And so, my friends, we have reached the end.  The end of the podcast only.  For it is only the beginning for what lies ahead.  Today is the great feast of the fusion of God's spirit and humanity - and this spirit which enflames and unifies us, invites us to be authentic to who we are created in God.  And that authentic person cannot be hidden within an upper room behind locked doors or hidden under a bushel basket.  It must be a light for all to see - that they may give glory to God and hear of the mighty acts of God.  That's the baton that we have been given.  It's our turn - but never on our own.  We are all one and we walk together.  Everyone.  

I can't thank you all enough for your support these past many years.  I never in my life imagined that I would do 723 episodes of this podcast nor that it would go around the globe in the way that it has.  I know that this is a long episode - but there were many people that I wanted and needed to recognize.  Forgive me if there were any of you that I failed to mention.  Let your light shine, my friends.  Be the sacrament of Jesus.  Be the authentic one that our God made you to be.  Speak your language for others will hear and understand.

Have a question or comment?  Last chance.  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We know the story.  We've heard it dozens of times.  And we know that it ends up ok in the end.  But what about when we apply it to our lives?  What about those moments of anxiety when we are given the keys?  Or the job training is done and we are now expected to know how to do a task?  Or a child is born and is lying in our arms and we haven't the slightest idea what to do next?  There you go.  Now you understand this feast on a deeper level.  You take the next step in trepidation, anxiety, trust and hope.  That sounds about right.  We don't just watch this one from the sidelines.  We are witnesses of these things.

And then there was one...one last podcast to go next week on the Feast of Pentecost.  I can't thank you all enough for listening these many years or these 1-2 times that you have.  Either way, I'm humbled.  I hope to do my thanks next week - but in the meantime, thank you all for sharing this, trusting me and living it in whatever way God invited and invites you.  That's the best.  Final question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Let's be clear - being a follower of Jesus Christ is not for the weak of heart.  Not just because it could lead to being ostracized or having to make difficult decisions, although both can be true.  Rather, I speak of the gray cloud of unknowing.  Those times when we are uncertain what the right decision is and we are hesitant to step out in faith.  It would be much easier if someone (the Church?  God?  Our spouse?) would simply tell us what to do.  We don't have to engage - we just do as we are told.  But that's not the life of faith to which we are called.  We are invited into a dance w/ the Holy Spirit.  And the Church.  And our loved ones.  And we are never settled.  That ground continually shifts.  

The end draws nearer - two more episodes to go.  We will wrap up this podcast on the Feast of Pentecost after over five years and 720 episodes.  Thank you to all of you for your support, your trust and your presence.  I'm humbled and honored.  Have a question or a comment?  As always, I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The readings this weekend not only were too good to set one aside, but they all fit together so well.  In the Gospel, Jesus gives us a new commandment - but it's not like a lot of the old one.  Those were pretty cut and dry.  This new one contains a lot of room for interpretation.  Love one another as I have loved you.  What, exactly, does that mean for me right now, here today?  I'm not sure that I can answer that well - but I do use and example from the past to give one interpretation of what that love can look like.  

As this podcast winds down to its final show on Pentecost Sunday, once again I thank all of those who helped make it possible.  But mostly, I thank all of you for continuing to listen and share it.  I'm humbled and honored to walk this journey with you.  Do you have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

While last week's readings invited us to see differently, this week's readings (on this Good Shepherd Sunday) invite us to hear differently.  Jesus says that His sheep hear his voice and follow him.  Assuming that is still true today, where are those instances that we hear the voice of Jesus?  And how do we carve out a place in the whirlwind to make room not only for the voice of God, but gaining the courage to go where He invites us?

As this podcast winds down on its five-year run, you will see me (and hopefully hear me!) thank many people in the coming weeks.  I sincerely hope that I don't leave anyone out.  But as always, I wish to thank you - the listener - for inspiring me and making this such a joy.  I'm humbled by your presence.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Yes, this title could easily have been The Reclamation of Peter.  Because really, that's what it's about.  And, of course, if it's about him, it is also about all of us.  Jesus, using Peter, has something to teach us all.  But there's something tucked within the story that can easily be missed if we are not paying attention.  And that something is too important to let slide.  The disciples, post-resurrection, had to learn to see Jesus differently.  He didn't look like he used to.  If that was true for them then, it's true for us now too.  And if we miss this, we may miss Him.  

As we move toward the end of this podcast run (w/ the last episode posting June 6), once again I can't thank you all enough for the feedback that you have given.  I'm humbled as to where this has been taken and my prayer is that this Word that we uncover every week finds a lasting home within each and every one of us.  Have a question or comment?  Shoot me an email at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

How would it feel to you to go around for the rest of your life with an adjective attached to your name that seemed to denigrate you?  I don't think any of us would like that.  And yet we still refer to Thomas as Doubting Thomas.  But really, Thomas wasn't a bad guy at all.  He had courage.  And more importantly, he knew what he needed to grow in his faith of the Risen Christ.  Can we say the same about us?  What is it we need today in order for our faith in this incredible miracle to grow?

As we move through this Easter Octave and season, we keep Pope Francis and the upcoming conclave in our prayers.  May those involved in the conclave open their hearts minds, ears and eyes to the presence and invitation of the Spirit in their selection.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen to and share this podcast.  I'm incredibly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We celebrate the culmination of the Life of Jesus of Nazareth and our own hope this day.  The stone has been rolled away!  The tomb is empty.  We are invited to look in and, like Peter before us, we are amazed!  But what, exactly, does this day mean to and for us?  How are our lives different because of it?  

Special thanks to all of those who have helped make this podcast a reality - and even more so, thank you to all of you who continue to listen, share and rate it.  I'm humbled and grateful for your presence.  Have a question or a comment?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  Happy Easter!

We know the pattern.  And on this Feast of Palm Sunday, this is the one we don't like to hear nor talk about.  But it's half of the Pascal Mystery.  Christ has died.  Now if we were just talking about an historical event, that wouldn't be so hard.  Jesus did it for all of us and you and I just get to bask in the fruit of God's great act.  That's not a Catholic thought, my friends.  For we Catholics, we participate in this action.  We are another Christ, baptized into this same mission and if it's true for Jesus, it's true for us, too.  That's what makes this part so hard.  Death is a reality - in our world and in our life of faith.

Special thanks to all those who have made this podcast a reality (you know who you are!) - I cannot thank you enough.  And thank you to all of you for listening and sharing this podcast.  I'm beyond humbled.  Have a question or a comment?  Feel free to reach out at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

You know how some people have a face for radio?  You get to listen to a voice made for silence for a lengthy bit of time today - but, thanks be to God, the readings are worth it.  It can often be easy for us to fall into the trap of seeing God merely as someone who has acted in the past.  In doing so, we miss the beauty and the opportunity of God's action right here, right now in our midst.  God is not an event of the past, but a dynamic presence in the Present.  And he invites us to set aside those past notions and move into a new space - if only we have the courage to imagine and perceive it.  

Special thanks as always to Shamus, Bridget and Mandy, without whom this podcast would even be a thing.  And mostly, thanks to you for listening, for rating, for recommending this podcast.  I am continually humbled at the places it has gone and that is all because of you.  And yes, thank you for your patience during these past months when the drop schedule has been uneven.  I'm hoping that we are beyond that now.  Fingers crossed.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Readings don't get much better than this.  They both focus upon and celebrate God's goodness and presence within our circumstances.  But they also remind us that there is work to do.  There is a journey to take.  We need to come to our senses.  During this 40 day movement of penitence and simplicity, fasting, almsgiving and prayer, we come up for a moment of relief.  A breath of fresh air.  We already live within the vision.  We just need to go that final mile.  

Special thanks to all of those who have made this podcast what it is - those who helped vision it and create it into being, and those who have walked w/ me in many and various ways along the path.  I am grateful.  I'm most grateful, however, for you who continue to listen and share this with others.  Thank you for your trust.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Lots of time spent in this podcast on the first reading which is so good.  Moses and the Burning Bush.  Yeah, kind of an important reading - but there is so much there.  Moses thought he was in a place where he couldn't be found.  A bush is burning but not consumed.  Moses makes a conscious decision to go nearer.  The ground is holy.  Every one of these points has something to say to you and I.  And I haven't even talked about the Gospel yet!  Time is short.  We can't afford to walk by those moments of encounter in our lives any more.

Special thanks to Bridget, Shamus and Mandy, without whom this podcast wouldn't even be a thing.  And thanks to all of you - for your patience as I work through this annoying problem with my host feed but also continuing to listen and share.  I'm so grateful.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Most of the time, we go through life asleep.  This is not a put down, it's simply the truth.  We sleep walk through our days, our months, our years, our lives.  But there are those days when the scales fall from our eyes, when we have the wherewithal or the ability to break through the cloud and we awaken.  The veil parts and we see.  They are mountaintop experiences and we realize the imminence and greatness of our God.  And as long as we are able to remember, our lives are no longer the same.  Until we get drowsy again.  This weekend, our readings invite us to waken to the glory and humility of the Almighty One.

Special thanks to Bridget, Shamus and Mandy, without whom this podcast would be a thing.  But most of all, thanks to all of you.  Because of your listening, your rating, your sharing, people all over the world have joined in.  I'm so humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We hear the same story every 1st Sunday of Lent, with the only difference being whose version it is.  The story is the Temptation in the Desert and this year, we get Luke's perspective.  And like so many of the Gospel stories, we can read them and think of them merely as stories that happened to Jesus all those years ago, showing us His wisdom, strength and confirming Him as God's Beloved.  But we would be selling the Gospel short if that's how we hear it.  The stories may be about Jesus, but they are our stories, too.  Jesus is the pattern and shows us the way.  We walk in His footsteps. 

Special thanks, as always, to Shamus, Bridget and Mandy - for without them this podcast wouldn't be a reality, and it wouldn't sound like it does.  Mostly, thanks to you - for continuing to listen (especially during this time of not knowing when the podcasts will be dropped into your feeds!) and share them with others.  I'm grateful and humbled.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Listen, we all know that death is incredibly difficult and traumatic.  So what, exactly, is Paul talking about in 1 Corinthians and how can he make such a claim?  We then turn once again to the Gospel and Jesus's Sermon on the Plain, where Jesus invites us into another death of sorts.  And where we are invited is no easy journey.

Special thanks to Bridget and Shamus, without whom this podcast would not sound like it does or operate as it does.  And thanks to Mandy, without whom this podcast would even be a thing.  Mostly - thanks to all of you for listening, sharing and rating this pod.  I'm humbled at your trust and at the places this podcast has gone.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The Kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms we create as humans.  And if we try to fit our understanding of God and the teachings of the Kingdom into our current mode of thinking or our current structures, they just won't fit.  And if we force them in, they are no longer the teachings of Jesus.  They become made in our image, because we would rather have our agendas dictate the outcomes.  We do it all the time.  And it's tragic.

Special thanks to Bridget and Shamus - for setting me up in this space and making it better than I could have done on my own.  And thanks to Mandy for the inspiration.  Mostly - thanks to all of you for continuing to listen, share and rate this podcast.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus invites us down to a level place and shares a hard truth with us.  And for many of us listening, it's a time to take a look in the mirror and see which side of the truth we've been living within.  But as with all things God, there is a fork in front of us today and we can choose which road we take.  

Special thanks, as always, to Shamus and Bridget - to whom I owe much in this podcast.  I also need to thank Mandy for her inspiration with the whole idea.  Of course, I'm most grateful to all of you for listening, rating and sharing this pod.  I'm incredibly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

In today's readings, we hear about the call of God.  But, thankfully, it doesn't just focus on the action of God.  It focuses on the ones God calls - their thoughts, their response, how they see themselves and how they see God.  And the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The people we see, the barriers that are placed between God and their response, sound so familiar.  They are us.  If that is true - and it is - then what will be our response?

Special thanks, as always, to two of my children - Shamus for helping me set up this whole project and Bridget for providing the music we hear as we enter and exit.  I'm grateful for their support - and yours!  Without your listening, rating and sharing this podcast, it wouldn't be what it is.  Thank you - I'm humbled and honored.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.

Continuing my shameless ripping off of the titles of famous songs (and this time, my apologies to Bob Seger), we hear a familiar story that sounds so wonderful at first listen.  A couple presents their child in the Temple and people come out of the woodwork to proclaim his title, mission and ministry.  Who wouldn't be consoled by that?  If only Simeon would've stopped halfway through.  But he didn't.  He looks directly and Mary and Joseph and tells them what lies ahead for them, should they continue to move forward.  Yet they do.  They steel themselves and walk into the future.  Our faith invites the same from us.  It's not all duckies and bunnies.  

Special thanks to my daughter, Bridget Zenk, for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to my son, Shamus, for setting me up on this host and helping me figure all of this technical stuff out.  Of course - thanks to you, as always.  Thanks for listening, for trusting, for passing it along, for rating.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

My apologies to Billie Eilish on stealing the name for this title.  But I just had to.  It works too well.  Today we hear about beginnings in the Gospel, and new beginnings in the first reading.  And both take tremendous courage.  It takes courage to own up to our mistakes and attempt to begin again.  And it takes courage to accept the mission for which we were born and to live it out even in the midst of others questioning us.  As followers of Jesus, we are called not to be women and men of perfection, but rather to be women and men of courage, both individually and as a people. 

Special thanks, as always, to my daughter Bridget for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  I'm so proud of her.  And special thanks to you for continuing to listen, rate and share this podcast with others.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Not sure why it didn't post last week and I'm hoping this one does - but I'll continue to work on it.  As always, questions/comments can be sent to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

As a Church, we step out of the Privileged Time of Advent and Christmas, and begin this short season of Ordinary Time between now and March 5, when we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday.  And so in this Year C where we hear from Luke's Gospel, what do we hear today?  Out of the Gospel of John, of course.  Yeah, I don't get it either!  But it's a good one and worth hearing - The Wedding Feast at Cana.  Today we talk about hope and despair, light and darkness, life and death.  In a word, we talk about the paschal mystery.  It's the pattern all around us.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen, share and rate this podcast.  I'm amazed at the people and places that have encountered it.  Thank you.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

It's odd, right?  Just last week Jesus was an infant receiving gifts from the Magi.  And here he is, all grown up and being baptized.  And we are still in the Christmas season.  How do we put this all together?  I'm glad that you asked.  Because it really all does fit.  This season points to where we stand right now.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for continuing to listen, share and rate this podcast.  I'm humbled at the places it's gone and for the notes I've received.  Thank you for your support.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We've heard these readings before.  Like family and close friends, they can become so familiar, we don't see or hear them anymore.  We already have them figured out.  But God often comes through the unexpected.  Like Luke, who had the first acknowledgment of Christ's role be proclaimed by shepherds, Matthew also has the outsider as the first to reveal Christ's Lordship.  But Matthew goes one step further.  He invites "new-agey" nature-reading foreigners to be the ones to actually see.  And when they come in contact w/ the religious elite of the time, they are seemingly patronized and sent on their way.  More crack pots coming through.  And those elites missed what was right in front of them. 

