[RCL] Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” The chief priests and the elders of the people were questioning Jesus. What did Jesus do to warrant the religious leaders’ questioning? Today’s lesson did not tell us what Jesus had…

Imagine you are watching television and a commercial comes on. The camera pans out over a tranquil beach scene where a family is enjoying the sun and the water. One parent is helping a smiling child build a sandcastle, while the other child runs in the surf, throwing a stick for a bounding, energetic golden…

Ding, ding, ding! Round one goes to Jesus of Nazareth. That’s how we’re tempted to see exchanges between Jesus and the religious champions of his day – as theological boxing matches. In today’s gospel passage, the chief priests and elders throw out a cunning challenge, and Jesus sidesteps the attack and lands a one-two, question-dilemma…

What do you believe? This question may seem very simple to answer at first. But if we are being truthful, it is not an easy question to answer unless, of course, we have memorized the answer from catechism or intentionally discerned the answer and have practiced articulating it to others. The gospel today demonstrates why…

Repetition results in knowledge. But is that enough? For the last months Matthew’s Gospel has repeated the teachings of Jesus to us in different ways. Some of these teachings have been accompanied by miracles or repeated in parables. Jesus has been a good mentor and we often talk about imitating him. There are even signs…

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. It is a delicate to talk about things…

We encounter a couple of real charmers in today’s Gospel! The kind of boys I’d rather not have around my house. The second son reminds me of the Auto Mechanic who “promises” to have your car ready in four hours and when you go back to pick it up, he hasn’t even looked at it,…