesus recognized that Moses gave the Jews a legal escape because they could be hard hearted, I would suggest we have to recognize our own failings. We mess up even when we’re trying really hard. In this case, as in other circumstances, we need to be humble and admit we make mistakes, real ones, that have bad consequences for us and for others. Which is where the Psalm for today comes in. It starts with, “teach me your statutes,” and asks that God, “open my eyes … make me understand … give me discernment, that I my observe your law and keep it with all my heart.” We need accept what Jesus says is God’s plan for us and ask for the help we need to live up to that. That way when, “a man … be jointed to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh,” will be a reality.

It’s very apparent that we often don’t meet this standard. But the heart of the matter is not down playing what Jesus says but rather admitting we made a mistake, remaining humble, taking responsibility and learning to live our lives better. Then by paying attention to our heart and what we have experienced we can also recognize God’s mercy and live in God’s love.

Tuesday, Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for February 21, 2017

Sirach 2:1-11, Psalm 37: 3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40, Mark 9:30 – 37

This week I was reading some material about G. K. Chesterton and his fascination with the role of paradox and contradiction in Christianity. He points out that in the paradoxes and apparent contradictions of faith lie the very key to Christianity and its embrace of all of life. The “both,” “and” of Catholic theology is an extension of this sense that all of life is sacred and trying to formulate a good vs. bad system or ideology is folly in the face of life’s endless variety and uncontained vitality.

I mention this because it seems to me today’s readings give us good examples of fully Christian paradox. Let’s begin with the Gospel and key Christian beliefs. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be killed but then three days later rise from the dead. This is so “out there” that the disciples don’t even know how to ask him to explain. Still they aren’t above trying to calculate who among them is doing the best job and may turn out to be the greatest of his followers. So Jesus gives them the criteria: be a servant of other people, take care of those like a child who are totally dependent and could never pay you back. This is the way of being “first” because it will bring you into personal contact with God. Literally God will be with you. Mark says it like this, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

So this is where Sirach and our Psalm may be able to help because they talk about what it is to have a relationship with God. Remember we’re illustrating apparent contradictions here with the thought that this is how Christianity exhibits an inclusivity that embraces all of life. Even perhaps what is beyond our grasp, like dying and rising from the dead three days later.

I think the Psalm response most clearly states the sense of today’s selection, “Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.” Sirach is making the same point, “he is a protector to all who seek him.” Yet Sirach begins with, “when you come to serve the LORD … prepare yourself for trials.” This is followed by a whole series of conditions that accompany being helped by God and receiving his compassion and mercy. These include: “Accept whatever befalls you … in crushing misfortune be patient” for “worthy people (are tested) in the crucible of humiliation.”

Finally Sirach claims, “Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken?” Here we have the crux of the paradoxical issue. Would you want to ask Jews how well they’ve faired historically at not being forsaken? How about endless martyrs and saints of the church? Within my lifetime, people like Oscar Romero, a great group of sisters in El Salvador, Martin Luther King and various freedom fighters in the South, none of whom would seem to have come out on top even though they were caring for those “children,” those disadvantaged that God favors. So I guess Sirach really means it when he says, “My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials.”

I believe what’s going on here is truth about life. People die in service to what they believe in. Bad things happen to good people. Life has value in and of itself. We have the opportunity to contribute to a better life for others and ourselves. Especially if a better life means treating others with dignity, being honest in our relationships, accepting ourselves as imperfect but valuable individuals, enjoying the beauty and freedom of life itself and working toward those things that give support, love and joy to everyone’s life. God’s presence is part of doing good in this world. Yes, life and Christianity are full of paradoxes. Situations that are not just more than they seem but are contradictions of what we believe to be true. It is what faith is about, which is better explained as trust. Which is what Sirach is trying to tell us:

Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not;
thus will you be wise in all your ways.
Accept whatever befalls you,
when sorrowful, be steadfast,
and in crushing misfortune be patient

I believe we can trust God and “hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy” even when the worst things are happening, paradox or not.

Friday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for February 21, 2025

Genesis 11: 1-9, Psalm 33: 10-15, Mark 8:34 – 9:1

I think today’s readings challenge us to consider who we really are. To what extent is there a “façade” that we show to the world while protecting our inner more vulnerable self? Are we motivated solely by our ego or are there deeper concerns and realities that shape who we are and how we live our lives?

Without the help of psychological language or modern scientific understanding, Jesus in today’s Gospel raises the question of the authentic self by talking about taking up our own crosses and following Him. He raises the paradox of giving up a superficial, self-centered life to discover a richer more abundant life of loving care and concern for others. He goes so far as to predict that living in this way can make one open to the Kingdom of God right here in this life.

The reading from Genesis can be seen in a similar way. Human kind has plans of its own. These plans, designed to protect and strengthen people in their current ways, is in sharp contrast to God’s plan. According to the author, people thought the best thing for them was to be together, to pursue the same goals, to live in one place in order to build on their uniformity, what they had in common. God’s plans were different. God wanted them to spread throughout the earth, going to different places, developing under different circumstances and key to this passage, speaking different languages.

