Browsing the 2022 archive of Thoughts from Fr. Bob
20th Sunday in OT - August 14, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 8/10/22
We like to think of Jesus bringing peace and joy, healing and inspiration as he traveled from village to village with his disciples. But at this point in Luke’s Gospel he is making his way to Jerusalem, where he knows what he will face, and his message has become ... Read More »
19th Sunday in OT - August 7, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 8/05/22
It is a mistake to think that we wait for Jesus in the same way we wait for anything else in life, for Jesus is already present with us as we wait. Jesus arrives for us every day of our lives. He often comes in the person of someone ... Read More »
18th Sunday in OT - July 31, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 7/27/22
During the week many of us work hard to make our lives more comfortable, aiming for a promotion or raise, earning enough to afford the finer things in life, putting money away for an easy retirement. Today’s readings will give us the bit of shock we need to put ... Read More »
17th Sunday in OT - July 24, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 7/23/22
Every year on July 25th we celebrate the patronal feast of St. James the Greater, apostle and martyr. We always pick the weekend closest to that date. Thinking about what I myself write about for the bulletin, why not write why I love St. James Parish family. I will ... Read More »
16th Sunday in OT - July 17, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 7/12/22
In a time when inns or restaurants or fast food places weren’t around, travelers had to rely on the hospitality of strangers when they journeyed far from home. An upright person would be expected to provide for a traveler’s needs at a moments notice. Abraham and Sarah fulfill this ... Read More »
15th Sunday in OT - July 10, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 7/06/22
Gathered together each weekend in our parish church we look around and see our neighbors, family, and friends. Many of them are people very much like ourselves. The neighbor in today’s Gospel, the good Samaritan, is not. Samaritans were seen as outcasts by the Jewish people who frequented the ... Read More »
14th Sunday in OT - July 3, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 6/29/22
This weekend, we celebrate the anniversary of our country’s founding, appreciative of what we have while we labor to build a more perfect union. Jesus, in today’s Gospel, laments “The harvest is abundant, but laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for ... Read More »
13th Sunday in OT - June 26, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 6/22/22
“The Harvest is Great-Workers Needed.” This goes very well with our reading for this weekend. “Follow me,” Jesus calls out in the Gospel. He summons us as well, and his call is challenging. Being a disciple means putting aside one’s own personal concerns leaving everything to follow him no ... Read More »
The Body and Blood of Christ - June 19, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 6/15/22
This Sunday is the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, (or as we used to say Corpus Christi). We gather each weekend at the table of the Lord, invited to share in this sacred meal in which Christ himself provides the food and drink for ... Read More »
Trinity Sunday - June 12, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 6/07/22
How many times through-out our lives have we begun and ended our prayers with the sign of the cross in blessing, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? Three persons in one God. Easy to say but difficult to understand, for ... Read More »