Author: IND SDB

HE HAD COMPASSION ON THEMJeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34 The oncologist walked through the parking lot with just one thought: the dire diagnosis he had handed Jim. Advanced pancreatic cancer. He noticed an elderly gentleman handing tools to someone under a stalled car. That someone was Jim! Doc yelled: “Jim, what are you doing?” Jim crawled out, dusted off his pants, and said: Doc, my cancer didn’t tell me to stop helping others.” He waved at the man to start the car. The engine roared to life. The man thanked Jim and drove off. Jim got into his car

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CALLED AND SENTAmos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13 She begins her program with a Bach symphony. She next plays an Irish air, then a Bob Dylan folk song, and finally a jazz improvisation. The venue: a hospice. The audience: one, a 70-year-old woman with terminal cancer. Through her music she provides a measure of peace for those walking their last steps in this world.She was a “little” Carmelite nun! She was not qualified (in her words: “I am only tenth pass.”). But people from every walk of life – bishops, priests, religious, laity – and every religion came to seek

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REJECTEDEzekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6 In 1960, religious persecution broke out in Sudan. Paride Taban fled to Uganda. There he studied for the priesthood and was ordained. When the Sudan situation stabilized, Fr Taban returned and was assigned a parish in Palotaka. His parishioners always had white priests before who gave them clothing and medicine. Fr Taban was like them—black, poor… with nothing material to give them. His people would not accept this poor black man as a priest. The story of Fr Taban is an example of the rejection every prophet encounters. Prophets in Hebrew and Christian

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THE TOUCH THAT HEALSWisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43 Sue Knutson was hiking alone in the mountains when her foot slipped between two boulders. She felt sharp pain in her ankle, and then collapsed on her back.Miles from civilization, Knutson, a nurse, held her leg in the air and used the only resource available—her hands—to reduce the swelling and shooting pain. She held her hands a few inches from her ankle and breathed deeply and slowly. The pain began to ebb, and after thirty minutes she was able to limp to the road unassisted. At the

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LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE…?Job 38:1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41 Monty had severely handicapped limbs, the result of polio. Through dogged determination, he got a degree and a job. Then he developed a vision problem; doctors discovered that his retinas were becoming detached. Monty found himself facing blindness and immobility. We can identify with Monty’s experience. There is so much turmoil and suffering in our lives. When we think things have quieted down, more turmoil erupts. We wonder how much more can we take! That’s probably the unasked question in the disciples’ minds in today’s gospel!The incident happens

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START UP!Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34 Jeff Bezos started an online bookstore in his garage in Bellevue in 1994. Today, Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer.Larry Page and Sergey Brin started a search-algorithm project in a friend’s garage in 1998. Today, Google is the most trafficked site in the world.In 1976, twenty-year-old Steve Jobs hand-built fifty computers in a garage in Cupertino. Today, Apple is the most valuable tech company in the world. Everything starts small, including the kingdom of God! It is a startup! In the gospel, Jesus gives two images of the kingdom.The first image

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MISUNDERSTOOD!Genesis 3:9-15; 2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1; Mark 3:20-35 A teen wrote: “I feel misunderstood. When I have difficult things going on in my life, I can’t talk to anyone in my family about it; they usually tell me that they get what I’m feeling. They don’t. Has anyone else had the same experience or am I crazy for having these emotions?”An adult said: “I feel trapped in a world that judges me at every turn and yet never bothers to try to help or understand.” Sounds familiar? Have you ever been misunderstood? Has anyone taken your words/motives and twisted them around?

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LIVE THE EUCHARISTExodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Some years ago, some students were standing at the entrance of their college of theology. A woman, dishevelled and distraught, came running and pleaded with them to save her. She had escaped from a nearby quarry where she was a bonded labourer; she had been beaten and branded. Incredibly, her “master” was a devout Catholic who came for the Eucharist every Sunday; he was esteemed in the church and a noted philanthropist.During communion one Sunday, a lady was nudged by the lady behind her. She snarled at her, abused her, and

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