There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none.  So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.  If not you can cut it down.’ (Lk 13:6-9) I love the agricultural parables of Jesus.  Anyone who has ever planted and nurtured a garden can understand them.  We have such rich soil here in southern Louisiana that just about anything can grow.  So if something in our garden isn’t growing, we’re pretty quick to remove it. In this parable, it’s … [Read more...]

While he was still speaking,  a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,  and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said,  “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”  (Lk 9:34-36a) What a difference a week has made.  Last weekend we heard of Christ going into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  And this weekend, Christ has gone from the desolation of the desert to the glory of the Transfiguration on the mountaintop where God announces Jesus as being His beloved Son.  But why do we go from one dramatic place to another during this first week of Lent?  Most of the Church Fathers saw the Transfiguration as a glimpse of the glory of Christ given to his disciples so that they might be strengthened to witness the scandal of the Cross.   And … [Read more...]

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.  (Lk 4:1-2a) That little verse above is the reason behind the holy Season of Lent.  And all I can say is thank God for Lent! I always look forward to Lent.  And this year is no exception.  Christmas ran into New Year’ and Epiphany, then the longest king cake season ever, and then right on its heals Mardi Gras season started with eight days of parades in front of the church! Now that Lent is here, I’m happy to create my own little desert of calm by the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  It’s the perfect remedy to the last two weeks of noise, feasting and excess.  Let’s all take a deep breath! One of the good … [Read more...]

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39) In New Orleans we give directions differently than some other cities. We don’t use “east, west, north and south” because it doesn’t make sense to tell people that the way to the West Bank is actually due east because of the curve the Mississippi makes at New Orleans. We might describe somewhere as “across the lake,” or “downtown,” or in Lakeview.” Those of us who live uptown might describe the exact location of our church as being on the riverside, downtown corner of Camp and Napoleon. It’s a little different in Rome. When my friends and I were walking in Rome and asked someone for directions, most Italians would just point in the direction we should go, and say … [Read more...]

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. …  Do to others as you would have them do to you.  For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.” (Luke 6:27-28, 30-33) The Gospel passage today is a continuation of the Sermon on the Plain we heard in last week’s Gospel.  And just as He did last week, he’s basically turning the law of the Old Covenant on its head in terms of understanding.  When someone did wrong to a Jewish person, the wronged person was told in the law: “if injury ensues, you shall give life for … [Read more...]

Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. (Lk 6:20-23) It’s hard to argue with the joy that we experienced in 2010 when the Saints won the Super Bowl.  And it’s hard to argue with the sadness we felt this year when we were “robbed” by the referees who didn’t call a blatant penalty on our last drive. It seems that after Katrina, we needed a symbol for the “renaissance” of our city.  It could have come from the outpouring of support we received from people living outside of the state, or even from the revamping of our own city government. It could have come from the outside businessmen, artists, musicians, actors, and celebrities who have taken an interest in our home.  But it is fitting that the symbol of our renaissance was one of our own. It was the team that was … [Read more...]

After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them.  They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking.  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.  (Lk 5:4-8, 9b-11)  You have to … [Read more...]

And all spoke highly of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. (Lk 4:22 & Lk 4:28-30) What happened here? These are two different parts of the 4th chapter of Luke’s Gospel separated by only 5 verses. In the first section, the people are rapt by the beautiful words of Jesus, and in the second they are so angered as to want to kill Him. What provoked that? What caused their attitude to change? Actually, it was a strong statement of Jesus about what had happened with prophets that had come … [Read more...]

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk. 4:16-19) Imagine being present in the synagogue when this dramatic scene took place.  All the eyes are on Jesus and He reads this dramatic reading from Isaiah 61, and then succinctly explains that the passage refers to Him.  There are three important Greek words in this passage to … [Read more...]

“There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (Jn. 2:1-5)  The Gospel this Sunday is the very first Gospel that I preached about as a newly ordained deacon in October of 1998.  The Mass took place in a very small chapel called the Clementine Chapel, which is located under the main altar of the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican.  It’s the closest altar to the Tomb of St. Peter the Apostle.  I had decided that I wanted the Mass to be a Votive Mass for the Blessed … [Read more...]