My Family Prayer Book

   2026-09-13 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Introduction:  The theme of all the readings today is Forgiveness.  Bishop Barron in a 2005 discourse uses a powerful illustration from the Life of Saint Marina the Monk that is thought to have originated among Coptic monks of the Scetis desert near Alexandria, Egypt, sometime between the 5th and early 6th centuries — which is why the story is so strongly associated with Coptic (Egyptian) monastic tradition, and why Marina/Marinos is venerated in the Coptic Orthodox Church specifically as a patron for those falsely accused. Marina was a woman who, along with her father, disguised herself as a man and joined a monastery, living as the monk "Marinos." Years later, an innkeeper's daughter became pregnant and, to protect the real father, falsely accused Marinos of being responsible. Marinos never revealed the truth — since doing so would mean exposing that "he" was actually a woman — and fell to his knees, falsel...

      2022-Mar-20: Third Sunday in Lent   Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15 Moses was tending the sheep of his Midianite father-in-law near Mt Herob aka Mt Sinai (symbolising the abode of Gods) far away from his own people, when he encounters an unquenchable burning bush that strangely was not consumed (symbolising God's unending grace). Fire is a common biblical symbol of God’s presence (Genesis 15:17; Exodus 14:24; 19:18; Leviticus 10:2; see also Acts 2:3).  God instructs Moses to remove the sandals from his feet (a gesture that is an ancient practice when entering a holy place of divine presence and also entering one's home) as he approaches God.  By seeking out Moses in the wilderness, God shows that meets us wherever we might be, even when we are not where we want or expect to be, God adapts and accommodates us nonetheless.  When asked how Moses should sent him, God replies “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.” - in Hebrew ( ehyeh asher ehyeh ) which has been transl...

2022-Feb-20: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time   1 Samuel 26 In this passage, Saul forgets that David had earlier spared his life and in return, he had forgiven David ( 1 Samuel 24:16-21). The people of Ziph seeking favor from Saul betray his presence and Saul comes with 3000 men to kill David who only has 600 men. The last time Saul stumbled into a cave where David was hiding this time David emboldened by God actively went seeking Saul in his encampment. But David, aware of the sinfulness of Saul refuses to kill him - saying Saul was anointed King by God and only God could take his life. He noticed the deep sleep over the entire encampment and chose only to take Saul's spear and his jug of water as proof that he came close to Saul without harming him. They both went their own ways, probably never to meet in person again. David wanted to be in the grace of God and therefore awaited his proper time to be anointed King of Israel. Psalm 103 Psalm 103, one of 73 psalms attributed to Davi...