Shiny Objects
Well, we are no longer residents of the Portville-Olean, NY area. I have received a new call to a two point parish, St. Timothy's in Bemus Point and St. Mark's in Mayville, NY. The move went very well, although we are still unpacking a few things here and there. Then there's always the problem of remembering that I've seen something somewhere, but... This past Sunday was officially my first at St. Tim's and St. Marks. The gospel reading was Mark 1:29-39. This is what I shared with the people in Bemus Point and Mayville: Mark's gospel is full of contrasts. Jesus meets with his disciples, and he escapes alone to pray. He heals, and he hides. He displays power, and he orders demons to keep silent. The final paragraph of today's gospel demonstrates to us the essence and motivation of Jesus' ministry. Jesus has experienced a full day and evening of healing and restoring (resurrecting) people. Anyone would be exhausted after all of that. We...