19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (2)

In the Gospel today, Jesus uses two images for God, one that is very familiar and altogether in keeping with our ideas of God - the image of a Master, and then one that is downright scandalously shocking, comparing God with a thief. In order to try to make sense of these two …

In today’s first reading we see the prophet Elijah suffering from classic burnout syndrome. He is sitting forlornly under a broom tree and prays for death in these words: “This is enough, O Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” Many of us know all too well …