Author: trob

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots [Isaiah 11:1]. In September 1996, Hurricane Fran did “her thing” on North Carolina. As many of you will recall, Fran was so huge and so strong that despite “the Triangle’s” distance from the coast, the storm’s…

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the…

The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” [Luke 23:36-37]. Earlier today, I performed an Internet search on the popular web site that sells virtually everything. The site is named for the long, winding river in Brazil, the site…

For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating [Isaiah 65:17-18a]. Some years ago, in a Bible study that I was leading at the time, we decided to take a…

Although first century Sadducees are often conjoined with the Pharisees in New Testament discussions, there was but one issue upon which they agreed: their opposition to Jesus. As you know, the Sadducees, sometimes referred to as “scribes,” were the primary authority within and over the Jerusalem Temple. They recognized as authoritative only the five Books…

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? [Habakkuk 1:2]. As I comb through the “Matrix”—my electronic system that houses a long-running journal, my sermons, homilies, meditations (like this one), and notes on scripture passages, I see a hole….

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [Luke 18:9-10]. In last week’s meditation, I allowed that Jesus’ parables are affirmatively unlike Aesop’s fables. They…

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart …. “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when…

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce [Jeremiah 29:4-5]. For many years now, I’ve long been drawn to Jeremiah, one of the least likely theological…

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you …” [Luke 17:5-6]. A few years ago, in “P.C.” times (i.e., “pre-COVID”), a parishioner…