Scott Lewis

Passion (Palm) Sunday (Year A) April 2 (Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66)

The job description for a prophet of the Lord is fairly simply but very exacting. He is no longer his own man; he belongs to God. This means that his own opinions, prejudices, plans and desires must be set aside. Rather than having a bully pulpit to hold forth on his favourite issues, he is strictly a spokesman for God and expresses the views of the one who anointed him. 

Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A) March 26 (Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45)

For many people, dying far from home in a strange land, especially as a captive, is too grim and sad to even contemplate. 

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A) March 19 (1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41)

There are two ways of viewing the world in which we live and of experiencing life. The first is typically human and consists of looking and judging by outward appearances. Things that please the eye are accepted and praised, while unpleasing things are rejected and reviled. That is the way many people pass judgment on the world and on other people. Our culture, with its obsession with beauty, youth, bodily perfection and flashiness, thrives on this tendency. 

Third Sunday of Lent (Year A)March 12 (Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42)

Is the Lord among us or not? This petulant expression of anger and doubt was the first sign of the rebellion and unbelief that would plague the Israelites during the entire journey to the Promised Land. At times it would threaten to rupture their relationship with God entirely. 

Second Sunday of Lent. (Year A) March 5 (Genesis 12:1-4; Psalm 33; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9)

Since the beginning of time, many people have been forced to flee and abandon their homes and land for a new life elsewhere. Sometimes the hope is very basic: survival. Marauding armies, plagues, social chaos and famine can make survival difficult or impossible. At other times, hopes for a better life for children and descendants can impel people outward. Our own times have witnessed the mass migrations of peoples and the arrival of many immigrants and refugees from all over the globe. 

First Sunday of Lent (Year A) Feb. 26 (Genesis 2:7-9, 16-18, 24, 3:1-7; Psalm 51; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11)

Lack of trust in God is at the root of most human evil. In the ancient teaching story of the Garden of Eden, the man and the woman were placed in the midst of an abundant garden with all of their needs met. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was strictly off-limits. The day they ate from that tree was the day that they would die. 

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Feb. 19 (Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48)

What does it mean to be holy? For starters, it has little or nothing to do with conventional piety. The tradition in the Old Testament offers a different perspective: holy is as holy does. 

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 12 (Year A) Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37

Evading responsibility for human actions is as old as humanity itself. It began in the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve pointing fingers at each other, and has continued down to our own time. We like to think of ourselves as helpless victims of forces greater than us and therefore not to blame for our negative actions. It used to be sufficient to blame the devil for everything but now we are more sophisticated. 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Feb. 5 (Isaiah 58:6-10; Psalm 112; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16)

Spiritual illiteracy is one of the principal weaknesses of our time. It is far too common to read the Scriptures without sensitivity or understanding, seeking only lists of prohibitions, rules and details of proper worship. 

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Jan. 29 (Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13; Psalm 146; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 5:1-12)

The humble of the land are the foundation of God’s kingdom and the mortar that holds our world together.