Scripture Scholars tell us that the meaning behind the word “parable” is curve, as in throwing a curve.
![Acceptance — And Ingenuity (Luke 16:1-13)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 23, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 1 Comment
“Call,” a notion that figures prominently in the Scriptures, God summoning people to change direction. Heading nowhere in particular, someone senses an inner prod to take some new course.
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 9, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 4 Comments
I can imagine Peter’s consternation when Jesus challenges him to head out one more time. Likely shaking his head, Peter nonetheless gives his “ok, one more!”
by Tom McKenna, CM | January 26, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
“Taking in the news.” It can refer to events both good and bad, taking in the news of a baby’s birth, for instance, or at the other end, receiving word of a loved one’s passing.
by Tom McKenna, CM | January 12, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
A gift – something given over freely, with good will and coming not from obligation but from good will and esteem. It raises the question: of all the gifts to receive, which would be the most valuable and precious?
by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 21, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
Scripture Scholars tell us that the meaning behind the word “parable” is curve, as in throwing a curve.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 7, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
There are hardly any words in all the gospels more blunt than the stark ones Jesus proclaims in Luke’s 14th chapter.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 24, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
One of Jesus’ more intriguing images is that of the gate, the entranceway into his Father’s Kingdom. Entrance depends in large part on the practical steps we take to build the kind of unity, accord and cooperation that reflects his Father’s world.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 16, 2019 | Formation, Reflections
That double action of the light, landing and then sinking in, provides an underlying clue to the whole direction of Jesus’ ministry.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 2, 2019 | Formation, Reflections
Those years between Jesus’ adolescence and public ministry there’s only silence, only the anonymity of what writers have termed The Hidden Life.
by .famvin | Dec 23, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
Consider what a wonderful blessing it is that God became a human being just like you.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 19, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
The Christmas truth is that God’s light suffuses the dimness of those times and in the end beats back the encroaching darkness.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 5, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
Advent (Ad: toward; Vent: coming), lays out the direction of the season. It doesn’t just celebrate the future but what of that future is being poured into the present.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 21, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
The Kingdom Interpretation (Mk 12:44-48) To profess myself a Christian is to profess a desire – and that desire is to follow behind the Lord, Jesus Christ. Perhaps “follow behind” doesn’t quite get to the heart of it. It’s more accurately a “stepping into his...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 7, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
Testifying (Luke 9:1-2) Reading Luke’s account of the disciples being sent out, I put myself in the shoes of one of those 70 individuals directed to go forth and proclaim the Good News that in Jesus, God’s forgiving compassion is drawing near. How would I feel...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 24, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
“On Listening” (Luke 11: 16, 29-31) One of the most gratifying compliments is to hear that you listen well. It conveys another’s feeling that something of his or her inner self has gotten through, that not just the words but the deeper resonances of those words have...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 10, 2018 | Formation, Reflections
The Ministry of Encouragement (Hebrews 12:1) There’s a wonderfully comforting image in the Letter to the Hebrews which has special application to us in Vincent’s Family. The author sets out to build up his struggling fellow believers and does this through a...