Here's what may be a different way to look at the infancy narrative in Matthew (with and eye to Luke and John into the bargain), and a different way to conceive of "messianic prophecy.

Luke 13:10-17 is a simple passage with two major lessons for us. First, the leader of the synagogue was wrong: healing and compassion are the hallmark of God, and they should not be withheld even on the Sabbath. Secondly, the woman who had been infirm for 18 years was, in a sense, raised from the death of her condition to new life. Listen in.

In this tightly wrapped package from St. Paul we hear about the work of the Holy Trinity in the church, in our lives, and in the world. In a few short sentences, St. Paul gives us a basic understanding that we can learn and see at work in our own lives.

The Rich Fool is one of the pivotal parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, which is the only Gospel in which it occurs. There is a clear turn in the parable which leads to the rich man as being called "fool," but the word itself means more than simply a nonsensical thinker. It refers to someone who is not prudent, not wise, making judgment about the wrong things in his life. Listen in as we move with this person through that change and why it is so important for our own lives.

The parable of the "Good Samaritan" needs a new look for our age. Specifically we have to look again at how the original audience would have heard this, and then we will be prepared to hear it for our time. Listen in.

We remember the unmercenary saints in the proskomedia—Cosmas and Damian, especially, whom we commemorate this weekend—but I would draw your attention to the earliest of the unmercenaries, the sisters Zenaida and Philonella. There are lessons for us here. Please listen in for what we can learn from these wonderful unmercenary saints who practiced medicine in Thessaly in the first century.

In Luke 16, we find the only parable in which a name is given to a character: Lazarus - "God helps." The contrast with the rich man who remains unnamed is very important as we consider the meaning of this parable for our lives. We're called to not only help but to understand others in our midst and beyond. This is part of our mission as pointed out by this special parable.

In Luke 7:11-16, we have to look again at the recipient of the healing. Widows had an ambivalent place in society at this time: on one hand they were sidelined for a number of reasons, and yet the injunction to care for widows from the Old Testament pertains as well. So in this case there is not only a physical and spiritual reason for the raising of the son, there is an economic one as well, which should teach us that there is more than one way to be "raised from death."

We have to consider 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 together to get the full message St Paul has for us. The generosity he expects from the Corinthians is grounded in the emptying of Christ to which he has referred at 8:9 (and which we find also at Philippians 2:5-11). This movement beyond ego and selfishness is to be the reason for the generosity of the Corinthians, and it will eventually redound to the glory of God.

Our Lord starts from the so-called "Golden Rule" but develops it in a way that clearly reflects how we as Christians need to respond to it: through emphasis upon an ethic of compassion and gregariousness, not based on reciprocity, which is the way of the world. This is a hard saying, but we need to not only hear it but take it to heart.