Fr. Rick Spicer

The old city of Jerusalem, filled with small shops that sell anything from cooking utensils to souvenirs made of olive wood, is a fascinating place to visit. If I showed any interest in his wares, a merchant may toss out a price, expecting me to respond. I might roll my eyes, give a wave of the hand and move on. If he senses that I am at all interested, the merchant might bait me by lowering the price. “For you, I will offer it for only 200 shekels.”

“No way!” I would say. “Still too much. I can buy it cheaper in Tel Aviv.” Perhaps I would then make a counter offer and he would moan, “How can I feed my family at that price? Already I am offering you the lowest price in the city!” The bickering continues until either a sale is made or this would be customer walks away empty handed.

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17th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

Even is you haven’t read the book, I suspect you know about the wizard of Oz, a story written more than a century ago and made into a memorable movie of a young girl from Kansas, named Dorothy, who finds herself in the land of Oz.

After exploring Oz, she gets homesick and asks for directions on how to get back to Kansas. The people tell her that only the wizard knows the answer. “How can I find him?” she asked. “Just follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. There you will find the wizard living in a magic green castle.”

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13th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

Perhaps you have seen those optical illusions which seem at first to be one thing but then suddenly become something else. The outline of a chalice turns into two faces or an old haggard woman turns into a lovely young girl. What you see depends largely on what you expect to see, and sometimes, once you have seen one of the images, it becomes difficult to find the other.

Likewise, once we understand something, it can be difficult to go beyond that understanding to see things in a new light. Certainly, that was the case for the disciples. When Jesus questioned them as to who people said he was, they identified him with numerous biblical figures; John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets. When he asked them who they thought he was, Peter declared him to be “The Christ of God.” He had good reason to know and understand who Jesus was, or at least he thought he did.

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12th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

One day a young man came to his parish priest and asked him, “Father, how can God who is all holy forgive us our sins? We are often so filled with jealousy and hatred.” The priest replied, “Joe, you are the third generation in your family of master carpenters. If your grandfather made a fine table and it was now scratched, would you toss it out?” “Of course not! A scratch wouldn’t change the character of a fine piece of furniture.” “Well then, if you were making a fine oak rocking chair and nicked it, would you toss it?” “No way, Father! Even with a few scratches, a well crafted quality piece of furniture is valuable.” “Joe, if a master carpenter can see good in any piece of well made furniture, imagine the good that God sees in us despite our flaws.”

In today’s readings, we meet three folks who have sinned big time. First, we encounter David, who is convicted by Nathan of committing adultery with the wife of an army officer whom he then arranges to have killed in battle. Then, we meet Paul, who before his conversion on the way to Damascus persecuted Christians. And in the gospel, we meet a “sinful woman.”

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11th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

This episode in Nain is one of three instances recorded in the gospels when Jesus restored life to someone who has died. The others were Lazarus and the daughter of a synagogue official. Perhaps Jesus performed this miracle on other occasions but these are the only incidents we know of.

Without being asked, Jesus stepped forward and touched the coffin and said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” His command reminds me of one of the lines found in the Roman Missal for the kyrie, “You raised the dead to life in the Spirit, Lord have mercy.”Imagine, then, Jesus also touching you and saying, “arise!”

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10th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »