Mary M. McGlone

In today’s psalm, we pray to learn God’s ways. We sing of God’s compassion and mercy, of God’s love and goodness. Then, we blithely ask to share those. As Jesus warned James and John, we may not know what we are asking.

Spiritual Reflections: The offer Jesus made to people was really very simple — and life changing: "Repent and believe." What that really meant was "Take on a new perspective! Believe what I am saying about God and about humanity!"

Mark tells the story of Jesus and the man with leprosy with moment-enhancing emotion. Perhaps it is because Jesus had just told his disciples that going out among the people was the very reason for which he had come. 

Spiritual Reflections: Coming before God with a willingness to be nothing other than ourselves and to expose our need will take us into the realm of thick time. 

Today, St. Millie, one of the seldom noticed model disciples in Mark’s Gospel, is going to show us what happens when one is touched by Jesus. Mark didn’t actually tell us her name, he only identified her as the mother of Peter’s wife. 

Spiritual Reflections: Mark used the word serve sparsely in his Gospel. The next time Mark uses this word he is quoting Jesus himself. Jesus used the word when he described his own vocation. 

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” That’s the first question put to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. It is really the core question of the Gospel. 

Spiritual Reflections: "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?" That's the first question put to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. It is really the core question of the Gospel.

A little more than a year ago, Thomas Friedman published the book Thank You For Being Late. The book deals with the unprecedented pace of change our whole world is experiencing. Friedman says that humanity has known nothing like this since the days when Johannes Gutenberg invented his press which put the Bible, and much more, in the hands of the public. 

Spiritual Reflections: If we wish to understand and implement Jesus' vision today, we must pause from our frenetic activity to contemplate our own reality, to cultivate what Pope Francis calls "serene attentiveness" and gratitude to God.

“What are you looking for?” That is the question today’s liturgy puts before us. It is a question addressed to us, but also one we address to God. It is the question of vocation. Put another way it asks, “What do you and God want to do with the life you have been given?”

Spiritual Reflections: Today's Gospel asks, "What are you looking for?" We respond to that question through all our choices, large and small. As people baptized and thus consecrated to God, we also must look to God and ask, "What are you looking for?"

 Luke’s Christmas story can startle us into asking the question: What space and time would we give Christ in our crowded and busy lives? No matter how beautifully we sang “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,”

Scriptural Reflections: The Savior came as a lowly one among the lowly and the Magi were wealthy foreigners who paid attention to the signs of their times.

There’s a thought-provoking contrast in the images we have in the first reading and today’s Gospel. David, the great king, wanted to build a temple for God and God said “No.” Instead, God came to a humble woman to ask for a home, and she said “Yes.”

Spiritual Reflections: The mystery of Christmas that we celebrate with lights and crèche scenes, gifts and shared food, is not just a historical commemoration. Luke wants us to listen for Gabriel's wings approaching our town. 

“Who are you?” That question may be asking for the most basic information possible, or it could be requesting a much deeper response that can only be answered by an entire lifetime. A lot depends on the context. The question is different when asked during a social event or at a doctor’s office. 

Spiritual Reflections: Getting in touch with our own sense of call is an important form of prayer as it both reminds us of past moments of grace and attunes us to those to come.

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. What’s the line that sticks with you? Is it “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!” or “Every valley shall be exalted”?  That might be the test of whether you are more a fan of Godspell or Handel’s Messiah. Those two show us how popular culture picks up on Scripture and brings it into mainstream consciousness.