The Scriptural Deacon

Pope Benedict in his Encyclical “God is Love” wrote: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” Today on the Second Sunday of Lent, God through his Church, is calling upon us to ascend the great mountain and encounter the Lord. The very one who gives life a “new horizon and decisive direction”. To begin this journey properly and with some foundation for the path that God desires us to take, we must look at the First Reading from Genesis (22:1-18). There Abraham goes up the mountain and in answer to God’s unfathomable request to sacrifice his only son Isaac, he responds, “here I am Lord”. Because of his faith, Abraham does not fear what might wait for him up the mountain. He has full trust and confidence in the God that he serves. He knows that whatever might become of this trip he is about to make, God will be there, and all will be well. Because of t...

I turned 40 years old this year and received an email yesterday that caused me to reflect upon the many transitions that I have gone through over the years. I am sure that many of you have also had these moments when you look back at your life and take note of the different events that you recognize later where major times of transition; those certain events that causes our moving from one stage of life to another. The email was a message from the Pastor of the local Roman Catholic Church here in Rocky Mount where my family and I live. The church also has the great ministry of a school attached to it. This is where my two oldest daughters, Elizabeth and Rebekah, attend Second Grade and Kindergarten. The email announced the retirement of a long-time teacher, who is now the Principal of the school. Yes after 37 years long of service she is going to take a much-needed rest from the stresses of the daily grind. The reason that I was so struck by this is because she was also my Kin...

On Fridays I volunteer and teach a Bible Study for the middle schoolers at the Catholic School in town. This past Friday I missed it because I had to return back home to get my vestments for Mass, which immediately follows the study. As I am on the last street about to turn into the school parking lot, I look in the back seat and to my surprise, no vestments. I then had to rush home and pickup my necessary vestments to serve at Mass. This is about a 35-minute round trip, so there was no way for me to make it back in time to teach the study. Which was very disappointing because we are going through Luke’s Gospel, probably my favorite of the four.   On the trip back home, after making a phone call to the school to tell them what had happened. I started to think about how this had transpired. What had gone wrong? As I reflected upon my actions during the morning, it occurred to me that the break down took place during the last moments before I left the house. First there was ...