As always, special thanks to my daughter, Bridget, for her creating and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And continued thanks to all of you for inviting me into your lives - at least your headphones and car stereos.  I'm humbled and honored.  If you like the podcast, I invite you to rate it and/or pass it along to someone you think would also enjoy it.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com 

I know - a double shot of the Gospel on this episode.  Couldn't be more appropriate.  This week, we simply marvel in the humble, audacious and bold love of our God.  There is nowhere that God would rather be born this day than in your life and in your circumstances.  Yes, this was a gift for those living 2000 years ago.  But, as the angel reminds the shepherds, it is also a gift for all people.  That includes you and I.  So let's just take some more time and reflect on what a gift it is.  Oh yeah - and why not talk about the Holy Family while we are at it??

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  As always, thank you to you for listening.  This is episode 700.  I was never sure it would get past episode 7.  I'm humbled and blessed.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Finally!  Mary takes center stage and Bethlehem is mentioned.  Just not in the way we might think.  The former has to do w/ someone else's birth and the latter w/ a prophecy.  But at least we are getting somewhere.  Just where, however, are we going?  Down.  That's where.  Into smallness.  Because that's precisely where God desires to reside.  Not in Rome or Greece.  Not in the Temple or the halls of Herod.  And to explain, we look at the story of Gideon.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And as always, thank you to you for listening.  I'm in awe and so humbled.  May God be with you this Christmas season and always.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The Third Sunday in Advent is commonly referred to as Gaudete Sunday, a Latin word meaning "rejoice!"  And each of our readings invite us to do this very thing, w/ Paul pleading for us twice in the first sentence.  So why?  What is it we rejoice about?  As an expectant mother rejoices at the life that grows within her, so we rejoice at the nearness of our God.  And if the God of the Universe is so overcome with love for you and I this day that He is willing to dance before us, perhaps we can give ourselves a bit of a break and accept the fact that maybe, just maybe, we are lovable and worth the dance.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And continued thanks to all of you for listening to and sharing this podcast with others.  I'm sincerely humbled.  Have a question or comment?  Feel free to send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  Blessed Advent, my friends. 

I won't speak for others but only me.  And for me, it's easy to read the Scriptures and see the love of God working in and through others in a different time and place and think "I wish God would still act that way now."  But I think I miss the mark.  God does still act.  God is still working in and through others - including me.  And you.  In the Gospel of Luke we begin hearing the adult story of Jesus this week, and Luke sets it in a specific time and a specific place.  Not just "out there", but in reality.  God still does that.  He is still specific to our time and our places.  And God is still present in our reality, our experience, our geography today.  Right now.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen to this podcast and share it with others.  I'm incredibly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We begin our new liturgical year with readings that sound an awful lot like the readings from last weekend, the close of our last liturgical year.  Why, exactly, is that?  Even more importantly, these readings which were speaking to particular situations back in the time of Jeremiah and Jesus continue to speak to our time and our individual lives.  We hear readings of hope and reality.  And the best part?  I have a guest speaker w/ me today as my co-host is none other than my daughter Bridget!

Special thanks to that same Bridget ("co-host") Zenk, for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And special thanks to all of you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm so grateful and humble.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

This weekend, we celebrate the Feast of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  But it would be a tragedy if we only reflect upon this once a year.  Who is Lord of our life today, this very moment?  It's not an exercise in guilt, but one of choice and it's one we have to make every day.  And just what kind of a kingdom did this King point to anyway?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composing and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others who you think would benefit from it.  I'm humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

As we draw nearer to the end of the Liturgical Year, our readings darken and we hear readings of The End of Time.  And that is w/ purpose.  Our liturgical calendar is rooted in time and time, indeed, is linear - moving toward an end point.  But there's more.  Time is also cyclical.  As individual human beings and as all things created by God, we experience ends within our lives, multiple times.  And those feelings can upend us, leaving us in darkness and feeling alone and unmoored.  Our readings today remind us that there is hope, even there, if we have but eyes to see.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and share this podcast.  I'm so incredibly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  

The heroes of our readings today are two women who literally have nothing.  Nothing, that is, but a faith that you and I would be wise to give everything we have to gain.  We all know that we are called to be women and men of faith.  But just what does that mean?  It's not belief.  It's even more than trust.  It's having the courage to enter darkness and trust that our God waits for us on the other side.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for listening to this podcast and sharing it with others.  I'm so incredibly humbled.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Sometimes it's easy to feel overwhelmed.  Scripture is so thick, there are so many books and sometimes the answers can even seem to contradict one another.  How do we know who or what to listen to?  Today, we hear readings of summation.  Call it our Cliff Notes edition.  Moses summarizes the Law.  And then Jesus summarizes the Gospels.  They give us the One Thing that grounds us and around which we are to revolve.  And throw in a City Slickers reference for good measure because, why not?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and recommend the podcast.  I'm truly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

At first glance, this Gospel reading looks like just another story where Jesus heals a blind man.  But this is not just any old healing.  We'd all be blessed to be as blind as Bartimaeus.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm incredibly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Martin Luther once invited us all to "Sin boldly!"  He must have been thinking about James and John in today's reading.  They are bold - make no mistake about it.  And they are 180 degrees off-base in their assumptions, which were the foundation of their request.  They sought glory.  They had no idea what glory was.  And so Jesus made sure to set not only the two of them, but all of the disciples, straight on what glory consisted of - which meant tipping everything that they thought they knew upside down.  As if that wouldn't be enough for a podcast, let's also do a quick unpack of the theory of the atonement.  That's a light subject, no?  Perhaps that's why this one went a bit long...

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for your continued listening and sharing of this podcast.  I'm so grateful and humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

This weekend, we get to have a mirror held up to us.  The good news is - it's not entirely a bad thing.  There are parts of this mirror that actually have us looking good.  But other parts, not so much.  The best part?  Jesus looks at us in love and names these things, inviting us out of them and into relationship with Him.  But the question is - what are we willing to give up for that relationship.  The author of Wisdom would tell us that nothing is more important - not power or riches or health or even light itself.  And while that sounds good, when the rubber meets the road, what are we willing to set aside?  We are the only ones that can answer that question.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for breaking open God's Word alongside of me.  I'm honored and humbled.  Have a question or a comment?  Send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.

This one is a bit more lengthy, but how does one talk about sin quickly?  So often when we think about sin, we think about something much smaller than the reality.  We think of the outer showings but pay little attention to the inner reality.  The readings this weekend don't give us that option.  We may think that they are only speaking to us about marriage and divorce.  I think that they are about something much more than that.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to break open God's Word along with me - and thanks for sharing this podcast with others around the globe.  I'm beyond humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

It's so easy to get caught up in titles and degrees and membership.  I'll listen to this person because they carry the right credentials but not someone without them.  I'll follow this person because they belong to the same group as I do, but not that person who doesn't.  It's so common we don't even notice it.  And it's been going on for a long, long time - at least so our readings show us today.  Thankfully Moses and Jesus cut through the blindness.  The Spirit of God is radically free and She will go wherever She will go.  And far from upsetting us - this is something to be celebrated.  And you know what?  Let's throw in two quotes from Abraham Lincoln just for good measure. 

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you listeners, for continuing to break open God's Word alongside of me and for sharing it with others.  I'm humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus picks up on the same topic that he ended with last week - if we are to be a follower of His, it leads to Jerusalem and the cross.  This is the second time of three times that Jesus will make these statements to his disciples.  Why so often?  Because it goes against everything our culture and those voices inside of our heads tell us to do.  We are always striving to do better than others, to looks smarter, to be more successful.  But do we ever stop to ask ourselves why?  What is motivating us to act in such a way?  What are we protecting?  Because as Jesus reminds us (for the second time), it's not the Kingdom of God that is asking us to live in such a manner. 

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm incredibly humbled.  Do you have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The word Gospel, as we all know, means "Good News".  And while the Gospel is always good news, sometimes that news can also be hard.  Today is one of those days.  Isaiah shares with us the path of the Suffering Servant, which Christians see as a foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus.  But if it's a foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus, it also foreshadows our ministry.  Jesus confirms this by looking at you and I and reminding us that if we want to follow him, we need to pick up our cross and do so.  Hard words.  Being a follower of Jesus is not for the faint of heart.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Also thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and break open God's Word with me.  I'm humbled and honored.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

Isaiah speaks to a people without hope and does his best to give them a vision of what hope would look like within a hopeless place.  For until they have bought into the vision, until they are able to see it, they have nothing to say, nothing to leap about.  They must first "be opened."  What was true then is also true now.  If we as individuals and we as the People of God are not people of hope and vision, we carry no authority.  We have nothing to say, nothing to share.  Just ask the rose.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you - for listening and sharing this podcast with others.  I continue to be humbled by your presence and trust.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Both Moses and Jesus (there's a couple of heavyweights for you!) call us out into the deep today.  We are not invited to stay in the shallow end of the pool by merely going through the motions of our beliefs or saying the right words.  We are called to the weightier things like justice and mercy and faith.  And how do we do that?  Not by just bringing part of ourselves to the table, but our entire self.  That's what brings life.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And special thanks to you for listening and continuing to share this podcast with others you think would enjoy it.  I'm humbled at the places around the world that continue to listen.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

This week comes with a challenge.  Actually two.  Joshua gives one in the first reading and Jesus in the Gospel.  Which way will you go?  Whom do you choose?  And you will notice in each case, they give the grace for choices that may not serve them or ourselves well.  They respect free will that much.  Those choices still stand before us today.  Whom will we choose?  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to break open God's Word alongside of me.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  Feel free to send it to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

I know - this sounds like a JRR Tolkien novel.  Sorry, nothing so sublime here.  Just a juxtaposition between wisdom and folly that we hear in the book of Proverbs, looking at the values that each holds.  And if, perchance, we wish to partake of the food of Wisdom, just where do we find that?  Jesus lets us know in no uncertain terms in today's continuing look at the Bread of Life discourse.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music for this podcast.  I'm also grateful to you for your patience these past weeks when my pod was struggling to get out to all the feeds and continuing to listen.  I'm humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The thread between the two readings couldn't be much easier to spot.  We can't make the journey on our own.  It's too difficult.  But what it also reminds us is that we are not at the end, either.  No matter what is happening in your life, whatever difficulties and struggles you may be facing - God gives us a gentle shove (or maybe not so gentle!) and doesn't invite us to keep moving.  He orders us.  There are missions to accomplish and you need Bread to sustain you.  So get up, partake of the Bread, and keep moving.  Your life has purpose.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm so humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

This weekend, we hear about how God provides for us - specifically giving us Bread from Heaven (in the form of manna and Jesus, himself).  And while there is much to explore there, I went in a different route.  I talked about how quickly the Hebrew people of both Moses's and Jesus's day could be so obtuse.  How can they forget God's presence and actions for them so quickly?  It's almost comical.  Until we realize that maybe it's not just them.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with those you believe would enjoy it.  I'm incredibly humbled.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

God desires for you and I to be fed.  It's as simple as that.  Whether it is manna in the desert, food during a plague or 5,000 people sitting on a grassy field, God desires not that we remain empty and in need, but rather that we are satiated.  But there is really only one thing that feeds us, right?  The Word of God.  Jesus says that himself when Satan tempts Him in the desert.  "Humanity does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."  Yet Jesus is wise enough to know that if our bellies are not filled, our minds cannot be reached.  And so he does both.  The question before us this week is - are we Philip or are we Andrew in this process?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her creating and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  Feel free to reach out at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

In hearing Jeremiah play the role of prophet, we hear him both rage against the unjust shepherds of the day, and remind the people that they are loved and seen and heard.  In our Gospel, Jesus longs for rest, but chooses the hard work of being present to the people.  So which is it?  Are we sheep or shepherds?  Do we rage against injustice or nurture the wounds of our trauma?  Are we in need of healing or are we healers?  The answer, of course, is yes.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And I'm so grateful for all of you - taking the time to break open God's Word with me.  I'm humbled.  And I'm hopeful that this one actually makes its way into your podcast feeds.  Here's to hope...

In this weekend's readings, we hear about the call and struggles of the prophet Amos, as well as Jesus sending out the Twelve.  Which, of course, begs the question for us - Am I called to go out, too?  If so, where and how?  And how can I be a prophet when I'm just an ordinary person in an ordinary job in an ordinary location?  Today we explore all of those questions.  It's time to step out of the shadow, my friends.  It's no longer time to simply have faith in Jesus.  Now it's time to step out with the faith of Jesus.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to all of you - for listening and your encouragement to continue with this podcast.  If you like it, please take a moment and rate it (it's how others can find it, too!) or share it with a friend.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

So often it seems we struggle against those parts of us of which we are ashamed.  We pretend.  We hide behind masks.  And in doing so, we refuse to open ourselves to the gift of grace that God and those around us are waiting to share with us.  Life is not meant to be lived in perfection.  We are not created that way.  But to the extent that we attempt to live in that space, we choose to live a life in illusion.  God invites us elsewhere - a place of truth where in accepting our vulnerabilities and imperfections, we find grace and true love.  In our weakness, we are strong.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk not only for being on this episode with me (along w/ her partner Malachi Brown), but also for creating and performing our intro and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to break open God's Word alongside of me.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.

The foundation for our Gospel is laid in the first line of the first reading - don't miss it!  God did not make death, nor does God delight in the destruction of the living.  Death is not the vision or the desire of God - life is.  And with that knowledge, we hear two stories about death to life in the Gospel.  And while we can sit here 2000 years later and enjoy these stories, we see death everywhere around us.  What does this have to say to us today?  What was true then is still true now.  Death does not have the final word.  Life does.  If we but have the eyes to see

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen to this podcast and share it with those you love.  We have been listened to in both hemispheres and on every continent (Ok, maybe minus Antarctica!).  I'm humbled.  Have a question or a comment (or know what the number 12 means in this reading?) - send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

With apologies to Jim Morrison and The Doors, I've got to borrow the title.  Jesus invites his followers to leave one side behind, get in a boat and travel to someplace new - on the other side.  But what happens, as so often does, is that we experience storms, upheaval, fear along the way.  What do our readings ask of us today when we find ourselves in not altogether dissimilar places?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to walk with me on this journey of opening God's Word and opening our lives for it to take root.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Today we hear three separate parables - one from Ezekiel and two from Jesus.  All remind us how God continues to work on our behalf, often without any knowledge or help from us.  God not only goes before us to prepare the way, but God fans to flame the seed within us that is the Holy Spirit, inviting it to grow though we know not how.  These readings invite us to take a load off of our shoulders and simply be grateful to God for the work God continues to do in our lives and in the world.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to break open God's Word alongside of me.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  Feel free to send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We talk about two things today (sorry - at length!  I know, I have to get these pods back down towards 20 minutes!  It's on my radar): how we are back in Ordinary Time and exactly what that means for us and 2) the story of the fall of humanity and how that is not just something set in the past.  It's played out today in the decisions you and I make.  We can choose to be a part of the family, or we can choose to isolate ourselves and hide.  The choice seems obvious, but is so difficult. 

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm humbled.  If you have questions or comments, you can send them to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Blessings, my friends!

