How would you feel if Jesus showed up at your house?   And not alone, but with 10-12 of his friends, all of them tired and hungry from traipsing around the dusty countryside. Christ in the House of Martha and Mary ,  Johannes Vermeer , before 1654–1655, oil on canvas ( National Gallery of Scotland ,  Edinburgh ) – Mary is seated at the feet of Jesus “ "Almost all his paintings",  Hans Koningsberger  wrote, "are apparently set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women “ [Wikipedia Reading from the Gospel according to Luke, at 8:00 mass, Friday, July 22, the Feast Day of St. Martha [i] : Luke 10:38-42 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village [ii] where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distract...

  July 12, 2022 Reading from the Gospels heard at 8:00 mass this morning at St. Al’s.   Short commentary to follow. Matthew 11:20-24 20 Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. 22 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” 24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” For the second time in one week, Matthew has the Lord threatening whole towns with same fate that befell Sodom...

  June 24, 2022 Gospel according to Luke, as heard at mass this morning--Nativity of St. John the Baptist--at St. Al’s.   (Short commentary to follow.) Luke 1:57-66, 80 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child           she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard           that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,           and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,           they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,           but his mother said in reply,           “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her,           “There is no one among your rela...

July 7, 2022 Gospel according to Matthew, heard this morning at 8:00 mass, St. Al’s. Short commentary to follow. Matthew 10:7-15, (Speaking to his apostles, just previously named) 7 And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those suffering from virulent skin-diseases, drive out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. 9 Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, 10 with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the labourer deserves his keep. 11 'Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave. 12 As you enter his house, salute it, 13 and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you. 14 And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet . ...

  Mid-October here in Spokane and, needless to say, the leaves (and pine needles [i] and fruit [ii] ) are falling, as they do every autumn.   Well, all is well.   Before continuing, I must get the gratitude thing out of the way: [iii]   I have several reasons to be grateful: 1. At seventy, I’m still here to watch the leaves fall and hale enough to rake them up.   2. We are lucky enough to have a house with trees on our property, here on the South Hill, a famously woody neighborhood. 3.   The trees keep growing, and even seem to be thriving, during this early phase of global climate change.   In the far future, in whatever forms they evolve into, the trees will be here much longer than us. Emily in the front yard, enjoying a bit of  raking in a previous October.  Note matching pants. I could summarize this little essay in one sentence: There’s plenty of stuff to rake up, not just the leaves.   Our back yard is a three-tiered jungle....