Foot-washer

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/083026.cfm  In today’s first reading, we hear the prophet Jeremiah complain that he is suffering beyond what he can bear.  In response to his preaching, his audience called him “a madman who poses as a prophet.”  They whipped Jeremiah 39 times and publicly humiliated him, locking him up in stocks where he was abused by passersby.   As Jeremiah says, “All day long I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me.”  He curses the day that he was born, and asks, “Why did I come forth from the womb, to see sorrow and pain, to end my days in shame?”   Sometimes, when people are suffering, we say the expression, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”  These words are meant to bring comfort and are said with good intentions.  Jeremiah reminds us today, however, that there are times when people do, in fact, experience more pain than they can handle.  Being told ot...

  Deacon Ned Berghausen St. Agnes June 24/25, 2023 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062523.cfm If the psalm prays, pray. If it laments, lament. If it rejoices, rejoice. If it hopes, hope. If it fears, fear. For everything which is written here is a reflection of us.  St. Augustine. There is one book of the Bible that we hear at almost every single mass, both on Sundays and at daily mass with the exception of only four days of the year [where we hear canticles].   It is the longest book of the Bible.   Do you know what it is?   It’s the Book of Psalms.   Today we heard Psalm 69 which we sung together, led by our cantor [name], in between our first and second reading.   It’s sometimes easy to miss or forget that these songs are Scripture, just as much as the other readings and the Gospel.   When we approach the Bible, we may think of it primarily in terms of narrative stories, law codes and rule books, parabl...