Pious Bob

In the Gospel of John we hear Jesus say, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-52)

St. John’s explanation of these words of Jesus is, “Now he said this about the

In John’s Gospel we are told: “Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.’ “  (John 8:31-47).

Being a slave

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans we hear, “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring charges against God’s

In the Book of Isaiah 42:1-9 we hear foretold, “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench...He will not grow

In First Peter 4:7-19 we hear: “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things

We hear Mark quote Jesus in Chapter 4:35-41: “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 

This story of Jesus causing the wind to cease and the sea to be calm while the disciples were fearful for their lives is a snapshot that lives in the photo albums of every generation. We are all challenged. It’s the same

In 1-Thessalonians 5:12-28, we hear St. Paul say: “See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” 

Paul reminds us

In John 4:46-54, we see how Jesus deals with someone who initially wants Him to perform magic. Someone who is not a believer: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will

In 2nd Kings 2:1-18 we hear Elisha seek something special from Elijah: “When they had crossed [the Jordan], Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’” 

Have you ever known someone whose spirit impacted you the way

In Colossians 2:8-23, we hear St. Paul say to us: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him,

There is a difference between falling in love with someone and loving the Lord. Falling in love is a wonderful experience, but God’s love is what we should fall for. We share that kind of love with all human beings. It’s hard work sometimes.  

In Deuteronomy 6:1-9 we hear Moses sharing: “You shall love the LORD your God

God wants us to connect with His eternal kingdom while we are still in the natural world. By sending us His Son Jesus the Christ He is making that connection for all people forevermore. It is hard for us to think eternally. 

In Revelations: 212:1-7 we hear in part; “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will

In the modern world we want to know if someone has tried to get in touch with us, or has left us a message. Technology has provided us with so many ways to communicate with each other. There is scarcely a place on the planet with which we cannot have some sort of communication.  We

In Acts 17:26-27 we hear, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one

You have probably seen TV commercials for a medicine or treatment that describe a product while showing people doing lots of neat things as if the medicine or treatment would turn their lives totally around. As the joy and wonder on their faces is being shown and the product is described, there is something else going on in the

We hear this story in John 6:60-71, “Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know

People tend to contemplate life as they live it from childhood to late life. A person’s particular take on life will guide them in how they see themselves in their life. There’s always a chance to change our direction in life, whether we seek guidance from God, a friend or take it on ourselves - or maybe

Isn’t it a pity that the relationships with others in the environments in which we live can be like ships passing in the night? We move past our fellow citizens without even noticing that they exist. Ministry to others is the furthest thing from our minds. We have our things to do and seek activity with our favorite groups

In receiving Holy Communion, we connect with Christ Jesus through His Body and Blood. Another way of understanding this connection we make to Jesus is actually being part of His Body and Blood. A way we describe this is by understanding we are in the vineyard with Jesus. The gospel of John enlightens us with the description by Jesus.

We live in a country that is managed by politicians and government. Fortunately, we are a democracy and not a dictatorship. We get to vote who goes into political office. While our democracy was founded by faith based leaders, we are not a theocracy. In our democracy, the Church and State are separate, but live together in some sort

Imagine the World Globe with dots all over it. Using dots on the globe is a way learning institutions, governments and the media show us certain information about things that impact us. It’s a way of describing the places that certain things are happening. As I watched some dots on a television documentary the other day, I began to

In 1-Peter 2:1-10, Peter pulls the worldly rug out from under us in saying: “Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation--if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 

In one statement Peter

In Psalm 62, we are reminded of the waiting we must do in seeking God in our lives: “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.” 

Are we willing to wait in silence for God? We are hyperactive and impatient when it comes to waiting on God. In our fast-pace world we need answers

Sometimes we need to get down to the bare bones of our professed religion. In James 1:17-18, 21-27, we are challenged: “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows

There is much pressure on each one of us to be what the world wants us to be. It is so easy to cave in to the world and miss being who we really are. Seeking who we really are is not an easy task for us. We need to rely on the Word of God in the Bible

Many have asked the question, ‘Why does God let bad things happen to good people.” Our life on earth is by its nature sometimes pretty dangerous. Just leaving the house and driving to work or shopping can be dangerous as we operate our vehicles in wild and crazy traffic. 

The many illnesses and diseases that we can experience in

  Are we prepared to surrender things in our lives in order to obtain a relationship with Christ? It is our path in seeking a relationship that will guide us and support us going forward as we strive to do the Lord’s work in this world. In this we become a part of Christ and reflect His every call.  

 In this, our natural life, we have difficulty believing that God is really at our side delivering His Grace. If we don’t receive a concrete sign that God is working in our lives, we don’t always trust in Him.

We hear in John 4:46-54 in part: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you

There are times in our lives when we can experience God’s “unconditional love.” There are times when all the resistance created by social and economic pressures is swept away. And there are times when hatred, jealousy, anger ambition, judgment, fear and insecurity are leveled.

The December, 1988, evening of the memorial service for my mother and the days before

  The Bible has many stories of people having close encounters with the Lord during many different kinds of situations in their lives. As we try to relate to God in our lives in the present era, there are many revelation stories not too far away from us in time. Looking back to the book of Genesis, we learn that