So whose plans do we follow? I do think the paradox stills applies. To become who we are meant to be we often have to deny some of things we think would be in our own best interest.

I think most people would still be more comfortable with people like themselves. Don’t we often surround ourselves with people who think like we do, who have similar goals and have had similar experiences. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. But at the same time, because of foreign travel, television, the internet and all the forms of modern communication, we are becoming more aware of how a wide variety of experiences and knowing people from diverse cultures make for a richer life and a deeper appreciation of people and what is possible in this life.

Still the differences some people exhibit can make us ill at ease or anxious before we even get to know them.

How often have we had plans for how our life was to go and then life went another direction that we could not control? What kind of differences have been forced on us that we later came to see as rewarding and wonderful. Haven’t we received the gift of God’s kingdom in many ways we could never have foreseen? Aren’t there joys in our lives that came from unexpected places?

I think these readings remind us we have to be open to those unexpected and unknown situations both in our daily lives and even in the parts of ourselves we may not have been willing to explore. If we believe as the Psalmist says, that God “fashioned the heart of each” of us. Then letting go of some of our tightly held attitudes and plans and trusting in God’s direction, in God’s call and in God’s challenges may lead us not only to God but to the joys and happiness that resides at the heart of who we are.

Monday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for February 17, 2025

Genesis 4:1-15, 25, Psalm 50:1, 8, 16bc-17, 20-2, Mark 8: 11-13

In order to get the most from today’s Gospel I think we have to look at the Scripture passages that come immediately before and after the section we read this morning. The questioning by the Pharisees is preceded by the multiplication of the loaves and the feeding of 4,000 people with 7 loaves of bread. It is then followed by a conversation in which his disciples misunderstand his comments about the destructive power of hidden agendas.

We must also remember that the Gospels were not written to be a history of Jesus’ life but rather as a tool for explaining to people what faith in Jesus was about. Certainly the events in the Gospels have an historical basis but the evangelists, the writers of the Gospels, were well, evangelizing, trying to spread the message. So let’s look at this part of Mark’s gospel just as a first time reader might.

You’ve just read that 4,000 people were fed on seven loaves of bread and a few fish and the leftovers filled seven baskets. Then the very next thing that happens is a group of Pharisees asks Jesus for a sign from heaven as proof that his message is from God. Wouldn’t you think, you’d just read about the best sign of heavenly generosity you could think of? But what is really puzzling is Jesus’ answer, “no sign will be given to this generation.” Isn’t this the same guy who just fed those 4,000 and has been curing and healing people all over the countryside?

I think the key to this question is that Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit.” The story is an example of how people cannot see what is right in front of them. In this case, Mark is talking about how we recognize God’s presence.

Jesus’ sigh signals his frustration with people’s tendency to rely on some outside event to prove for them it is OK to believe. Jesus reply is an acknowledgement that there never is proof certain for someone who can’t hear and see for themselves. The person who requires outside proof is someone who isn’t listening to his or her own heart, his or her own experience. In that case there is no way to prove faith. When it comes to recognizing God’s presence in our lives we are the only one who can see it for ourselves.

This point is reinforced by what follows the Pharisees questioning. The disciples and Jesus go across the lake and Jesus warns them about the destructive influence of the Pharisees. He refers to their influence as yeast in the bread and the Apostles misinterpret what he says, thinking they forgot to bring enough bread for the journey. Jesus then questions their ability to understand his mission. He asks, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?”

This is exactly what Jesus found so frustrating with the Pharisees. You can feed 4,000 people and your own disciples can’t seem to see the message of God’s generous providence to all of us.

For me the core of today’s Gospel is Jesus’ own sadness that so many people couldn’t recognize the gift that was in the middle of their lives. Isn’t that exactly one of the issues that still plague us? Do we recognize God’s love present in our midst and then live accordingly?

How do we learn to see what God is trying to do and hear what God is trying to say in our lives? Based on today’s Gospel, that has been an issue from the very beginning of Jesus mission among us. So let’s remember the key lesson here. Don’t look outside yourself for some absolute answer or proof that will clear everything up. That’s exactly what won’t happen. Instead the only place to look for answers is within us and our everyday experience, our feelings. Like the sigh of Jesus from the depth of his spirit, it tells us so much about who we really are.

Thursday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings, February 13, 2025

Genesis 2:18-25, Psalm 128:1-5, Mark 7:24-30

            Today’s Gospel has a wonderfully earthy, even gritty, character that appeals to me.

            Mark tells us about a Gentile woman turning the tables on Jesus. When Mark writes this he is letting the Gentiles know that God’s blessings are meant for them too. God is not just a Jewish god but everybody’s God. For us, I think it helps to see that Jesus was a person of his time. Son of God, yes, but fully human, a Jew of the first century with all the attitudes that come with that.  Therefore, it can be a message about how God acts in our time.