On this feast, we recall not only the words of Jesus, but the words of Moses - and what that sacrifice demands of us.  We are not mere observers of God's action.  We participate.  And that is wonderful and scary.  We are meant to be taken, blessed, broken and shared.  Or in other words, we are meant to be shed.  It is not only Christ on the altar every Mass, it is us.  That's what we say Amen to every weekend.  That's the renewal of our marriage vows.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And special thanks to all of you who continue to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  Feel free to pass them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Brothers and sisters, no matter how hard we try, we will never wrap our minds around the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.  And that's ok.  God didn't make us to do that.  But that doesn't mean that we don't experience it's reality in our midst everyday.  And it also doesn't mean that we can't grasp that it is profoundly for us.  Every one of us has experienced the Presence and Reality of God.  All we need to do is remember that.  And celebrate that.  And speak about that.  Because that is the God who created us, redeemed us and continues to walk beside us, even here, even now.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to break open God's Word alongside of me.  I'm grateful for your presence and your trust.  Enjoy the podcast?  Share it with a friend and/or rate it on your favorite listening app.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  And oh yeah, Go Wolves!

This weekend, we celebrate one of the high feast days of the Church - the coming of the Spirit to the early Christian gathering.  How did the Spirit come?  Well, through a strong driving wind in an upper room, of course.  We hear that in Acts.  Or was it through the breath and forgiveness of Jesus that Easter Sunday night?  Which one is true?  Of course the answer is both.  But as always, we don't merely celebrate an event that took place 2,000 years ago.  We celebrate an event that continues to take place here and now within and among us.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for continuing to break open God's Word alongside me.  I am humbled and honored.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Happy celebration of the presence of the Spirit!

We hear two different accounts of the ascension of Jesus in today's readings - one from Luke, one from Mark.  And while there may be differences between them, both point to the same idea:  Jesus trusts you and I.  We have been prepared.  The mission and ministry is now in our hands.  Are we ready for such responsibility?  If our anxiety raises even at the thought, know that you are in good company.  I'm sure the disciples felt the same.  Will there be mistakes along the way?  Most certainly.  But that's the best way to learn, isn't it?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you - for listening to this podcast and continuing to share it with others.  I am humbled and grateful.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

All three readings are too good to set one aside - and a common thread runs through all three.  What, exactly, does love look like?  The answer, particularly in the first reading, will surprise you.  And if it doesn't, I'm not sure I did a good job explaining it...

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and break open God's Word with me.  I'm humbled and honored.  If you have a question or a comment, shoot it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  And pass the pod on to a friend!

The further we get from Easter, the less "Eastery" our readings sound.  Today we hear of Paul attempting to find his footing in Jerusalem among the apostles and Jesus speaking to us of grapes and vines and fruit that will remain.  But what does this have to do w/ the celebration of Easter?  What lessons are we to take?  It means that new life is not found just among the tombs of Jerusalem.  It's found in our daily walk and work, the unseen growth we experience, and the courage of those around us.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to all of you for breaking open God's Word alongside of me.  If this is a podcast that has touched you, I invite you to rate it on your favorite listening app or share it with a friend.  Have a question or a comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com 

Peter follows closely in the footsteps of Jesus in our readings today - both through his actions and then as fearlessly speaking the truth to power.  But what he reminds the leaders of Israel is also good for us to recall - that in the economy of God, nothing is useless.  There is nothing that need be thrown away.  God can and will use it all - including those things about ourselves of which we are most ashamed and we most try to hide.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to break open God's Word with me.  I'm humbled and honored.  Question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Special Guest, Eileen Piper (VP of Life Long Missions at FOCUS Ministries) joins Joe to help break open to Scriptures for this Third Sunday of Easter.  Within we hear how nothing can keep us from the love and forgiveness of our God.  Acts puts those words into Peter's mouth, while the Gospel shows us what forgiveness looks like on Easter Sunday evening.  Is there something troubling you?  Do you feel imprisoned in fear?  Do not be afraid.  For there is no where you can go to outrun the forgiveness, love and mercy of our God.

Special thanks to Eileen Piper for joining in this podcast, as well as to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to you for continuing to break open God's Word alongside of me.  May it bring you peace and hope.  Do you have a question or comment?  Feel free to email me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

On this Second Sunday of Easter, we focus on the Divine Mercy of our God.  What, exactly, does that Divine Mercy look like?  It looks like peace in the midst of our fear and doubt and hurt and despair and darkness.  Christ enters into our spaces, our tombs, not because we deserve it but because God's life and God's grace are bigger.  And thankfully, there is no wall too high or door too locked to keep the presence and peace of God away.  That is worth celebrating.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm so humbled and grateful.  May the peace of God break into your hearts and lives this day!  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Easter stands out from the rest of the Church's liturgical year as the high point.  And while it may stand out, it does not stand apart.  Easter walks hand in hand with Good Friday.  And so it's only appropriate that the readings we hear this day are from Holy Saturday - that place where Good Friday and Easter Sunday meet.  And that ground where they meet?  We know it well.  We stand there every day.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for trusting me enough to continue to listen and share this podcast with others.  I'm humbled and honored.  By rating the podcast on your favorite listening app and sharing it with friends, we continue to grow.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Blessed Easter, my friends!

The readings carry the power today, as we enter into this holiest of weeks.  And so because of that, we hear all three.  What do they have to say to us today, all these years later?  And what can we carry with us this week to ponder as we walk alongside Jesus?  Two main focuses this pod - humility and death.  Both present then and both needed now.  Sometimes.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you who listen and share this podcast with friends/family.  I'm humbled at your trust and presence.  May your walk w/ our Lord this week be one of trust, growth and joy.  Questions or comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

I know, I know - I'm not getting any shorter, and I promised you quicker podcasts.  You may have to get me to put that in writing.  But these readings are too good to leave at a surface level.  And they have much to say to us about Lent.  My friends, if this Lent has not been all you've hoped for, we still have 14 days left.  Let these readings guide these last two weeks - into people who listen well to the Law within and to allow ourselves to die to our individual and collective agendas.  Why?  So that others may live.  Death is not a virtue.  Dying so that others may live is.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to helping this podcast be heard around the world.  I am humbled and grateful.  If it speaks to you, please pass it along to someone you think would enjoy it as well or rate it on your favorite app.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Our readings directly name two incidents and Jesus alludes to a third where the darkness present seemed insurmountable.  But in each case, God shows up in a unique, surprising and unexpected way - reminding us that there is nothing that God cannot redeem and make good.  We have reached the halfway point of our Lenten journey, which may involve sacrifice and hardship.  These readings take purposely take time out to remind us that our God walks with us right here and right now, even in the midst of our struggles.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to all of you for continuing to share this podcast and helping it to grow.  If you like it, pass it along to someone you think would also benefit from hearing God's Word.  Or rate it on your favorite listening app.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The readings we hear today are long, but they are packed.  In the first reading, Moses gives the Law to the Hebrew people - the 10 Commandments.  And while it can be easy to think of all as equal (and perhaps they are), I think one, maybe two, rise above the others.  And one of these may surprise you.  Our Gospel focuses on Jesus and his actions when there seems to be little difference between what He sees inside the Temple and outside.  And it's not a pretty sight.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to listen and help this podcast grow!  I'm humbled.  If you like it, share it with a friend or consider rating it on your favorite listening app.  It helps others be able to find it as well.  Have a comment or question?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Every First Sunday of Lent, we hear the same story - Jesus in the desert.  The same is true for the Second Sunday of Lent where we hear the story of the Transfiguration.  Today we get Mark's version.  But in truth, it's pretty similar to Matthew and Luke.  Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain where his clothes turn dazzling white and suddenly, Elijah and Moses appear.  But something that also happens in all three is this: Peter puts his foot in his mouth, and a great cloud comes over the disciples filling them with fear.  We may not have ever seen Jesus, Elijah and Moses.  But I suspect that we have each played the part of Peter all too often.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for continuing to help share and grow this podcast so more and more people can find it!  I'm humbled and grateful.  Have a question or comment?  Feel free to reach out at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus, having just been baptized in the Jordan River, is driven by the Spirit into the desert, to spend 40 days attempting to discern what it means to be the Beloved Son and what that calls Him to.  And so we enter this same period - 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  40 days set aside to listen to the same Spirit, driving us and moving us in that same mission.  But do we allow ourselves the silence to be able to hear?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for breaking open God's Word along with me.  I'm humbled and honored.  If you enjoy the podcast, please take a moment and rate it on your favorite listening app.  It helps others find it as well.  Have a comment or question?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Lev 13:1-2; 44-46;  Mark 1:40-45

Our readings tie together very easily this weekend, focusing in on the purity laws of Leviticus, specifically dealing with leprosy.  Yet in the Gospels, Jesus doesn't stay distant.  Instead, Jesus touches the leper and heals him.  But is the skin disease all that needs to be cleansed within this situation?  And if there is more, exactly what is it?  And finally - where is leprosy within our culture and location?  Answer - its' closer than you think.

Special thanks to Bridget Zek for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to all of you for rating and sharing this podcast.  The podcast continues to be heard around the world and that all because of you.  I'm humbled.  Have a question or comment?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  

Is not humanity's life on earth a drudgery?  So begins our first reading out of the Book of Job this week.  And it doesn't really lighten up from there.  We hear of Job questioning the meaning of life and the presence of suffering in the world.  And while we may not live at that level very often, we do visit from time to time.  Suffering is present in the world and no amount of wealth or fame or skills can keep it away.  Suffering is a reality in life.  So what does Job, and perhaps more importantly, what does Jesus have to teach us about suffering in our readings this week?  

Special thank you to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for opening the Word of God along w/ me.  I'm honored.  If you like the show and it's made a difference in your faith life, please rate it on your favorite listening app or pass it along to a friend.  Question?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The first reading today speaks of how God will raise up a prophet from within their "own kin" to lead the people - and points directly at Jesus in our Gospel today, who speaks and acts with authority.  So if our readings all speak about Jesus and his role, what do they have to say to us?  Only this - that we, too, are invited to live prophetically and speak and live with authority.  But just how do we do that?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to all of you for continuing to listen and to rate/share this podcast with others.  I'm grateful for your accompaniment and support!  Questions or comments?  You can send them to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We pick up today where we left off last week - God's invitation and humanity's response.  Today, we hear about Jesus at the beginning of His ministry inviting those around Him to reprioritize their lives.  Rethink who they are and what they are about.  And in doing so, what does that invite us to leave behind and what does that invite us to move toward.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to all of you for your continued presence.  If you like the podcast, share it with someone you think will benefit.  Or rate it on your favorite listening app.  Have a question or comment?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time?  What happened to the First Sunday?  No time for that nonsense - we are off and running.  Jesus has been baptized and he is about the work of the Kingdom.  First item of business?  Gather those interested in helping him with that task.  Will you hear?  And how will you answer?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to all of you for continuing to listen and to spread the word of this podcast!  I'm so grateful.  Questions?  Comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

On this feast when we hear of the Magi following the light of a star, we hear Isaiah remind us that darkness continues to cover the earth and thick clouds cover the peoples.  This reading, which was written over 2500 years ago, continues to ring true today.  Yet light shines all around us, if we have but the eyes of the Magi to see.  Today we thank God for those lights in our lives and we also say yes to the idea that we, too, carry this light.  I also take time to unpack Pope Francis's document that he dropped five days before Christmas - Fiducia supplicans - and do my best to tie it into the feast we celebrate.  This is a longer pod today - thanks for staying with me.  I owe you a shorter one next week!

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to all of you for continuing to listen and to share this podcast with others.  We continue to grow - and I'm so grateful.  Blessed Epiphany to you all!  Questions?  Comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

On this Feast of the Holy Family, we remind ourselves of two things:  1) this is not the Feast of the Perfect Family, but rather the Feast of the Holy Family.  And in reminding ourselves of that, we look into what holiness is.  And 2) we remember that faith is not certainty.  Faith is walking in the midst of the fog and taking the next right step, as best we can foresee.  That's what makes it faith.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to all of you for helping spread the word on this podcast.  We are getting plays all over the world - thanks for helping make that happen!  Merry Christmas to you all!  Questions or comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Sorry, 4th Sunday of Advent.  You were given the boot in favor of some of the best readings of the year that come later that night.  This week, we carefully and slowly read through two of the most beautiful readings you will ever hear about God's love and desire to be close to us.  Do not be afraid.  Allow them to soak in.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to all you listeners who continue to break open God's Word with me.  I'm humbled and grateful.  If you enjoy it, please rate the podcast on whatever platform you listen.  That will help other listeners find the pod.  Questions or comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

As we draw nearing to the time of The Coming, we turn our focus on ways we can further open ourselves to allow Christ to be born within our hearts and within our worlds.  We also hear John the Baptist confronted by the religious leaders of his day, asking him to answer two questions that are essential in the life of every follower of Jesus.  And how you and I answer them is of the utmost importance.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Also - thank you to you for joining me in breaking open God's Word.  If you like the podcast, consider passing it along to someone you think would like it or rate it on your favorite podcast app.  Questions or comments?  Throw them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Every Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist is introduced to us.  John, of course, was the precursor pointing away from himself and instead pointing to the One who was bringing the Kingdom.  "In the desert, prepare the way of the Lord."  As we take one step closer to the celebration of God's presence in our world, the question before us is this: where are those deserts in your life?  And do you really believe that God can make a home in those places?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to all of you who continue to listen and break open God's word with me.  What an honor.  If you like the podcast, recommend it to someone you think would benefit.  You can also rate it so others can find it in their searches.  Have a question?  Send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Welcome to our new liturgical year!  And every year, it can be easy to fall into the idea of Advent being merely birthday planning.  We know a birth is coming up on the 25th and we have some preparations to do in order to celebrate that past event well.  But I urge us all (yes, including myself!) to approach Advent differently this year.  Advent isn't just about what happened then.  It's looking around and asking for God's birth into our own specific and universal worlds now.  It's seeing the need and asking God to rend the heavens and be born again.  And it's recognizing God's presence when indeed God is born.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for walking beside me as we open God's Word weekly.  Know anyone who may enjoy it and benefit from it?  Pass it along to them or rate it on your podcast app.  Questions?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We conclude our liturgical year with this feast day celebration.  Special Guest, Bridget Zenk, and I explore the idea of what it means to be living under royal leadership; what are steps we can take to help us be more like sheep and less like goats;  and another take on what it may mean to sit at the right hand of the Son.  May you celebrate this feast day well.

Special thanks to Bridget not only for appearing as special guest, but also for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for  being alongside of me and breaking open God's Word!  May you be blessed.  Comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

In this liturgical year's last Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear a familiar parable about a master going away on a journey and investing talents in each of his servants.  In today's pod, we break open that idea and ask 1) how can we discern what these talents are and b) to what end are we invited to use them.  Thanks to Mipso for the title idea to this podcast.  Don't know their song?  Take a few minutes and listen - it'll be worth your while!

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to you for taking time with me to break open God's Word!  Have a comment you wish to share?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Is there a difference between wisdom and knowledge?  Anyone able to quote Isaiah and the Gifts of the Spirit (think back to our Confirmation!) would say yes, but what exactly is the difference?  Is one more valuable than the other?  And how can it be obtained?  Wonderful questions which our readings directly address today.  The Spirit of Wisdom, Sophia, desires to be caught.  But She is elusive and must be sought and pursued.  That is up to us.  

