Adult Faith Formation & Initiation

Actions speak louder than words.  When Jesus railed against the Pharisees and the Scribes, this was one of the key elements he used to call attention to their hypocrisy.  While putting on the face of piety they consistently ignored the needs of the poor, and more often than not, stood as a barrier, not a facilitator to building a relationship with God.  While our readings for this Sunday remind us that we much follow the Law set down by the Lord, but neither should we ignore the spirit of that law when confronting the letter of the Law. The Word for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5 James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Our first reading comes from the Book of Deuteronomy.  Here Moses is presenting the Law of God to the people of Israel.  Our passage is actually from two different sections… the first, from the opening of Chapter 4 where Moses enjoins them to her the law, and not to add or subtract from it.  Our text

Do you have what it takes to follow the Lord?   Our readings this week give us a challenge… do we follow society or do we follow the Lord.   Not everything God says is easy to follow.   Not everything Jesus said or taught was easy for his disciples to accept.   The Word for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Psalm 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 Ephesians 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32 John 6:60-69 Our first reading comes from the book of Joshua.   Joshua stood beside Moses and Aaron as they marched out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom, and now has taken over from Moses to lead the Israelites into the promised land.   Unfortunately, as the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, there were others already living there, forcing them into some military engagements.   After winning a series of successful struggles, Joshua has now gathered all the people together to give them a choice… to follow the gods of their ancestors, or to follow the L

God provides everything that we need, but are we smart enough to see this?  Do we have faith enough to believe it?  To help us better see this, our readings this week use the images of a banquet, food and drink, as the enticement to come to the table of the Lord. The Word for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Proverbs 9:1-6 Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58 Our first reading comes from the Book of Proverbs, one of the first of the books of wisdom dating back to the middle of the period of the Hebrew monarchy.  Typical of wisdom literature in the Bible, it is a collection of sayings and instructions intended to teach listeners about the ways of God and the world… an ancient type of catechism for the faithful.  As is typical for this genre, this Sunday’s passage presents wisdom as a woman.  Here she has prepared a sumptuous banquet.  It is evident she has gone to great effort to set her table, and then she summons “all who are simple” to come and dine.  The

During last week’s readings we were introduced to Jesus as the bread of life.  Just as God provided manna in the desert for the Israelites, God gave us his son so that we may live.  This week we continue with this theme of bread as we dive deeper into our understanding of bread bringing life. The Word for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time 1 Kings 19:4-8 Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Ephesians 4:30-5:2 John 6:41-51 We open with a reading from the 1st Book of Kings.  As we enter the narrative the great prophet Elijah is on the run (as Jezebel has falsely accused him of killing all the other prophets).  He’s traveling South, out of Israel, through Judah, on his way to Mt. Horab, the mountain of the Lord.  Halfway through his journey he’s ready to give up.  As he sleeps, however, an angel of the Lord bring him a hearth cake and a jug of water.  Strengthened by this food, he is able to continue his journey of forty days and forty nights (yes, that well known biblical number indica