Friends With God Thoughts on the Second Readings -Joe Frankenfield First Sunday of Advent 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 A number of years ago a couple returned to visit the parish I was working in after having moved out West several years before. They now lived in a Mexican-American community. “We never expected to find a parish [...]

We Must Choose, So Choose Wisely Thoughts on the Second Readings by Joe Frankenfield The Feast of Christ the King Revelation 1:5-8 Christians in the late first century faced persecution from Roman authority. To keep their hopes alive they gleaned snippets from the story of Jesus’ life creating a narrative of him as a harsh [...]

Rumors of Jesus’ Retirement False Thoughts on the Second Readings by Joe Frankenfeild 33nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Hebrews 10:11-14,18 Christians often think that God raised Jesus from death into semi-retirement. When we say in the creed that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father we imagine him on sort of an extended [...]

Through God’s Eyes Thoughts on the Second Readings by Joe Frankenfield 32st Sunday in Ordinary Time Hebrews 9:24-28 When I was three, I ran away from home. Well, I walked four blocks until I couldn’t see any streets I knew, thought better of it and decided to head back. But for those four blocks I [...]

Believing In Jesus Is Believing In Ourselves Thoughts on the Second Reading by Joe Frankenfield The Feast of All Saints 1 John 3:1-3 “Hey, look; I’m no saint. What do you expect from me?” The person sitting across the room from me wasn’t asking a question. He was telling me to stop making observations that [...]