Don't come to today's readings for consolation.  Instead, come for strength, because that's what we see from Jesus and that's what he exhorts from us.  Anyone can profess to be a follower of His and proclaim themselves good.  But God knows the heart.  God knows our real intentions.  And the priests/Pharisees/Sadducees get a large helping of humble pie.  But we can't watch from the sidelines.  We are them and they are us.  We, too, must walk the talk if we don't want the finger pointed in our direction.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for being alongside of me and opening God's Word with me.  Questions?  Thoughts?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We do Jesus a disservice to think that he did not deal with the many struggles we have to deal with today.  He went from conflict to conflict - and we see another one today.  Once again, the Pharisees are trying to trap him.  But once again, he sidesteps their efforts.  And in doing so, Jesus gives us a new law.  But the difference is that this law invites us into the stew.  This law needs us to discern and step out in faith.  This law is not external and merely seeks our obedience.  This law is internal - and leads us to relationship and the building up of the body.  All it costs is our willingness to be stretched beyond who we are right now.  And that can be a steep price.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you to you for your interest in diving deeper into the Word of God.  Comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Two mighty Gentile figures take center stage today, but for different reasons.  Yet both have something very powerful to teach us.  We cannot limit God and we always must be aware of whose image we bear and who or what has our allegiance.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to all of you for breaking open God's Word alongside of me.  If you enjoy the podcast, share it with someone you think may enjoy it in the same way.  Comments?  Send them to pdjoezenk@gmail.com.

My friends, the readings don't get better than what we hear today.  In two separate images - one from Isaiah and a parable from Jesus - we hear about the goodness and magnanimity of God.  All are invited.  All are welcome.  It's not just an idea - it's the Kingdom of God.  But we must be "worthy" to enter.  And what makes us "worthy" is not what you think it is.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to you for listening to this podcast and breaking open God's Word with me.  If you like it, please consider rating it on your favorite podcast app and/or passing it along to someone you think may enjoy it.  Comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We hear two stories today that are almost identical - but both hold a hard mirror up to us and invite us to be honest about who we are and where we are within the story.  Where is it that we look for our identity?  And how far are we willing to go to protect that?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for trusting me enough to break open God's Word alongside of me.  If you enjoy the podcast, pass it along to someone you think would like it and/or rate it on your favorite podcast app.  Comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

Jesus tells us a parable - A man had two sons...but it may not be the one that comes to mind when you hear that phrase.  Today we are presented with two ways of being in the world.  We can live inside of our small world, or decide to leave that behind for life in the Kingdom.  Our initial reaction is often one of "no", not dissimilar to the parable we hear.  But thank God that God gives us time to change our minds.  What we do with that time is up to us.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for downloading and opening yourself to the Word of God.  If you like the podcast, recommend it to a friend or rate it on your app.  Questions?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Isaiah reminds us in his word that God's ways are not our ways.  So Jesus tells a parable that emphasizes that very point - the Kingdom of God is like a vineyard owner who goes out at various points of the day to hire workers.  And when the end of the day comes, each one gets paid the same wage.  This parable, like few others, can shake us up and disturb us.  This doesn't seem right.  It's not fair.  It's disrespectful to those who worked the full day.  Maybe those complaints are correct.  Maybe it's not fair.  But thanks be to God that it is not.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to all who take the time to break open God's Word alongside me.  If you like the podcast, please rate it on whatever service that you use and pass it along to a friend.  Comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Say what you want about Peter, but he asks good questions.  He gives us another one today - how many times must we forgive?  But Jesus doesn't take the bait.  Instead, Jesus invites Peter to a new vision.  Peter is essentially wondering if there is a time and place where we can set forgiveness aside.  Jesus says there is not...at least not if you want to be a follower of Him.  And that is hard, hard work.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks for breaking open God's Word with me this week!  If you like it, please rate it on your podcast app and pass it along to someone you think would benefit from it as well.  Questions?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We set aside the first reading this week (but it's a good one - Ezekiel 33!) in favor of the second reading, where Paul reminds us that Love is the fulfillment of the law.  To the extent that we love, we are fulfilling where the law points us.  But don't confuse love with mere sentiment or soft melodies.  Jesus lays that out in the Gospel.  Love looks like strength and vulnerability.  And love looks like unbinding and setting free.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for downloading and opening yourself to the Word of God.  If you enjoy the podcast, tell someone about it.  Or rate it on whatever platform you listen.  Comments and questions can be sent to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The readings this weekend pick up immediately following where we left off last week - Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is and Peter correctly responds.  But Peter couldn't leave well enough alone.  After Jesus describes where this calling will take him, Peter attempts to talk him out of it.  And Jesus admonishes Peter, stating that Peter is thinking not as God does but as humans do.  And just what does that thinking look like?  And should we take the same warning?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for supporting this podcast and opening yourself to the Word of God.  If you like it, pass it along to others who you think would benefit by it.  Comments?  Questions?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

So often within our lives of faith, we can easily become overwhelmed with data and to-do lists that we can lose our way and forget why we are doing what we are doing.  But really, our faith can be distilled down to two questions - and we get one of them in our Gospel today.  And we need to answer it honestly.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for breaking open God's Word this week with me.  Have a question or comment? I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

This weekend's Gospel is such an interesting one.  We hear and see Jesus presented in a unique manner not otherwise seen in the Gospel.  Jesus shows resistance to the outsider.  Was this a test?  Was it a cultural blind spot?  I don't have that answer.  But what we do know and what comes through clearly in both readings is that there is no "us and them".  No "in and out'.  Any walls we create in our own lives must be taken down.  God's house shall be a house for all peoples...not just the ones we think are in.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for opening yourself to the Word of God.  Comments?  Questions?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We get to hear two incredible readings today depicting God with us in the midst of our storms.  Yes, it focuses on God's power over nature.  But it also focuses on our reactions.  Are we able to discern God's presence?  And if we are able, what does that invite us to?  It's not for the faint of heart.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for taking the time to break open God's Word with me!  Have a thought you want to pass my way?  Send it to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

I know, this weekend is the Feast of the Transfiguration and the above reading is nowhere to be seen (or heard) within the readings we will hear this weekend.  But we've been working up to the above reading for the past 7-8 weeks and it's simply too good to pass by.  So we take a detour this weekend and focus on what may be one of the greatest texts within all of Scripture.  What can separate us from the love of God?  The answer is almost too simple to believe...

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for opening God's Word alongside of me.  Have questions or comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.

Jesus presents us yet more parables about what the Kingdom of God is like - this time using images of treasure found and nets in the water.  But the addition that this series of parables give us that the past two weeks did not is our own involvement.  We are active participants in this parable and our decision is crucial.  What is the Kingdom of God worth to us and what are we prepared to set aside to embrace it?  And when, exactly, do we do this?  Molly Zenk sits alongside me for this conversation and shares her opinions as well.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for taking the time to open yourself to the Word of God!  May it find a home within your heart and life this day.  Comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus shares with us three more parables, once again using images simple to understand such as planting seeds in a garden, a mustard seed and yeast.  All of these things point us to the Kingdom of God.  They also point us to ourselves.  We are that garden and we are filled with both wheat and weeds.  Jesus says to let them grow together.  Now why on earth would He say that?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Also, thanks to you for breaking open God's Word with me.  Have a comment?  Send it my way to pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Bless you!

This weekend, we are reintroduced to a parable we've heard many times - a sower went out to sow some seed.  And in God's abundance, this seed is thrown hither and yon, recklessly, time and again.  The lavish nature of God knows no bounds.  To what end?  So that some seed may find good ground.  Maybe not today.  Maybe not tomorrow.  But someday.  Because Isaiah reminds us that which comes from God will not return to God void, but achieve the end for which it was sent.  And that's were we come in.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for breaking open God's Word with me!  Have thoughts on what you heard?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for continuing to open yourself to the Word of God.  That's what really matters.  Comment?  Question?  Shoot it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus continues to prepare His followers to go out and bring the Gospel to the world.  And what does that look like?  It looks like loving God before everything else in our lives.  That includes parents.  That includes children.  It even includes ourselves.  Paul reminds us that we are dead to our own agendas and we now live for God.  But don't confuse the two.  They are not polar opposites.  It is less either/or and more both/and

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Also thank you to you for journeying with me and opening yourself to the Word of God.  Have a comment or question?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus is continuing to give a pre-game, fire-up speech to the Twelve before sending them out, but his words have an ominous tone.  He speaks about fear and Gehenna and proclaiming on rooftops that which has been given to us in a whisper.  So how does this make sense to us?  What can we take from it?  It all comes down to the voices we listen to within.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for listening and continuing to open yourself to the Word of God!  Have a comment?  Send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Welcome back to Ordinary Time for the first time on a Sunday since Feb. 19.  Yes, maybe it's ordinary and mundane, but it's where most of our lives are lived.  And Christ walks with us here.  So if we, as our title suggests, are the answer - what is the question?  Today our discussion revolves around the crowd and who is a part of that.  And if what Jesus says about harvest and laborers is true and that we are to ask the Maker of the Harvest to send laborers, how does that prayer get answered?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for taking time to open yourself to the Word of God!  Have a comment, question or critique?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

It's all right there in Deuteronomy: God let us be afflicted with hunger in order to feed us His very being.  Everything else leaves us wanting and wandering in a desert needing more and more.  There is only one thing that satiates that hunger - and it's what we celebrate today.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Also thanks to you for listening and opening yourself to the Word of God.  Questions?  Comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

Unknowable and undefinable.  That's God's own definition of God's very self.  Yet that doesn't keep us from trying to know and define God.  And that's a fine thing.  Theologians have been doing it for millennia.  We all have.  That's how we come up with the very definition - three yet one - that we celebrate today.  But don't let past understandings or misunderstandings confine you.  God is bigger.  God is always bigger.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for composing and performing our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to you for taking time to listen and open yourself to the Word and God's indescribable Self.  Questions and comments can be sent my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

This weekend we celebrate not just an event that happened 2000 years ago, but an ongoing reality within our individual lives and the life of the Church.  And we will hear not only one rendition - but two: Luke's and John's.  And while both are different - different places, different scenes, different outcomes, both are true.  The Spirit can and will come into whatever place we find ourselves.  The Spirit will broach any wall we put up.  And the Spirit will drive us someplace new...if only we say yes and allow it to happen.  

What does it take to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?  Well, a whole lot, really.  It takes tenacity.  It takes strength.  But more than anything?  It takes presence.  It simply means we need to show up and be counted.  Often times we can fall into the trap of perfectionism, knowledge or righteousness before we can say yes to this call.  Our readings today dispel this notion.  We can either listen to the voice and call of Jesus, or the voices in our heads telling us that we are not good enough.  Our choice.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for taking the time to open God's Word with me.  Question?  Thoughts?  Critiques?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  

Can there ever be too many A Few Good Men quotes?  I think not.  Today we speak about truth - and what it is.  Why?  Because Jesus promises to send the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth.  But what exactly does that mean for us?  While I certainly cannot claim to have a handle on it, I invite us into that conversation to ponder just where that invites us.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and playing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for listening!  Comments?  Questions?  Thoughts?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Special episode today because you get lots of cultural references like The Softer Side of Sears and Jack Nicholson quotes from A Few Good Men.  What could go wrong with those?  But the real good news lies within the Word of Jesus - that we don't need to be afraid.  Jesus and the Father are One.  If we've seen one, we know both.  And that is such good news for all of us.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her writing and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for supporting this podcast!  If you like it, rate it well and/or pass it along to someone you know - that's the best way for it to grow.  Comments?  Send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

This Sunday is commonly called Good Shepherd Sunday, and it's easy to see why.  Our readings are saturated with reminders of God's goodness and invitation to trust and follow.  But to follow, we need to listen.  And to listen, we need to be able to hear God's voice.  That's never as easy as it seems.  But you and I are made to hear that voice, each in our own unique way.  And what better way to reference that than to refer to an album that is now 44 years old?  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for listening and supporting this podcast!  Have a take or suggestion?  Send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

Today, we hear one of Luke's masterpieces in telling us the resurrection story of two disciples walking on their way to Emmaus.  While on their journey, wrapped up in their own pain and disappointment, Jesus draws near.  But they don't recognize Him.  It's only later - in the Breaking of the Bread - that their eyes are opened and all the puzzle pieces fall into place.  So that's a good question for us.  How do we recognize Jesus when He draws hear to us?  And what are the signs we can be paying attention to that we are living or acting or loving in His spirit?  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for taking the time to open yourself to God's Word alongside of me!  Comments?  Questions?  Challenge?  You can reach me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you to all of you for listening and passing along to others.  That's the way this pod grows.  Comments?  Questions?  Shoot them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Our 40 day retreat is finished.  We reach the holiest three days within our liturgical year: the Triduum.  The Three Days.  And what they reveal to us is no less than a mirror showing us the pattern of our own lives.  Death.  Waiting.  Life.  It's as simple as that.  And the more this idea takes root within us, the more we see it everywhere around us.  It's the air we breath.  But the best part?  Life, not death, has the last word.  As Rob Bell says, Love Wins.  Today we celebrate that victory and it's a victory worth God's own being.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and playing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks for listening to the podcast!  If you have any thoughts, questions or critiques, you can send them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  Blessed Easter!

Suffering is a reality in the world.  It was true for Jesus.  It will be true for us.  We live most of our lives in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday - in that middle space that holds the suffering of the past and has not experienced the full resurrection of the future.  Our readings for Palm Sunday take us right to that space.  But don't lose heart - we are not at the end.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com if you have any comments or thoughts on the podcast.  Blessings and love to you as we enter into this Holy Week...

This Sunday, as we draw nearer to Holy Week, we hear of perhaps what is considered Jesus's greatest miracle - and God's greatest sign of what the Kingdom is meant to be: Life!  This also sets the stage for why Jesus, in the minds of those in power, must die.  This week - the raising of Lazarus.  "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the Glory of God?"  And just what is that glory?  Gotta listen to find out...

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks for listening!  As we prepare for our holiest week, may you be filled with the life that is the essence of our God.  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com with any questions, thoughts or criticisms.  

In another multi-layered, long Gospel from John, we actually see many of the same attributes that we did last week.  Faith is a progression.  However, there are two other points of note.  Like the blind man in the story, how do we answer the question when people ask us who Jesus is?  And how often do we get caught up in the non-important details and miss the presence and action of God in our midst?  If we do, we're in good company.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for listening and blessings on your Lenten journey!  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. 

We enter a three week stretch in our cycle of readings where we will have three Gospels from John in a row, all very long.  So because of that, we will focus only on the Gospels in those podcasts.  That begins today with an incredibly layered and deep story - the Woman at the Well.  There are dozens of places the Word of God could have taken us this week in this story.  I chose two.  And they are pretty good.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for composing and performing our intake and outtake music.  And thanks to you for listening!  I'm hopeful that your Lent thus far has been helpful to you on your spiritual journey.  Questions?  Comments?  Shoot them my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

The word "vocation" finds its roots in the word "summons".  And it's easy to fall into the trap that says once we've found our vocation, we've done the heavy lifting.  It's over.  Now I just ride that out the rest of my life.  But we would be incorrect.  God continually calls us.  And that calling often will call us out of our comfort zone and into the wilderness; into the great cloud of unknowing.  We hear it in our first reading today with Abram and we hear it in our Gospel  with Peter, James and John.  Listening.  Hearing.  Fear.  Courage to move forward.  Trust in the one who journeys with us.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and playing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks for taking the time to listen.  Blessed Lent to you all!

