We begin Advent season with a Gospel lesson about the events of Palm Sunday. Many things happened that day, including Jesus expressing his disapproval of what the Temple had become.

The Temple in Jerusalem had been intended as a place of prayer, but under the pretext of maintaining its holiness, people had made it into a commercial enterprise. Might this apply to some things today? Might this be why this story leads-off the lessons read during Advent?

There is a connection between Jeremiah's prophecy and the Gospel lesson, if you look. Five thousand came to hear and see Jesus. From how far away might some of them have come? And add to that, almost all of them would probably have made the journey on foot!

What can this say for us?

And here is perhaps a major point about all that the New Testament is trying to tell us!

Too many "Pollyanna" types like to think of this Sunday's Gospel reading as a demand that we be everyone else's doormat for the sake of forgiveness. I don't think so. But it does say that we do need to pass on what we're given.

Here it is: a Gospel lesson that actually works! It certainly did for me!

The basic story you probably know, about a nobleman who traveled more than a day to ask Jesus to come and heal his son. While Jesus did make a remark about how people need signs and wonders to believe, he tells the nobleman to go home and his son lives. He believed and by the time he got home, he had more reason to believe. And within this story is the "secret" of how to make faith actually work for you! Listen to the sermon and you'll see!

The story of this week's Gospel is familiar, but do we see the real lesson? There's a frequently-misused saying here, and a familiar story, but what is the real point Jesus wants us to get? Yes, there is a wedding feast and yes, the ones who originally knew and had been invited rebelled against coming. But what of the feast itself?

What was it about the man who was not wearing a wedding garment? Is there something in that part of the story that tells us of something to look forward to?

I consider a mark of a great book to be the fact that you can read it again and again and find something new each time. That is the case with today's Epistle.

We've heard the usual "pep talk" before of being what you have become, rather than what you once were. We hear it on other occasions too, such as graduation ceremonies and job promotions. But there's another factor here, in actually receiving and claiming that which you have been given. That too is worth exploring.

We can't produce a Eucharist this week. Here's an explanation of why.

In the Epistle, the writer is trying to make clear the distinction between Old Testament thinking and that of the New Testament. In our terms, the Old Testament was basically just a bunch of rules. And for all the glory some claimed about rules, the fact is that the greatest reward for following rules is the absence of punishment!

How much more does the New Testament and the Holy Spirit offer! All that, and sacraments too!

The Feast of St Bartholomew celebrates one of the more obscure disciples. But, you will see in the Gospel reading today that in being obscure, he was accomplishing something great, especially if you look at his known history. He accomplished a great deal, according to the histories that have been handed down to us. Yet if you look at the name he is given, you might recognize the obscurity that was given to him!

The challenge this week is not finding something to speak about, but choosing from two of the most significant passages in the entire Bible! I've spoken often on the Prodigal Son, but this time I want to focus on the Epistle and its lesson for us.

How many times, when we are on a journey of some sort, do we think about how to get out of it? The Israelites left Egypt with all kinds of enthusiasm, but they began to mutter during the journey and lost sight of who they were and what they were supposed to do. Hence such stories as the infamous golden calf. No matter how much they might have fantasized about plenty to eat in Egypt, the truth was that there was no real option but to be focused on the journey they were on!