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Reflections
 Carrying Crosses
Today’s Gospel parables of the tower builder and the king waging war are simple enough to understand: in order to ensure success, one had better be fully prepared. But the sayings on discipleship that surround these parables are some of the most radical in the gospel. They, too, are not difficult to understand, but are immensely demanding to practice.
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Traveling Light
God's kingdom is often compared to a "harvest" in the Scriptures. It is an image that perhaps meant more to other cultures, in other ages than our own. Traditionally, today's Gospel is used to preach for an increase in the response to the vocation to the priesthood and religious life. And while that idea is very much valid, there is a much more important message for all of us in the narrative. We can substitute the word "church" for "harvest" and we can hear the Lord reminding us that it is by God's favor that we belong to this chosen community.
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Rank Has Its Privilege
Beneath the surface of our lives as Christians, the Gospel challenge is played out again. We will be tested as a faith community. Jesus will ask us to walk in His footsteps, to take our place among the ranks, to follow the narrow road, to meet with opposition and misunderstanding - to offer forgiveness and healing when none is expected nor deserved - and, in many ways, to take up our crosses and die with Him.
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Bearing Fruit
Lent is a time for patience, repentance, self-examination and discipline. It is the time for self-reflection, evaluation and change-of-heart - for conversion. We need to strip away those things that clutter our lives or hinder our relationship with God. Like the gardener in today's parable, we need to cultivate the message of the Gospel in our lives, remove the weeds that strangle our growth, and fertilize with hope and with faith.
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Being Bearers of the Christ
If we don't take hold of our time and attitude, even the holy can pass us by. We can miss the true message of what we confront in the stable at Bethlehem: a human become divine, spirit become flesh, time become eternity, salvation become nigh.
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Like Little Children
Salvation is an exodus experience. It is a movement from being imprisoned to being set free, from darkness to light, from fear to trust, from ignorance to understanding. It is a journey from self-concern to the humility of caring for the little ones, the least of our brothers and sisters.
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Coming to sight
Do you know who I am? Do you know me? Jesus' question is addressed to us now. And we, His followers answer readily, "You are the Christ. You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the Living God." But there is an implied crucial follow-up question as well: "How well do we know Him?"
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Ephphatha
Christ has touched our ears and opened them to hear the Gospel and having heard it, we have received a whole new way of listening and acting. The deaf man, once cured, speaks "plainly" - and so should we speak and act plainly as witnesses to the Gospel – a way of life that we are still in the process of learning.
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