Jesus continues through His Sermon on the Mount, once again inviting His disciples to take the law into their hearts and not live it as an external reality.  One of the examples He uses is turning the cheek and walking the extra mile.  But how do we do that and not allow ourselves to be abused or become the victim?  How do we carry our dignity in that moment?  We also see how God invites us to be holy, merciful and perfect, just as God is holy, merciful and perfect.  But how on earth can we do such things?  I don't think it's as hard as it sounds...

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for listening, rating and passing along this podcast to those you think would appreciate it.  Comments?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performance of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to all of you for listening!  Feel free to rate the podcast - that will help people find it when they are looking for a podcast to assist their spiritual walk.  Comments?  Send them to pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Jesus continues through the Sermon on the Mount, picking up from last week's discussion of the Beatitudes.  Today, Jesus reminds us that you and me - we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Not the person down the street.  Not the person in front or behind us in the pews.  You.  Me.  In all of our wheat and weeds.  In all of our strengths and weaknesses.  The Kingdom of God resides in our yes.  And what an important yes that is, for others will see it and be given permission to do the same.  Or not.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks for taking the time to open God's Word with me!  Comments?  Questions?  Critiques?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Bless you, my friends!

On this 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount with some of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture - the Beatitudes.  But before we can even really begin to unpack their beauty, we instead focus upon the first line in that passage.  Jesus saw the crowds.  What a reassuring statement.  We also unpack the difference between charity and justice - and remind ourselves that we are called to breathe with both of those lungs.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  And thank you for listening!  Comments?  Suggestions?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Today we hear about Jesus moving from Nazareth to Capernaum, and in so doing, brings the Light of God to a people walking in gloom.  Jesus also calls his first disciples.  How does this speak to us today?  Our world continues to be in darkness and gloom.  Do we believe the light is stronger?  And what are we willing to set aside today in order to answer Jesus's call to follow Him?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her writing and performing our intake and outtake music.  Thank you for listening!  Have a comment, question or critique?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

If you're like me, it can be easy to fall into the trap of praying to God and assuming God will do all the work.  I'll sit by and spectate while God does the heavy lifting.  And while that hold seeds of truth (it is always God's action and not ours), God needs our assistance.  God needs our yes.  For it is through us - through the people of God - that God will show God's glory.  We participate in the salvation of God and building God's Kingdom.  If we don't do it, it won't happen.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks for listening!  If you ever have any comments, feel free to email them to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Sometimes God is hidden in plain sight - we simply have to have the eyes to see.  But it's not that easy.  To be pulled and stretched into a larger image and understanding of God, we have to let go of previous images, take God off the shelf on which we've placed God, and re-think our understandings.  It means setting aside control and allowing God to invite us in deeper.  But it's in that place that the revelation - the epiphany - truly takes place.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her writing and performing our intake and outtake music.  Have a comment or question?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!

For eight full days following Christmas Day, the Church celebrates what is called the Octave of Christmas.  Eight days of Christmas!  This eight day period ends every year with the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.  But why does the Church do this?  Why is Mary held in such high esteem?  And what does Mary have to teach us today?  We attempt to ask - and perhaps even attempt to answer - some of these questions in our pod this week.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her writing and performing of our intake and outtake music on this podcast.  Thanks for your listening and supporting the show.  You can reach me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com if you have any comments.  Bless you and Merry Christmas!

God's Word carries all the power this week.  God, in God's great vulnerability and desire to not remain distant, is born into the chaos of a stable and into the chaos of our world.  That alone is worthy of celebration.  But it was not a one time event.  What we celebrate this day is the coming together of heaven and earth in the person of Jesus Christ.  And because of that, everything is changed.  There is no more sacred and profane split.  Rather - God is present everywhere.  Even now.  If we have but the eyes to see.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for the writing and performing of our intake and outtake music.  Have a comment, question or critique?  You can be in touch with me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Blessings to you this Christmas and always!  May you experience the presence of Christ born anew into the chaos of your life this day and always!

My friends, the time of waiting is coming to an end.  But just what is the purpose?  What exactly are we waiting for and why do we celebrate it?  Ambrose and Duns Scotus would tell you - it's all in the name.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for our intake and outtake music.  Have a comment, critique or a challenge?  Throw it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening and blessed fourth week of Advent!

Our readings today invite us to look for God in places we don't expect - like dry deserts or unforeseen happenings.  John the Baptist couldn't understand what Jesus was doing - so much so that he began to doubt whether he was right to point to Jesus as the One to come.  But Jesus gently reminds John what the Kingdom of God is really about...and it doesn't look like John expected.  Those places within our lives or communities or world that we think are dead?  They have potential.  All they need are the right hands and the right conditions.  And they will bloom unexpectedly.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for the intake and outtake music of this podcast.  Looking to contact me?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  Thanks for listening!

Matthew puts the favorite phrase of Jesus into the mouth of John the Baptist today: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"  This phrase most likely does not mean what you think it means.  It is not calling us to individual penitence.  Instead, it is inviting us to think differently.  To reimagine our world.  To reimagine God and God's action within this world.  And to reimagine where our place and efforts fall into this picture.  Isaiah gives us a glimpse towards the end of his reading.  But we have to make this vision our own.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and playing of our intake and outtake music.  Thanks to you for taking time to open yourself to the Word of God.  Have a comment, question or challenge for me to add into the pod?  Email me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  

Human nature is to look for God in ways that God has come to us (individually or collectively) in the past.  "God did it this way in Scripture, so that is the way God will do it again." Or "I experienced God in this place in the past.  So I have to keep going back to that place to find God again."  Maybe those are good ideas.  I don't want to limit God.  But today's readings invite us out of those patterns.  God will come in precisely the way and time that God will come.  And it is almost always new.  And what does that require of us?  To stay awake and be on watch with an open heart that we allow to be taken.  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and playing of our intake and outtake music.  Like to be in touch with me?  You can reach me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Hey listen, who am I to disparage a Grammy award winning, multi platinum recording artist?  Mad props to Lorde.  But she got it wrong.  When we talk about Royals, it's not about Cristal, Maybach or diamonds on our timepieces.  No gold teeth or Grey Goose.  It's about dying so another can live.  Lordship looks more like a cross than a Rolls.  It looks more like shepherding than it does trashing hotel rooms.  And you and I are baptized into that.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her original composition and playing of our intake and outtake music.  Have a take for me?  You can send it to me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

We are nearing the end of the liturgical year, and so the readings have a feel of looking toward the end of time.  But are they really?  In fact, they have already happened.  And are happening right now.  And will happen then, too, whenever "then" is.  For our worlds are continually changing and ending and beginning.  There is only One constant.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for writing and performing our intake and outtake music on the podcast.  Have a challenge, critique or question?  Send it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  
And thanks for listening!  Bless you, my friends!

With apologies to The Boss and the blatant rip-off of the title off of one of his albums, today we look deeper into resurrection.  The idea of resurrection had to grow within Judaism...it wasn't there from the beginning.  And so even in Jesus's time, there were those who didn't believe in it's reality.  Today, Jesus is challenged by one of those groups.  And His response challenges us in our time today.  How do we view resurrection and what does that mean for us both now and later?

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her original score and performance with our intake and outtake music.

Have a comment, a critique or a challenge?  I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Listeners today get my best Shrek impression (which, frankly, isn't that great) - but it invites us deeper into Scripture using a wonderful story of a short man looking to see Jesus.  If we find ourselves within these readings, then we, too, have to ask - what boundaries keep me from seeing Jesus?  And what am I willing to do to get around them?  

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for composing and playing our intake and outtake theme.  Have a comment, critique or a challenge?  Send it to pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Thankfully, God loves us all equally.  But God seems to have a unique love for the poor, the orphan, the widow.  I can't pretend to fully understand what that is about, but it seems to come from a place of genuine need.  The destitute have no need for pretensions or to put on airs.  Their cry seems to come from an understanding of what they lack and what they need.  It's real and it's honest.  The same, unfortunately, can not always be said about those with means.  Jesus's parable today reminds us of that.

Have a question, comment or a challenge?  Throw it my way at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her original score and performance of the intro and outtake music!

Jesus speaks to us about the topic of prayer once again using a parable, but this one can be a bit muddy.  Combining the first reading with the Gospel, are we to understand using prayer to mow down our enemies?  Do we have to cajole God to get what we want?  Prayer can be a mystery.  This week, we attempt to peel back a few layers using critical and adult eyesight.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her original score and performance of our intro and outtake music.  Questions?  Comments?  Challenge?  You can reach me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!

Today we break open a story you know inside and out - but it's about so much more than mere gratitude.  It invites us to know ourselves and to trust those needs to a God that  knows our deepest needs even more than we do, to move forward in trust that the unseen can happen and to know that our salvation lies in realizing that all is gift.  Ten lepers from 2000 years ago get to teach us all that.

Have questions, critiques, comments or a weekly challenge for me?  You can email me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for composing and playing her original music in this podcast.  

When Jesus called Peter out of the boat, everything in Peter's understanding of the world around him told him that this was foolish.  No human can walk on water. But what Peter chose was to believe in the vision of the One who called him out.  And so he took a step.  That's not the Gospel we hear today, but it points in the same direction.  Faith is more than a bunch of head knowledge.  It's trusting in something we have not seen, but living in a way that invites it into reality.

For those interested in the challenge mentioned within the pod, my email is pdjoezenk@gmail.com.  Feel free to lay down the gauntlet.  Let's have some fun with this.

Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her original score and performance with the music at the beginning and end of this podcast.  

Unlike last week's readings, this one is not hard to interpret.  In fact, it hits us right between the eyes.  Don't listen to these readings or this podcast unless you are ready to be trapped in the truth.  Both Amos and Jesus reach across the centuries to speak to us here, today.  Give us eyes to see, Lord. 

Should you wish to enter into the challenge I put forth in the podcast, you can reach me at pdjoezenk@gmail.com  What challenge you ask?  Guess you'll have to listen to find out

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Last weekend, we heard Jesus give us three parables that were fairly straight forward and easy to understand pointing us toward who God is and how God views the lost.  This weekend, Jesus gives us another parable that is much harder to wrap our minds around, but it points toward the same place.  And so to help us grasp the depth of its meaning, we look to no other place than the sage wisdom of CW McCall and that ageless tune, Convoy.

Original Score written and produced by Bridget Zenk

I read the long version of the Gospel for this weekend's 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  You may hear the short version at Mass, but it's too good to pass up.  Today Jesus, in the form of story telling, reminds us who God is, how God is, and who we are and the value we carry.  All of us.  No exceptions.  It's too good to miss.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Just one reading today, but one is enough to challenge us on many fronts.  Jesus confronts the throngs following Him and draws a line in the sand and asks us which side do we wish to be upon?  We're either all in or we're not.  God can work with either side but it's those in the middle that are pretending something that God can't work with.  It's a decision we have to make every day.  And nothing - not even blood ties or commitments can get in the way of that decision.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

There is a clear thread through our readings today that speaks about humility.  And since that connection is so obvious, we explore what humility is and what it is not in this episode.  But there is a parable at the end where Jesus invites us to ask, who is around our table?  And why is that important both to them and to us?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

On this 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, the readings are filled with both incredibly good news and incredibly hard news.  And both are true.  Everyone is invited.  All are welcome.  Nations from the north, south, east and west will stream toward the Lord's holy mountain.  All peoples will be gathered in the Kingdom!  But the way is narrow and the gate is small and the work is hard.  How can both be true at the same time?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

In these readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we look into the role of prophet, and the rewards a prophet reaps.  It's no walk in the park, Kazansky.  Oh yeah, you and I have been baptized into that role, too.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Usually when we talk about thieves, our minds turn to sinister activities and nefarious individuals.  Not today.  In this episode, we are invited to take stock of those walls we put up to keep out the very Thief that desires to get in.  And why do we do so?  And perhaps most importantly, can that Thief be trusted so as to tear down the walls that we have constructed?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

What is it we seek?  What do we possess and what possesses us?  In the end, does any of this matter?  Heady questions, but Jesus (and Qoheleth) walk us down that path this week.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Did I read that title correctly?  You're asking me NOT to pray?  Yes, that's correct - unless.  Unless we have the courage and breadth and trust of Abraham.  Unless we are willing to become the instrument of prayer that we desire.  Unless we are willing to place God and God's will at the center and not our own ego and needs.  If those things aren't in place, we are wasting our time.  God's too.  We're treating God way to small.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

This Sunday, we hear the story of God as guest at our table and the varied reactions that brings.  At different times in our lives, we are Sarah or Abraham, we are Martha or we are Mary.  But if we are to mature into the fullness of discipleship, we must stop living in one camp or the other.  We must breathe not with one lung, but with both.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Moses reminds the Hebrew people - and through them, us - that one doesn't have to have a title or degree in Theology to understand God.  God is not a puzzle to be figured out or a mystery to be solved.  God is not elsewhere and must be sought.  God is within, nearer to us than we are ourselves.  And what does this Presence of God, this Law of God, look like?  Mercy.  Compassion.  Kindness.  Jesus uses a wonderful and famous story to drive the point home.  If one wants to be like God, cloak yourselves in mercy.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

On this weekend in which we celebrate our nation's independence, we look at how Israel looked at themselves.  How do we balance blessings and being chosen alongside the seedy underbelly of the reality?  How do we do that on a national scale and how do we do that on an individual level?  No easy answers - that is a hard struggle.  We explore that space this week.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

After spending 90+ days in what the Church calls Privileged Time, we are back in Ordinary Time this weekend.  So we talk about what "ordinary time" is as opposed to those special, unique or life-changing moments we all go through.

Then we dive into the first reading and the Gospel - which today is easy to see the tie.  And what is that?  What is the price we must pay to be a disciple of Jesus.  And you and I, these many years later, get to ask ourselves "Is that price worth it and is it something I am willing to pay?"

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Today we look at the readings for this Sunday's feast of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  Our first reading reminds us that Paul, writing before any of the Gospels have been written, is already passing on what the early Church had made a practice - that of sharing the Eucharist.  The Gospel invites us into that effort.  The Eucharist is central to who we are as Christians.  We revolve around it.  But we are more than mere spectators.  We are to become what we eat and, as Paul has done before us, pass on that which we participate within.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We look ahead to Sunday's Feast of the Most Holy Trinity - and so seek to unpack an idea.  But this feast is less about facts and knowledge, and more about relationships and movement.  How do we have eyes to see the God who is all around us?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Today, we preview the readings for this Sunday's upcoming Feast of Pentecost.  God sends us God's very Spirit to be with us always.  And what does that bring?  Unity and a voice.  But not a voice that is separate and distinct.  Our voice only finds life in service of the One Voice.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We finish (yes, really!) Jesus's Last Supper Discourse, and His final words are words of prayer - asking God that "they may be one as we are one."  My friends, we are either working toward that reality or we are adding to the demise of it.  So of course, we had to bring back WB Yeats for a repeat performance.  

Jesus draws near to the conclusion of His great discourse.  And in some of His final words, Jesus discusses sending out the disciples into a world that will and already does hate them...a world of which they are not a part.  This is good stuff and it deserves to be fleshed out.  So what does that mean for you and I?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation and within it, we get a taste of the person of Mary.  We see Mary's humility, strength, trust and kindness.  We also hear Mary's tour de force in proclaiming the Magnificat...and in this proclamation sets a pattern for you and I

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Rather than continuing through the 16th Chapter of John's Gospel, we take a day to step back into the Holy Day and celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus.  Today we listen to Luke's rendition in Acts of the Apostles.  Rather than a story of fear, this is a story of great trust...trust in the Apostles, trust in the Holy Spirit, trust in you and I.  We have been given the keys.  

