Browsing Thoughts from Fr. Bob
7th Sunday in OT - February 19, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 2/16/23
Our culture tends to value a show of strength and tends to assess our strength by the amount of force we have. When someone hurts us, we are expected to fight back. We say the anger is justified. We say that the only way to teach the wrongdoer a ... Read More »
6th Sunday in OT - February 12, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 2/08/23
During this brief period between the season of Christmas and Lent we are invited to learn from Jesus the teacher. This is the third of four consecutive Sundays when we hear passages from his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has gone up the mountain and sat down, and his ... Read More »
5th Sunday in OT - February 5, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 1/31/23
Last week, in the middle of our snowstorm, we heard Jesus teach the Beatitudes declaring whom God has blessed. Uniting that passage with today’s adds another dimension to what we are called to do. We can enlighten others with the lessons of the Beatitudes like a light on a ... Read More »
4th Sunday in OT - January 29, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 1/26/23
We’ve all heard the expression, “History repeats itself.” Time and time again, the people and their leaders fell away from the ideals of God’s covenant with humanity. Selfishness or arrogance, fear or hate, sin or evil lead people to turn toward self-preservation or self-aggrandizement. It happened in Zephaniah’s day under ... Read More »
3rd Sunday in OT - January 22, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 1/18/23
Almost every day or every week, is national something day or week. You name it, and there will be an occasion for it. To my surprise, today we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God. It was established just four years ago to remind us that scriptures are ... Read More »
2nd Sunday in OT - January 15, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 1/10/23
We call this period of the liturgical year Ordinary Time. But this time after Christmas is not ordinary at all. It is now that we learn about the first days of Jesus’ public life. In today’s Gospel, John testifies that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus when John baptized ... Read More »
Epiphany - January 8, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 1/05/23
Have you ever gone to a party or a gathering with a gift, only to arrive and realize that the gift is wholly inappropriate for the recipient or the occasion? Imagine what the magi felt with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh when they walked into the stable ... Read More »
Solemnity of Mary - January 1, 2023
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 12/31/22
How appropriate that on the first day of every year we honor Mary, the Mother of God. It was her willing obedience to God’s plan that brought about the Incarnation. Today is also the World Day of Peace and so we look to Mary, the Queen of Peace, as ... Read More »
Christmas 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 12/19/22
For the last four weeks in the season of Advent we have been preparing our hearts and our homes for this day on which we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, Savior, and the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We recall that glorious night when the Blessed Mother, Mary, ... Read More »
4th Sunday of Advent - December 18, 2022
Posted by Fr Bob Betz on 12/12/22
We are now only a week away from the day when we celebrate the Lord’s coming in the Incarnation, in Jesus, Emmanuel, God is with us, as we are reminded in today’s reading. For thousands of years, a waiting world yearned for this momentous event. Now we know that ... Read More »