For Jesus, this woman is an outsider, a non-Jew. Jesus therefore, labels her as a Gentile dog. The derogatory way Jews often referred to Gentiles. Jesus is here for the salvation of the Jews and she doesn’t qualify. But this woman, who has come begging for help for her daughter, is willing to accept the status she has been assigned and fit her request into that narrative. She isn’t going to give up because this man tells her something she already knows. She may be a Gentile dog but she’ll take any scraps the chosen children of Israel drop from the table. She is asking simply as a person in need. She is not claiming any basis for her request except the need to save her daughter. She’s here on her own, no husband to speak for her. The request is not even for a son who might one day be her protector but a daughter. This woman has no status, her only chance is if this man shows her mercy. The mercy of this man who apparently can heal people. Jesus recognizes the honest need of a person who has no claim on him whatsoever. He is willing to give what is completely unearned, even undeserved by the norms of the time. Jesus heals the daughter as an act of pure mercy to this woman. Mark is telling us that’s how God acts. That’s what the presence of God looks like, mercy, pure generous mercy to those who ask.

Tuesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for February 11, 2025

Genesis 1:20-2:4a, Psalm 8:4-9, Mark 7: 1-13

So do we acknowledge that God gives us everything we have?

Do we consider ourselves utterly dependent on God’s gifts for everything in our life?

If not, that’s the perspective we are hearing in today’s readings. Genesis, the Psalm and the Gospel are all telling us that at the very ground of our being, where we begin, God is the one who counts.

In Genesis the ancient Jewish writers made the point by saying that God made everything. That’s a pretty direct statement about how dependent they believed their life was on God and God’s grace.

The Psalmist says we are utterly dependent on God by being a believer who is awed by God’s love and gifts to human beings. “What is man that you should be mindful of him?”

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus is absolutely dismissive of the way the Pharisee’s have twisted Jewish tradition so that the love of God that was part of the original Jewish practices has been lost. Now only the practices survive and none of the recognition that it offered a way to do what God does, love one another.

I think it is hard for us to accept our dependence on God. There isn’t anything obvious in everyday life that demonstrates God’s direct care and support. It’s possible in this day and age for a person to live a life that never encounters a serious proposal of faith in God. Perhaps more to the point, we who profess a faith in God and an interest in being faithful and living a life that exemplifies God’s presence on earth can have a hard time figuring out where God fits into the picture.

Sometimes it’s convenient to think that God lives in Church and that we come to visit and hope to pick up some help so we can go back “out there” and live our lives as good people.

Sometimes we can believe God is active and involved in what happens in our lives beyond Church and other things holy. But when asked it might be hard to explain just how.

I don’t have a clean clear answer to how God creates our world even as we live in it or about why bad things happen to good people. But I do believe that the answer lies in taking the term faith seriously. The best translation of what we call faith is what in any other context we would call trust. So learning to recognize and act on a faith in God is to act in the way we would trust someone, someone who loves us and always acts in our best interest. Like a parent for their child.

So I go back to the questions I asked first.

Do we acknowledge that God gives us everything we have?

Do we consider ourselves utterly dependent on God’s gifts for everything in our life?

Do we trust God?

Can we work hard and be responsible and still sense that the very ability to work and respond is a gift of God’s love. Can we be blessed in our abilities and ambitions yet frustrated in many of life’s situations and still trust that God is here in the midst of it. If we can be open to finding God in this way then we can let go of some of our fears and discover a new freedom that results from trusting in God.

Monday, Fourth Week of Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings, February 3, 2025

Hebrews 11: 32-40, Psalm 31:20-24, Mark 5:1-20

The gospel today is clearly a story of transformation. A frightening transformation, at least for the people of the time. We have a man possessed by unclean spirits who has been repeatedly chained and fettered to no avail. He has lived in caves and done harm to himself. Everyone knows the situation.

When Jesus arrives the spirits that possess the man supplicate themselves to Jesus immediately. They recognize Jesus as the Son of God and are summarily dismissed into a herd of pigs that drown themselves in the lake.

That sounds to me like a good story, a possessed man truly freed from his chains and the spirits that bound him. A story about the power of God over the present evil. However, what caught my attention is how the towns people saw it. Mark says, “people came out to see what had happened … they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there properly dressed and in his full senses, and they were afraid … they began to beg Jesus to leave their district.”

I believe Mark’s story is more than a story of Jesus freeing a man from unclean spirits. I think this story is trying to demonstrate how big the change is when we let God’s presence be active in our lives. I think it can be frightening to face real, deep, substantive change in life. The man as possessed was the normal condition. The town’s people knew how to deal with that. That same person as free, at peace and looking like everyone else, was a threat to what they understood as the way the world was. To change how the world operates is frightening. But that’s what Jesus brings, a completely new way for this world to operate. That’s Mark’s message, that to accept Jesus as Son of God is to admit to a huge change, one that will upset our world view. If we want things to stay the same, then frightened, we send Jesus away. The question is, can we accept the kind of change in ourselves that is God’s call or is it too frightening?