Two announcements at the beginning of the podcast make this a longer episode - one dealing with the future of the pod.  Thoughts can be emailed to pdjoezenk@gmail.com

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus speaks of the second Fruit of the Spirit today: Joy.  So today we unpack what it is and what it is not.  We also hear your goofball host confuse John Keats for WB Yeats.  And I call myself an Irishman...

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

St. Philip Neri, pray for us

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus holds up a mirror and gives a reality check to the disciples by naming where they are in their spiritual journey.  He has much more to tell them, but they are not ready for it yet.  As Paul would contrast later in his letter to the Corinthians, the disciples are yet infants.  What was true then is still true now.  We all have growth edges.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus reemphasizes His point from yesterday about the coming of the Advocate.  But Jesus approaches it in a different way.  This Coming, Jesus says, can only happen if first He ascends to the Father.  Before there can be a Coming, there has to be a Going.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues His Last Supper discourse with the disciples, speaking of two coming realities.  One - you will not be alone.  An Advocate is coming to be with you in the midst of wherever the future takes you.  Two - that future won't always be filled with good things.  But Christ promises to be with us in the midst of it.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, continuing to give His final wisdom to his friends, leaves them with one very memorable thing: His Great Commandment.  Love one another as I have loved you.  Jesus takes all of the teachings of the Law, the Prophets and the Wisdom literature and sums it up in eight words.  Brilliant.  Perhaps there is an example there for us to follow.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

In what may be our shortest Gospel to date, Jesus challenges us to remain in His love.  So how, exactly, do we do that?  We talk about two ways today...

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus speaks to His friends about vines and branches, attachment and separation.  It's all about our choice.  Do we wish to be grafted on to the vine or attempt to find life outside of that space?  Our decision will have repercussions in terms of our growth.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues His final words to His friends and in doing so, foreshadows the first words He will speak to the disciples post-resurrection: Peace I leave with you.  But what, exactly, is the peace Jesus is inviting us into?  How is it different than the world offers peace?  To answer that, we look to a disciple of Jesus who spent some time in a Birmingham jail in the not-too-distant past. 

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues with His Last Supper Discourse, in which Jesus reminds us what love looks like.  It looks like action.  And with the help of St. Augustine, we flesh that out a bit.  Love is not so much a feeling as it is a decision.  Love is a decision to do the next right thing with the tools at our disposal - our eyes, ears, hands and feet. 

My apologies if the podcast feels like it is skipping.  I had computer issues when recording.  I think I fixed them all, but I may have missed some, hence the skips.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, on the night before He dies, leaves His friends with one of His most beautiful teachings: You do not need to let your hearts be troubled.  I will not leave you.  It's all about relationship and our God is a God of abundance.  This episode might stretch you.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

As we reach the halfway point of our Easter season, Jesus demonstrates for us the pattern that He invites us all into.  And if we live that pattern of humility and acceptance of the other, our lives will be blessed.  Not because God will then see what we are doing and bless us for it.  But in living this pattern, we shed the excess baggage we don't need to be carrying with us.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, in summing up His ministry to date, puts out the choice for each of us: Which way will you go.  Will you see the Light and embrace it?  Or will you go your own way?  Jesus makes clear that He will not reject us as He has come into the world to save it, not reject it.  But if we go our own way, we are willfully rejecting the Light.  That is what will condemn us.  And that, my friends, is a sobering thought...

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

In today's podcast, we look at the opposite side of the coin from yesterday's pod.  Yesterday we had to ask ourselves if we desire to be led and how best to hear the voice of God.  Today, we focus on our God's desire to lead us and how the only thing that can take us out of the grasp of God is our very self.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is generally called Good Shepherd Sunday.  Appropriately, we focus around that time on Jesus as our Good Shepherd, which we do today and tomorrow.  Good Shepherds know their sheep...and their sheep know them.  The sheep hear the shepherd's voice and they follow.  Which begs the questions - do we hear?  And do we desire to be lead?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus doubles down on His language, making it clear that He is not just talking in metaphors.  His Body is real food.  His Blood is real drink.  So what will we do with that information?  Is it too much for us?  Will we stay or will we go?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues talking to the crowds (read: us) on two levels.  The first is how we yearn and long for something beyond us - and that emptiness and longing can never be filled by anything other than God.  But the second - and He is becoming more and more explicit about this - is that His Flesh is what fills that yearning.  So how do we make sense of this?  Or not?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Ever wonder what the will of God is for your life or for a situation?  Jesus answers that question not just once, but twice in our Gospel today.  And it's good news!

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We step away from the 6th Chapter of John's Gospel to celebrate a feast day - that of Ss. Phillip and James.  And within it, we hear an interaction between Jesus and Phillip: Phillip wanting to see the Father and Jesus slapping his head with the palm of his hand.  But here's the best news Jesus gets to remind us, too - when we hear and see and touch Jesus we hear and see and touch God.  God is that good.

Ss. Phillip and James, pray for us.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, after feeding the 5,000 and walking on the water, is pursued by the crowd.  However, Jesus is not flattered by their attention.  Instead, He challenges them by asking what their intentions are in pursuing Him.  It's a good question and one that remains as strong all these years later.  

Ss. Athanasius and Thomas, pray for us.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We move three chapters later in John's Gospel, and experience one of the great signs in all of the New Testament - Jesus feeds the 5,000.  We begin a pattern that, I'm sure, will be with us all next week: John's great Eucharistic theology.  It begins today with some obvious ties to the Last Supper.  It also includes both reassurance and mission for you and I.  

St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us!

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues with some of the same themes we have heard these past few days, primarily focusing upon the place from which we draw our life.  Those who draw life from heavenly realms speak and act and testify to what comes from above.  Those who draw their life from earthly realms do the same.  It doesn't make us bad people - it just reveals those things to which we look for life.  Are they ones that keep us in the flow of God?  Or are they things that sever that tie?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, in His conversation w/ Nicodemus, talks about the essence of who God is and, because of that, what God is about.  God is love.  That's the underlying motive for all God does.  And so what does that look like?  It looks like saving, not condemning.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

There's really only one thing the spiritual life boils down to - and that is this: from where are our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes and our visions born?  Are they born from above or below?  Everything else will fall in line behind that decision.  In today's Gospel, Jesus points to the same idea.

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Rather than look at the Gospel of the Day today, we go back 24 hours and read the Gospel from the Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday.  Our God doesn't leave us languishing in our guilt, our fear, our despair.  Rather, God seeks us out and calms us w/ His very presence.  For the essence of mercy is forgiveness.

St. Mark, pray for us.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

In this extraordinary epilogue to John's Gospel, we hear the story of the reclamation of Peter.  It's our story, too.  Rather than running from our sin and hiding from God, God invites us back to the very place of it and transforms it into forgiveness.  It, too, is the story of Easter.  Death to Life. 

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

One of the ways Jesus makes Himself known to us?  By bearing His humanity to us.  As the Gospel of Luke moves toward its conclusion, Jesus stands before His friends and invites them to be witnesses of His presence to all the world, beginning today.

Today we hear a story of despair and hope, dreams lost and recovered, feeling alone and being accompanied.  In this story of the disciples traveling on the road to Emmaus, we see ourselves and realize that our God will not leave us in our own hurt, but will draw near to us even though we know nothing about it.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Mary Magdalene is weeping outside the tomb of our Lord on Easter Sunday morning...until the "gardener" shows up.  Then everything changes.  Holy Saturday becomes Easter Sunday.  Many of us live in the same place, waiting for the change to come.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

My friends, we have entered the Holy of Holies - the Octave of the greatest feast of the Church year.  Special guest today is my daughter, Bridget.  We talk about our thoughts on this reading as well as what Easter means to us.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Instead of reading the full passion of the Lord, according to John today, we hear from Isaiah the beautiful passage of the Suffering Servant (this being the fourth reference).  Then we simply spend the rest of the time today talking about Good Friday, and what this means to us.  And what this says about God.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

As Lent draws to a close this evening, and we begin the feast of the Sacred Triduum, we hear the Last Supper story from John's Gospel.  On this episode we talk about the gift of the Eucharist and how God uses it to remain with us.  We also explore the ties between Passover and the Eucharist and where Eucharist points us in the passage we hear today.

Blessed Triduum, my friends!

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Today we hear the story of Judas going to the Chief Priests and offering to betray Jesus.  But just why did he do so?  The truth is, we will never know.  I explore some possibilities, as well as talk about God's great trust in humanity and our choices.  I don't think I would have as much trust as God does...

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

On the night before He dies, just after Jesus washes the feet of His friends, Jesus's heart is troubled.  And so He shares that grief with those around the table.  But they don't see it coming.  And with false bravado, they cloak themselves in illusion.  The pieces on the chess board are just about set. 

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus is at the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary following the raising of Lazarus when Mary does something extravagant, intimate and beautiful.  But instead of seeing the love and beauty behind the action, all Judas could see was a waste of resources.  Which side of the line do we fall upon?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

It sounds as if we pick up today exactly where we left off yesterday - but actually two chapters have passed in between.  Jesus is embroiled in conflict again.  Why this time?  Similar reasons.  This time he stated "The Father and I are one".  And the people are upset because of apparent blasphemy.  But let's take a closer look at that statement - and talk about whether it still holds true today.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

After spending the entire week in Chapter 8 of John's Gospel, we reach the end.  And in it, Jesus says something curious: "Whoever keeps my word will never see death."  Just what, exactly, is Jesus saying here?  I speculate but welcome your thoughts as well.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus changes His focus from the Pharisees and begins to hold a mirror up to those who have recently come to "believe in Him."  The results aren't much better.  This mirror shows some actions that these "believers" don't want to see.  They dodge, avoid and eventually lash out at Jesus.  Sound familiar?

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues to teach and challenge the Pharisees.  Today, He tells them that where He is going, they cannot follow.  Why would that be?  Is where Jesus is going an exclusive place?  Is this a punitive action on the part of Jesus?  Or is it something deeper?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus remains in the Temple area teaching the people after freeing the woman caught in adultery.  And Jesus reminds us that God is life...and that those who carry this life within us - Real Life! - will never walk in darkness, but rather are filled with the light of God.  It's a classic choice put before us: which do we choose?  Light or darkness?  Later, Jesus reminds the people that He knows who He is, what He is about and where He is going.  Would we be so blessed...

As the Feast of Tabernacles draws close and much of the Jewish population descends upon Jerusalem, Jesus is faced with a conundrum.  Does He stay up in Galilee where He is safe?  Or does He go to Jerusalem where they are trying to kill Him, but it is also where those to whom He was invited to minister are gathered? Of course, it is our conundrum, too.  Do we play it safe, or do we follow our conscience?  Do we listen to those voices in our heads arguing for safety or the One voice in our head inviting us to follow our mission?  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus continues speaking with the leaders of the Jewish Community in Jerusalem and, effectively, predates the quote centuries later that will be placed in the mouth of St. Francis: "Preach the Gospel at all times.  When necessary, use words."  Jesus underscores for the people of His time and the people of our time the importance of our witness.   

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Today's Gospel follows immediately after yesterday's, where Jesus healed the elderly crippled man and invited him to stand, pick up his mat, and go home.  So in today's Gospel, Jesus confronts the leadership of the Temple and attempts to pull them out of their small thinking.  It's a long soliloquy from Jesus, but it has some foundational questions for you and I today.  

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus heads south to Jerusalem for another feast, and mingles among the blind, the lame and the crippled.  And where Jesus is, healing takes place.  However, trouble isn't far behind.  The leaders of the Jewish people get caught up in the small stuff and can't see the bigger picture.  This Gospel holds similar questions for us.

Jesus, after journeying through the middle region of Samaria, enters Galilee.  And while the people are happy to see Him, Jesus realizes that it is only because they heard of the things He did in Jerusalem during Passover.  But there was one person who came with a request - a royal official who trusted, at least partially, that Jesus could heal his son.  Today's Gospel shows that interchange...and it invites us into that same journey that the royal official is on.  

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We take time out of this regularly scheduled Lenten Season to step into a different time and space - a Solemnity that transcends liturgical seasons.  Today celebrates not only my father-in-law's birthday, but also the Feast of the Annunciation.  God presents the plan to humanity, specifically a young woman in a small backwater town.  And all of heaven holds its' breath for her reply.  An interaction, by the way, the continues to repeat itself (in various and sundry forms) even today...

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, after driving out a demon that was mute, is accused of driving out demons in the name of Beelzebul.  Jesus chastises those accusing him, however, saying that a kingdom divided against itself will not stand and that whoever is not with Him is against Him.  So just whom do we stand with?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, invites us not just to look at the letter of the Law, but at the heart.  And so to fulfill where it points, we must understand it at its essence.  And so it is true with us as well.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Peter approaches Jesus with a magnanimous offer - should I offer forgiveness to someone who wrongs me up to seven times?  Jesus uses a parable to teach him - and us - that there is no end to forgiveness.  We are either in the flow of God, or we are apart from it.  Forgiveness is not something God does.  It's who God is.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, fresh out of the desert after His baptism, goes to His native place...and the hometown people begin to doubt what they see.  Not because what they have seen is worth doubting - but because they won't allow themselves to believe.  And so Jesus is forced to go elsewhere.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus shares with us another parable, specifically directed toward the Chief Priests and the Elders, about a vineyard owner, tenants and the produce expected.  And what was a story directed at a particular people 2,000 years ago can still find root within us today - inviting us to see God's trust, patience and expectation.  And beyond that, Jesus invites us to see the role of our defects within our lives.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus tells a parable about a rich man who dines sumptuously (named by the church Dives) and a poor man at his doorstep named Lazarus.  The story follows them not only in this life but into the next - and as we see Dives tormented in the fires of the afterlife and feeling the effects of the chasm, we are invited to ask ourselves: just what is the sin of Dives?  

St. Patrick, pray for us!

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus is walking on the road to Jerusalem with his best friends...and he has two lessons for them:  1) Suffering is a reality in this world, but it is not the end and 2) The way of the world looks like domination and authority while the way of God looks like servitude.  None of this is sexy, which is why the road is narrow that leads to the Kingdom of God...

Sorry for the late drop.  Will explain why on tomorrow's pod!

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus makes an example of who else?  The Pharisees and Scribes to invite us to look at how not to act.  Don't seek out lofty titles or places of honor.  Want to get ahead in the Kingdom of God?  Step down.  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus is preaching His Sermon on the Plain and culminates it with the message - Be Merciful as God is Merciful.  Today, we take time on the podcast to look deeper at what that invites us to.  What do mercy and holiness look like?  And how does it differ from perfection and purity?  In a word?  It invites us into the Flow of God.  

Speaking from the Mount once again, Jesus reminds us of the power of the words we carry.  They have the power to build up and the power to destroy.  And they reveal the life that we carry within us...or not.  Are our feet firmly established in the Kingdom or elsewhere?  

