Leif Kehrwald
July 29, 2018
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

“Grandpa ‘Owl’, I am always hungry.”
 
What my younger son, Luke, said when he was four or five years old. We dropped him and his brother at their grandfather’s house to stay the weekend. Luke wasn’t too sure about it all, and so he at least needed to state his most important basic need. “I am always hungry!” (His grandad’s name was Al, but as four-year-old, Luke thought it was Owl.)

Leif Kehrwald
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

​If there were such a thing as a Prophets-of-the-Bible awards ceremony, our prophet today, Amos, would surely take home two of them. Hands down he would win the “doom and gloom” award for the harsh manner in which he told the Israelite people that God rejected their luxury lifestyle, their burnt offerings, and that their infidelities would lead to their destruction.
 
Amos would also likely win the “justice” award for his bravery in calling people to task about the gaps he saw between the luxurious lives of the rich, and the heavy taxes on the poor. 

Sr. Phyllis Jaszkowiak
July 1, 2018
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

My sister told me this story.  In April, while I was gone, she flew to Portland for a professional meeting, and decided to take the MAX since it stopped right in front of her hotel.  At one of the stops, along the way, a woman got on and asked if she could sit next to her.  My sister said yes.  Then the woman began to tell her story of being alone and not knowing what to do or where to go for help.  Her husband had died two years ago and her boyfriend had left her and she was all alone and not knowing what to do and could she help her, wringing her hands the entire time.  My sister, who is tech savvy, found the address of the Portland Rescue Mission and that the MAX stopped close by.  So she told the woman she would take her there.  They got to the stop, found the Rescue Mission, but were in the basement and had to climb the stairs to reach the office.  The woman complained that she didn’t think she could climb the stairs, but with the encouragement and help of my sister they made it to the office.  However, that office was for the men.  So they had to cross the street to the women’s office.  There the woman was warmly welcomed and taken in with the promise of help.  Then my sister had to find her hotel which is another story.