SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A): SEEK GOD’S WISDOM TO LIVE A BETTER CHRISTIAN LIFE FOR A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP IN GOD’S KINGDOM by Deacon Jim Merle

My blogs and homilies often focus on the purpose for why God created us out of His love, our need to understand what the purpose is and to share it with others. Our Gospel and readings for this Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary time give us an insight as offered with the ideas of wisdom, predestination and the Christian life.

The Second Ecumenical Council: The Council of Constantinople by Rev. Glenn Baaten

In my previous article on the Seven Ecumenical Councils, we explored the First Council of Nicaea. Convened in AD 325 by the Roman Emperor Constantine in collaboration with Pope Sylvester I, the council met in the Greek-speaking city of Nicaea in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Its primary purpose was to address the heresy of Arianism, which taught that Jesus was the greatest of God's creatures but not truly equal to the Father.

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A): GOD’S KINGDOMS ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN PROVIDE US WITH A LIFE OF FULFILLMENT IF WE FOLLOW HIS WAYS OF LOVE AND REPENTANCE! by Deacon Jim Merle

One of my favorite children’s movies are “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” It is about a candy maker who issues five gold tickets in various chocolate bars he sells so a child can become a partner in his business and help them to grow their business. What makes it interesting is how the five children who found golden tickets react to all the choices with which they are presented at the plant and how they make their decisions.

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A): PARABLE OF THE SOWER: A GREEN THUMB IN GOD’S GARDEN! by Deacon Jim Merle

How many of you have green thumbs and can grow everything? How many of you have brown thumbs and wish you could grow anything?

Every time I hear this parable from Saint Matthew’s gospel, I hope I am a green thumb in God’s vineyard, able to grow something no matter what the growing condition is. However, I also know that I am often a brown thumb who falls short in all growing types.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A): JESUS INVITES US TO ACCEPT HIS PROMISE OF RELIEF FROM BURDENS, SO WE CAN BE AT PEACE AND REST! by Deacon Jim Merle

Everyone with whom I have talked, listened to or read about has a distinct perspective on what they define as a burden in their life and how they manage it. Reasons for such happenings are often blamed on others or circumstances as the cause. Most solutions they sought were based on what worked for others in similar situations but still left them with corrections that did not solve their dilemma.