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus speaks to us of God's magnanimity...but also of our need to be involved in working for the Kingdom.  It's not magic.  God doesn't do all the work.  We have to choose our level of involvement.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus is confronted by the crowds, who are asking for another sign in order that they may believe Him.  But Jesus says that no other sign will be given, except the Sign of Jonah.  But what, exactly, is the Sign of Jonah?  And why does that matter to us today?

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

If the Sermon on the Mount is the heart of Matthew's Gospel, then we are at the center of the heart.  And what do we find there?  The essentials of God and Prayer.  It's really all about those two things.  One is the very center.  And the other brings us to the heart of the center

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

My friends, we are not called to be plaster saints, hands folded, eyes looking upward, hearts distant, walking through the world unscathed.  That would be awful.  Real holiness doesn't look anything like that.  Real holiness is in the trenches and in the unseen places with the unseen masses.  Real holiness calls us out of ourselves and takes real effort.  And we know it when we see it.   

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time for every purpose under heaven, including both fasting and feasting.  What time is it today for you?  

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus preaches the paradox of the Gospel to not only His disciples, but to all of us.  The choice is simple, but not easy - do you save your life and thus lose it?  Or do you lose it and, paradoxically, gain it?  Your true self lies in the balance.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

As we move into a new season on this Ash Wednesday, Jesus lays out the three-fold aspects of Lent: Prayer, Fasting & Almsgiving.  But while doing so, Jesus reminds us of the traps that lay before us...namely ourselves and our intentions.  We begin our 40-day retreat today.  How you do it is to be a dialogue between you and God.  May we all use the time well.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

As we celebrate Fat Tuesday, we hear a Gospel that goes hand in hand with yesterday's message: Will we have hands that are unable to let go of our possessions, or can we open them and set ourselves free.  Jesus points out the benefit of a life not controlled by possession in today's message.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

As Jesus sets out on another journey, He is approached by a young man with many possessions - asking how he can possess yet one more thing: the Kingdom.  Jesus answers him in love.  But where Jesus is inviting the young man to go is someplace the young man is not able to travel.  At least not yet.  Some roots in the young man - and in us - grow deep.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus is not afraid to take on controversy, but He doesn't allow others to set the narrative.  And so when the Pharisees bring up the age old controversy of divorce and try to paint Jesus in a corner, Jesus will have nothing of it.  Instead, Jesus reminds us what the very root and image of marriage is about - and those words echo through history to us.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus speaks of those aspects of our lives - be they feet, hands and eyes or attitudes, ideas and practices - that separate us from God.  And He has little time for them.  Either these things bring us closer to God and God's Kingdom, or they draw us farther away.  And if they are separating us from God, what are we willing to do about that?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

In this brief reading, the apostle John attempts to create boundaries around who can minister in Jesus's names and who cannot.  Jesus sets him straight.  In one of the shortest Gospels we've had recently, Jesus stares straight through 2,000 years of history and asks us if we have learned the lesson or not yet.

St Polycarp, pray for us

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

On this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, we hear a story very familiar with us.  And not the least of which is because we heard Mark's rendition of it last Thursday.  But our focus changes with this feast day.  Instead of focusing on Jesus's question, we focus on the keys and the role of Peter within and among the group of apostles.

PS - my apologies for the late upload.  For whatever reason, the server was not uploading this morning.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk.

Today we hear a story of Jesus healing in a place of both faith and doubt.  Let that be good news to us, for it is in that place that most of us live. 

My apologies to listeners today: for some reason the volume of the podcasts increases significantly around the 17:40 mark of the pod today.  I'm uncertain of the reason why, but be aware so that you don't drive off the road with the sudden volume increase ;)

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus picks up from where he left off in his chastening of Peter, this time inviting the crowd (read: you and me!) around to hear it.  The ultimate question?  Who is leading whom?  If we are leading, we will often end up in the exact wrong spot - placing ourselves, our ego and our comfort in the center.  If Jesus is leading, it's going to go places not only unexpected but also unwanted.  Do we trust Him enough to follow on that road?

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, walking with his disciples in the area of Caesarea Philippi, has the courage to ask two questions: Who do people say that I am? and Who am I to you?  These are questions that can only be asked either by someone searching for an identity or someone already certain of their identity.  Jesus is the latter.  All too often, we are the former.  The Gospel turns on this question, because it points toward where Jesus will now be headed

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

In a unique story that is only found in the Gospel of Mark (I believe), a blind man is brought to Jesus and asked to be healed.  What takes place is both humorous and poignant.  And it has something to say to you and I today as well.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Presumably on the same day that Jesus just fed the multitude with a handful of loaves of bread, the disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee w/ Jesus and are concerned because they forgot to bring any food with them.  Jesus, however, has something different on His mind: beware of the food that the Pharisees and followers of Herod are giving out.  Which menu do we order from?

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

On this Feast of Ss. Cyril & Methodius (ok, and St Valentine!), Jesus is confronted (I'm shocked!) by the Pharisees, demanding a sign from heaven to test Him.  This is immediately following Jesus's feeding of the 5,000 - so I'm not quite sure how they missed that one.  Their eyes are closed to what is all around them.  And while it's easy to chuckle from a distance, are we all that different?  

Ss. Cyril, Methodius and Valentine, pray for us.  

We conclude Mark's seventh chapter with another encounter of a Gentile in Gentile Territory - this one blind with a speech impediment.  Jesus takes him off on his own...and only there is wholeness found.  My friends, there is truth there for us as well - and it relates to our baptism.

Then I tell a story of our daughter Bridget (the same one who created the music for this podcast) in relation to this feast day: Our Lady of Lourdes

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

St. Scholastica - pray for us

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus turns His attention from the Pharisees and Scribes to the crowds and focuses on a single issue: how do we pollute the environment around us?  

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Some Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem come up to spend time with Jesus - and give him a hard time about how His disciples don't keep the traditions of the elders.  Jesus has no problem holding a mirror up to them and challenging them on their understanding of tradition.  With a Gospel like that, it's an appropriate time to talk about the Tradition of the Church vs. what traditions the church holds.  And what are the blessings and pitfalls of traditions?

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus draws closer to his home in Capernaum, where He is well known - and the crowds come out in droves to hear Him, bringing their sick to Him for healing.  And how does much of this healing happen?  Through touch.  We hear today in this Gospel reading of how we recognize Christ and of the importance of touch in our lives as well.

Original Score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We step away from the story of Jesus to instead focus on Herod Antipas and John the Baptist.  It's a story we know well: adultery, speaking truth to power, dances and being trapped in our own promises.  So what does it have to teach us today?  Plenty.  Let's start w/ our own baggage.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus summons his friends and sends them out two by two on mission.  But prior to sending, he instructs them not to take too much along with them.  Trust in God.  Trust in the goodness of those to whom they will minister.  Trust in themselves.  And do so with a joyful heart, because that will be the witness as to how life can be approached differently.  There seems to be a message for us in there as well...

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

It is 40 days after the Great Feast of Christmas - and so today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  This feast celebrates and focuses on two people: Jesus and Mary.  Poor Joseph was along for the ride.  Consecration and Purification.  And it holds lessons for us today.  

We close out chapter 5 of Mark's Gospel (in two days!) with another long reading containing a story within a story: two women, suffering and moving closer to death.  Both cause acts of desperation.  And both lead toward salvation and new life.  What do we have to learn within these stories?  It's ok to be honest with God.  And desperation can, at times, lead us to a safe harbor. 

On this feast of St. John Bosco, Jesus gets into a boat with his friends and crosses over to the other side of Lake Galilee.  What he encounters there is a madman, awe, anger and ultimately healing.  He simply had to have the courage to make the journey.  

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

We celebrate Thomas Aquinas, one of the most brilliant minds in all of Christianity.  And one of Thomas's tenants: God can be rationally seen within creation.  So what better than to apply that reasoning to our Gospel today.  Jesus uses two other images for what the Kingdom of God is like and he uses images that would be familiar to the people to whom he is speaking.  Growth and seeds.  Time and Life.  It's God's work -- but we participate within it.  Just keep swimming...

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Jesus, fresh from speaking to us about planting the seed in good soil, reminds us that that seed is within to be grown.  The light is given to us in order to be shown, not hidden.  And counterintuitively, in giving it away, we find we have more to give.  Generosity begets generosity.  

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Another day, another feast - today the Feast of Ss. Timothy & Titus.  Today we hear Jesus teach a familiar parable - the sower and the seeds.  Our challenge?  Don't let it get too familiar.  Let's invite ourselves into the story and ask - which soil, which field are we today and how do we become familiar when the soil within us changes?  And what field are we sowing the seed in today?

Original music written and performed by Bridget Zenk

Today we celebrate a major feast day - the Conversion of Paul.  What may seem like a fringe incident as we listen to the Gospels and study the life of Jesus is actually central to who we are and how we came to be.  And it still holds truths for us all these years later.

Original score written and performed by Bridget Zenk

On this Feast of St. Francis de Sales (bishop and doctor of the Church), Jesus speaks to us about Truth, even as He is being undermined by those around Him.  And toward the end, He speaks about the unforgiveable sin - the sin against the Holy Spirit.  Exactly what is that?  And how do we avoid falling into such a thing?

Original music by Bridget Zenk

On this Feast of St. Agnes, we see Jesus invite people along for the journey.  The job description?  Be prepared to climb, stick together, don't get comfortable.  The qualifications?  Was it goodness?  Holiness?  Insight?  Nope.  Possibility...and the ability to say yes.  

Jesus, having faced confrontation at every turn, tries to get away.  But He just can't.  People seek Him out and press in upon Him.  Does he lash out and get angry, just asking others for space?  No.  Instead, He gets creative in how He creates that space.  We are also challenged to remain humble in our understanding and knowledge of God. 

We get what we watch for.  We see what we want to see.  So did the Pharisees.  They set a trap for Jesus and laid in wait...and He gave them exactly what they were hoping to see.  He gave them a reason to despise Him and want Him put to death.  We get what we watch for.  

Another day, another argument with the Pharisees.  This time, it deals with the law and the purpose of the law.  Jesus invites us into the law and invites us to wrestle with it.  Others would simply invite us to follow and not engage.  It's a worthy conversation for us today as well.  

Jesus is challenged by the disciples of both John the Baptist as well as the Pharisees for his lack of following the tradition.  And so He uses an odd example to make a point - using wineskins and old cloth.  But essentially He's saying this: what will we choose to take with us?  Why do we allow the past to dictate the present?  And what is going on within us that is so reluctant to see the world anew and forge our own way?

Today brings another healing.  That's no surprise in Mark's Gospel.  But how it comes about - through the faith and creativity of friends - is what captures our attention here.  We've been on both sides of this healing...on the mat and lowering another down.  Today, we thank God for the faith and creativity of those in our life who brought us to this place.  

Three Gospels in a row, three healings.  Jesus isn't one to sit on the sidelines.  He's in the battle to bring about the Kingdom of God.  So what about us?

Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes to the house of Peter - where he continues to teach his followers what the Kingdom looks like.  It looks like seeing those who are separate.  It looks like interceding for them.  And it looks like grasping their hand.  Second point?  What season of life are you in?

Yesterday, Jesus called His followers.  Today, we see where He is leading them: to the synagogue where He will take the battle to the rulers/princes of this world.  And He does so through teaching and action.  And if we're following, that's our path, too.

The baptism is accomplished, and now the mission begins...for Jesus and for us.  

Jesus.  A leper.  An encounter between the two.  We've seen this movie before and we know where it's going.  But there is an interaction between the two in this story that doesn't happen in many others.  And it's worth digging a little deeper into that interchange.  

Jesus, immediately after His baptism, is led by the Spirit into that place of unsettling quiet in order to ponder where His baptism was calling Him.  What was true then is also true now.  Our baptism invites us to mission.  Do we take the time in quiet places to listen to where that action and where the Spirit is calling us?

St. John Neumann, pray for us!

We listen to a familiar story today - the feeding of the 5,000.  And while we are still in the Christmas season, we may ask ourselves "Why hear this story now?  What does it have to do with Christmas?"  Really, everything.  Remember, Christ was laid in a manger...a feeding trough.  He is Bread for the world.  And He gives us a basket and says to us "Give them some food yourselves."

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us.

We begin to focus on the early ministry of Jesus, immediately after he comes out of the desert following his baptism.  What do we see?  His life changes.  He moves.  He publicly begins teaching  And he welcomes people from every geographic location.  In other words, he takes to heart his own message - "Repent"...turn around, see life differently.  In doing so, he becomes a light for those desperately in need of one.  

Today, we hear John's beautiful poem that opens up his Gospel - the one that reminds us that Jesus was there in the beginning of all things.  Not only that, but Jesus is there at the beginning of all good things that happen within our life as well.  And yes, He is there at the beginning of all new years.

Take time today to thank God for the good that has been and the good that will come.  Happy New Year all!

Yesterday we heard Simeon as Mary and Joseph approached the Temple for the Presentation of the Lord.  Today, the prophetess Anna takes center stage and she, like Simeon before her, didn't allow what was seen on the outside to inhibit her from seeing what was really before her...

Today we hear about the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple, 40 days after His birth.  But our focus is actually less on Christ than it is on two other people: a man named Simeon and a woman named Mary.  One has been seeking the Christ his whole life.  And one is destined for a sword to pierce her heart.  Both are true then and now.  

On this Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, we celebrate the role of love and of listening to the heartbeat of God.  Forget Red Bull - this is truly what gives us wings and helps us soften our sharp edges.  

We have three separate Gospels from which we could have read today - but how could we read from any other than The Story?  Ready or not, here He comes...

Our focus changes from the story of Mary to the story of Zechariah, Elizabeth and John.  And once again, we see God naming someone that portends to the mission he will carry out.  Of course, what was true then is also true now...

Today, Mary takes center stage in her great proclamation of God's goodness.  She also, in as clear a way as possible, reminds us of the dignity of those on the edges and how we need to identify ourselves as one of them.  For not to do so implies that we do not need a savior.  

Mary, having had her life and her plans upended by a visit from an archangel does what any of us would do at that point, right?  Nope - she doesn't sit in her room and reconfigure.  She doesn't go talk to mom and dad and wonder what to do next.  She doesn't recalibrate.  She goes for three months to visit and assist her cousin Elizabeth.  Because that's what being filled with the Spirit invites us to, right?

As we draw nearer to The Coming, we enter in The Story.  All this week, we will be in Luke, Chapter 1 preparing us for Luke, Chapter 2 this Saturday.  First up?  The Announcement.  The plan is given and all of heaven holds its breath to see how this young girl will respond.  

We make a turn in Advent today.  No longer are we focusing on the adult Jesus.  Now, we are preparing for a birth and thus, we have to focus on the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke for the next 8 days.  Today, we hear of the importance of our ancestry.  Why?  It grounds us and helps remind us from whence we came and who we are.  True for us.  True for Christ.  

I know - it's super late.  But it's worth the wait!  Dig it!

John was doubting?  Let me tell you how good he is...even in the midst of that space.  

John the Baptist, having been imprisoned, sees the works of Jesus.  And he begins to doubt.  This can't be the One to whom we were looking.  He's not at all what I expected.  So what happens when that same thing happens to us?  What happens when we begin to doubt and see God operating in a way that is outside of our expectations?  We have a choice to make.  Either downplay what we are seeing and experiencing and, by doing so, put God back in our nice little box.  Or expand our notion of God.  That's not easy.

