Life's Inanities and Ironies

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share a deeply humbling experience I had after church this morning. One of my brothers in Christ—who is in as bad or worse shape than I am most days—stopped and asked me about the requirements to donate a kidney, or at least to explore the possibility. Now, I know that sounds extraordinary, but what you might not realize is that my brother Larry is in his 80s, has been in poor health off and on for the last 6-8 years, and is currently living in a nursing home. Yet, he felt led to ask me about this. The fact that someone going through so much is still ready to offer up even more, if he can, is incredibly humbling to me. I explained to him that the criteria for being a donor are very strict. Over the last three years, I've had at least five people try to sign up to donate for me, and each one has been turned down for various reasons: diabetes, liver conditions, histories of various diseases that disqualify people from the list. Part of me is very glad t...

Gospel Reading: Mark 12:41-44 Today, we reflect on the beautiful and challenging story of the widow’s mite, a passage that invites us to examine the depth of our generosity and the sincerity of our hearts. In the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus sitting near the temple treasury, observing people as they offer their contributions. The wealthy come forward, placing large sums of money into the collection, their coins clinking loudly, perhaps drawing attention to their generosity. But then, a poor widow approaches, unnoticed by most, and quietly places two small coins—worth only a fraction of a penny—into the treasury. To the world, her offering seems insignificant, barely worth mentioning. Yet Jesus sees something profound in her act. He calls His disciples and says, “This poor widow has put in more than all the others… For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. ”What is Jesus teaching us here? This story...