Colourful Dreamer

Can be listened to here Gate Pa – Year C  31 st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Pentecost 24 Readings: Psalm                         Psalm: 149 First Reading:                         Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18                             Second Reading:        Ephesians 1:11-23                   Gospel:                        Luke 19:1-10                                                   What I want to say: Was Zacchaeus already giving half his income to the poor, or was he going to give half his income because of what Jesus says to him. Both work.  If he was already, then the issue is not that he was corrupt – as we assume, but that those he lived among assumed he was corrupt and a sinner – like we still do and Jesus saw who he really was. How do our assumptions blind us to the saints living around us? On All Saints/All Souls – how do we honour those we grieve?  What I want to happen: People to face their own assumptions about people, and how that colours how they

This Sunday we will gather with Christians all around the world who light candles and remember loved ones who have died over the last year. We do this because November 1st, (next Tuesday), has for many centuries been All Saints Day. This is the day Christians have remembered all those who firstly died as martyrs for the faith, and then all those great people of faith (saints) who the rest of us look up to and are inspired by. From the twelfth or thirteenth centuries All Souls Day was held on November 2 to remember all people of faith. Today we remember all those who have gone before us, who have paved the way for us, and especially those we have loved and who loved us. We give thanks for the ways they have blessed us over our lifetimes and, as Zacchaeus reminds us, we honour their memory by how we bless others ourselves .   As we do this we also take another step in letting them go, trusting that they now rest in God, as they have always.

Can be heard here Gate Pa – Year C  30 th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Pentecost 23 Readings: Psalm                          Psalm: 65 (8am only) First Reading:                         Joel 2:23-32                             Second Reading:        2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18  Gospel:                        Luke 18:9-14                What I want to say: How often do we join the Pharisee and give in to the temptation that we have earned our salvation thanking God for our goodness? How often do we stand with the tax collector knowing we have nothing to offer, trusting in God’s deep love and thanking God for God’s goodness? What I want to happen: People to spend time giving thanks The Sermon      1.      Introduction: A kangaroo kept getting out of his enclosure at the zoo. Knowing that he could hop pretty high, the zoo officials put up an 8-foot fence. The next morning, however, the kangaroo was out again, idly roaming around the zoo. The zoo officials r