Are we set in our ways?  Do we have God figured out?  Are we in a groove or routine?  This parable is for you.

St. John of the Cross - Pray for Us!

Jesus, once again, is confronted by the leaders of the Temple and asked for His credentials.  By what authority do you do this?  He doesn't answer the question, but rather turns the question on them at which they obfuscate and play games.  What can we learn through this short interchange?

St. Lucy, pray for us!

Jesus compares the actions - or should I say inactions? - of the Scribes and the Pharisees to that of children.  They use every excuse in the book not to engage in what they see going on around them.  But that sounds like lukewarm water.  And we know what God does with that in His mouth.  We have to plant a flag, my friends.  We have to make a decision.  

On this Feast of St. Ambrose, we hear not only the Gospel reading but parts of the first reading from Isaiah chapter 40.  And while the Gospel speaks of the particular love of God for each one of us, Isaiah reminds us of God's collective love for us, too.  It's always both/and.  And we participate in that same reality.  

Jesus, surrounded by great crowds, sees the belief and the desperation of friends on behalf of a paralytic man.  And so moved by this act He frees the man.  But not in a way that was expected.  We may think that the healing power of Jesus does not reside in us because we have never lifted a paralytic person from their mat.  We would be wrong.

Today, on this Feast of St. Francis Xavier, we hear of an interaction between Jesus and two blind men.  Their long journey to an encounter with one another took perseverance.  But once they came face to face, it all hinged on one question: "Do you really believe that I can do this??" 

Jesus instructs His disciples not to get caught up in mere words or trying to pick the lock of the Kingdom.  Instead, it takes commitment.  It takes obedience.  It takes our very hearts and lives.  

Today's Gospel is a bit of deja-vu.  We've heard it before, but it's so good to hear again because the news is truly Good News.  You are seen - right here, right now.  And you don't need to beg or plead.  Our God is a God of abundance who will destroy the web that is woven over all of us: death.  

On this Feast of St. Andrew, we ask the question: what work did Andrew have to do before he was able to say "Yes" to the invitation to Christ to be with Him.  Was it just a gut feeling?  Right place, right time?  Or did he have to prepare his heart in order to see the birth?

Welcome to Advent, my friends.  Today we hear about an interaction between Jesus and a Roman Centurion which is so moving that we repeat his words every time we go to Mass.  "Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof..."  What is so important about this interaction?

As we close our liturgical year, Jesus reminds us that all will come to an end.  Sun and moon will stop shedding their light.  Stars will fall from the sky.  But do not be afraid.  Trees will bloom.  Everything will pass but there is Something that will be with us always...

In 1975, Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi stated: "Modern humanity listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if it does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."  On this feast of Andrew Dung Lac and Companions, that is exactly what Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel.  

Jesus continues to teach in the Temple area, and He hears people speaking of the beauty of the Temple.  And let's be honest - I'm sure it was.  But he takes this moment to challenge His listeners about what is lasting and what is not.  

As we wind down this liturgical year, Jesus sits in the Temple area and observes the giving and those making the offerings.  He points out a particular woman who gives not from a place that won't be missed, but instead she puts her entire livelihood in the basket.  Which of course begs the question of us - how much of ourselves do we give to God and what do we hold back?

St. Cecilia, pray for us!

Jesus, having entered Jerusalem, goes into the Temple and clears out those who are making it a Den of Thieves and disrupting prayer.  So we talk about that today.  How free is God in our lives to be who God needs to be - not just who we want God to be, or a God made in our image.  And secondly, when and where is our space of prayer and how often do we make that happen?  The world needs us to.

Jesus enters Jerusalem and weeps over the city.  His heart is rent by the decisions people are making and how they are turning their back on God.  

That still is true today, is it not?  Have you ever wept over something similar?  And can this situation draw us closer to empathize with the heart of God?

On this Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, we hear a longer parable from Jesus about a man who would be King going away for a long journey and putting his servants in charge of a certain sum of money.  And when he returns, he wants to know how they have used that sum.

Of course it begs the question of all of us - what have we been given?  And have we received that gift?  

Today we hear the story of Zacchaeus, a man of small stature and great wealth.  More importantly, we hear how his life was changed when he met Christ.  Which, of course, begs the same question of us.  How are we different for having met Jesus?

Another mini pod with two points for us to ponder throughout our day...

Jesus walks through Jericho and encounters a blind man sitting by the side of the road.  Through persistence, the blind man is brought before Jesus.  And it is in this encounter that Jesus asks The Question.  It's a question we must answer as well.

Today is a mini-pod - something I'm going to be trying out.  Let me know what you think! (pdjoezenk@gmail.com)

We also celebrate the life and death of St. Josaphat, a man who died in search of unity.

The Pharisees are giving Jesus a hard time, asking exactly when the Kingdom of God will come.  He replies to them that they have it all wrong.  The Kingdom of God is already among them.  And us.  But if that is true, where exactly do we see it?  Our world is torn with violence and division.  Where does God reside?  I use two pop culture references to answer the question.

We also celebrate St. Martin of Tours on this Veterans day and we look at the juxtaposition and talk about struggling with life lived in the gray...

On this Feast of St. Leo the Great, we hear the wonderful story of the 10 lepers who were cleansed, and only one returned to give thanks to God...a Samaritan.  So today, we focus not only on faith and trusting God to be with us on the journey; we focus not only on our salvation resting on the fact that all is gift and rendering that as gratitude; but we also focus on what is it like to be an outsider.  How does it feel not to be seen?  

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica - in other words we celebrate the dedication of a building.  But it is much more than that.  We celebrate an event.  We celebrate a turning.  And, like most crossroads, there are blessings and perils down that road.  This gift brought similar choices.  And it has produced some of the most holy and beautiful people this world has ever known.  It has shaped lives and continents.  But it has also fallen victim of its shadow side.  And this crossroads?  It lies before us as well.  How will we choose?

Jesus is not afraid of a little hyperbole in today's teaching, so why stop at one example?  Instead He uses three.  Millstones, Multiple Daily Forgiveness and Mulberry Trees being recklessly uprooted and thrown into the sea.  But when we can move beyond the exaggeration, there is much for us to ponder within this beautiful passage.  

Today Jesus, in speaking to his disciples (i.e. you and I), tells a parable with which I have always struggled.  Not because I don't like it.  But because I'm not certain of where Jesus is inviting us.  And so, I take it in two different directions - and invite you to take it wherever the Spirit may move within you.  

Effectively, Jesus tells a parable of a dishonest steward who is commended for being shrewd.  So what are we to make of that?

Well, for one thing - a This is Spinal Tap reference (the movie whose title I can't recall during the pod)!  Can't go wrong there.  Thankfully it wasn't "S*** Sandwich!"

We enter into one of the greatest chapters in all of Scripture today, with Jesus giving us two parables addressed to the self-righteous in His midst.  Those to whom He is speaking have a tendency to divide the world in two - those in and those out.  The righteous and the non-righteous.  Jesus sees no such divide.  He sees people in need of God's grace.  How about us?  How do we see the world?  These parables challenge us today every bit as much as those Pharisees and scribes 2,000 years ago.

Although we celebrate the feast of St. Martin de Porres today, we are back in the Gospel of Luke.  And today, Jesus is challenging the large crowd following Him that to live a life of discipleship is not an easy task.  It's not for large crowds or the faint of heart.  It takes strength to put at the center that which needs to be at the center.  And all this other stuff?  We don't need it.  Renounce it.  All we need to do is be who God made us to be - and at the very center of that is God.

Thanks to Karen Hennings for being a guest on the podcast today!

Today, my friends, we celebrate another feast day - a decidedly Catholic one: The Feast of All Souls.  And so on today's pod, we talk about Purgatory.  And in talking about Purgatory, we discuss it not in a punitive way, but as the hope-filled doctrine that it is.  It is so good.  I also use an analogy from the recent past to invite us to continue forward in hope.  Today's readings are too good to miss.  

My friends, we celebrate a Holy Day within our Church today - the Feast of All Saints.  And this day celebrates not only those canonized and held before us as examples, it celebrates all those holy women and men within our families, communities and lives.  And it reminds us of our own call to sanctity and how we are invited to live that in community.  All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Jesus had to get tired of being set up by his enemies, didn't He?  If He did, He sure doesn't show it in today's Gospel.  Instead, He uses it as a teaching tool to try to bring them beyond, over and past where they are stuck.  But they refuse to engage.  Yet none of that stops Him from doing the right and the good thing...even knowing that this right and good act leads Him closer to death.  Love, my friends, is not sentimental.  There is nothing sentimental about dying so that another may live.  

Today we celebrate the feast of Ss. Simon and Jude, two of the forgotten apostles of Jesus.  What do we know about them?  Two things: Their names and the fact that they said yes when called.  That seems a small amount to attain discipleship, but we sometimes forget that discipleship isn't earned with an impressive resume.  It's given as an act of grace.  Our lives are then lived as a response to that grace.  Simon and Jude did, even thought I couldn't tell you one thing they did.  What about you and I?

Jesus gives us another hard Gospel today.  Not just hard to understand (although it is that, too!).  No, today is a hard truth.  He's telling us that it is decision time.  Stop standing with a foot in both camps.  Get out of the doorway.  Decide which side of the door you will stand on.  And what people, habits and things will you bring with you?

Today, Jesus uses two images to help describe the Kingdom of God to us: a mustard seed and yeast.  But here's my question to you - how would you describe the Kingdom of God?  What imagery would you use and what is it you are wanting to convey?

Today's Gospel is a great Gospel of hope.  The end is determined.  It's just the time of growth we await...

This is so good, brothers and sisters.  Jesus performs a healing of a woman bent over for 18 years.  But the real battle happening here is not between sickness and health, but rather what the law is truly about.  Is it about freedom, dignity and life?  Or is it about power and control?  You know where Jesus is going to land, but it also speaks to what is going on today and which side we will choose.

On this Feast of St. John Paul II, Jesus invites the people to learn how to read the signs of the times to the degree that they are able to read the meteorological signs all around them.  Well, you know that they are us.  That same challenge lies at our door.  Are you able to read the signs of the times?  And are you able to see where they might lead?  And beyond seeing, are we able to impart a new vision for those around us?  We are baptized priest, prophet and king.  Jesus's challenge invites us to step into that prophetic role.

We also look at the life and legacy of St. John Paul II.  St. John Paul, pray for us!

Jesus continues to bring hard truths to the people.  What does He have to say to us today?  That He came for division and that if we allow ourselves to be filled with the fire and passion of the Holy Spirit, expect kickback.  Gird your loins, my friends...

Jesus, through Luke, continues to speak to those who may be growing weary of waiting for the return of The Master and uses two more images - one quite stark and in-your-face - about our need to be prepared.  He also holds us accountable for the knowledge we hold.  The question is - what will we do with it?

Jesus invites us to be ready, for we know not the hour of His coming.  So what, exactly, do we need to put up on our refrigerator?  Guess you have to listen to find out ;)

Jesus continues the theme he had been speaking of with the Pharisees around the dinner table, only this time warning His disciples to be wary of hypocrisy.  All that is hidden will be revealed.  He then goes into what could be a scary place, so I attempt to understand it before landing it on one of Jesus's most beautiful thoughts regarding God's great love for us.  

And today is a feast celebrating a great woman (Capital G, capital W) - St. Teresa of Avila

Jesus finishes up his dinner with the Scribes and Pharisees, but not before he names a present reality to them - that they honor the prophets that previous generations have killed.  And in so doing, perpetuate the cycle.  I would love to say that was something that was only present to that specific generation 2,000 years ago.  But unfortunately, I think it is something we carry within our human condition.  How can we, as individuals and as communities of faith, begin to break out of this cycle?

Jesus continues (courageously, I might add!) to hold a mirror up to the Pharisees gathered around the table, naming the truth that lies within them.  If only that truth and mirror applied to those hearing His words 2,000 years ago - but they continue to resonate through the years and speak to the Pharisee within all of us.  But even so, they continue to be good news for us because they shake us out of habits we need to lose...

Jesus finishes speaking to the crowd and has dinner at the home of a Pharisee.  But he quickly comes under fire for not keeping the precepts of the Law.  Some hospitality, right? Jesus then reprimands the Pharisees - and speaks to us over the ages - about the need for the inside and the outside to match.  At stake?  Freedom.  

Jesus continues to talk to the crowd, but this time with a warning.  It is not enough to hear the Word of God.  If we don't act on it, we are fooling ourselves.  Jesus uses Jonah, the people of Nineveh and the Queen of the South to invite us into the story.  What did they do that He is inviting and urging us to do?

We also celebrate the Feast of St. Pope John XXIII today.

We have a tough Gospel today, where Jesus is accused of driving out demons by the "prince of demons" Beelzebul.  And so instead, Jesus invites the people to think about true power and who holds it (and, consequently, who does not).

But if we choose not to give ourselves over to this Power, our condition in the end may actually turn out worse than before.  

On this feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Jesus continues to teach us about prayer.  And He uses imagery that any of us who have friends or children can understand.  How shall we pray?  Directly.  Persistently.  And most of all, trust that our God knows what we need and desires to meet us in the middle of that need.  That's really good news!

The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, as John has taught his disciples.  So we talk today about what, exactly, prayer is and how can we do it without ceasing, as Paul invites us.  We also break down the framework of the Lord's Prayer and invite all to begin to put this prayer into their own words.

We continue through this Season of Feasts (TM, Joe), celebrating the Memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux (the Little Flower, Doctor of the Church).  What a wonderful example of humility she is and a great reminder to simply embrace how and who God made us to be.  

In our Gospel today, Jesus chastises the cities in His area who are rejecting His message, not because they don't see His works or hear His powerful words, but because they aren't able to recognize God within Him.  Why?  Because they are looking for the wrong things.

In this Season of Feasts (TM Joe), we celebrate another today: the Feast of St. Jerome.  Who was Jerome and what did he do?  He was a brilliant man who made the Scriptures accessible to the masses.  What a great vocation.  In our Gospel today, Jesus invites us to do the same.  We have to get out and prepare the way for His coming.  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and God needs our assistance to make it real.  And to do so, we need to go out and be planters and translators.  

On this Feast of the Archangels, yes - I blatantly ripped off the title of an old Alabama song from the 1990's.  I just couldn't stop singing it in my head throughout the whole podcast.  Pray for me.

But on this feast, we look not only at the three archangels, but more importantly what they tell us about who God is and where God is.  We also focus on the Scripture reading and Jesus's saying to Nathaniel that he will see heaven opened and angels of the Lord ascending and descending on the Son of Man.  What, exactly, does that mean? 

The title of this pod comes directly from our Gospel reading today.  Jesus resolutely determines to walk straight ahead in His mission, even though he knows not only where it leads but what lies ahead for him.  Are we as resolute in our journey?  Do we walk directly or do we tend to meander and take tangential routes?  

We also get a lesson in God's magnanimity regarding who He chooses to call as well as a lesson in retribution.  

We hear a familiar Gospel today (having just heard the same one in Mark the last two weekends).  Jesus invites us to be like children.  But what is it about children that God is inviting us to be like?  I share my thoughts on that as well as how our family is much, much bigger than we may imagine.  And how that is such good news.

We also celebrate the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul today and talk a bit about his life and what challenge that lays at our feet today.

We also celebrate the feast of St. Padre Pio