A sermon for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost: Luke 18:1-8 A young boy went to his mother one day and asked for a new bike. His mother replied “Well, if you are a good boy, maybe you’ll get one for your birthday.” Well he tried his hardest to be good.  He did his chores.  He obeyed his parents.  His birthday finally came but no bike. He said to his mother, “I’ve been very good, why didn’t I get a bike?” “Maybe you weren’t good enough.  You better ask Father Burke,” she said.  “Maybe God will give you a bike.” So … Continue reading God hears

A sermon for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost: Luke 17:5-10 Well, friends, here we are again – another of the difficult sayings of Jesus.  ‘So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves.  We have done only what we ought to have done.”’ “We are worthless slaves.”  That’s the part of this Gospel reading we stumble over, isn’t it?  Here are words from the lips of Jesus that make us a bit uncomfortable.  But, have courage.  As was the case with the parable of the shrewd steward, who made friends … Continue reading Giving with the faith of a poppy seed