Father Kevin A. Codd

Jesus has a problem: How does Jesus handle his "stardom" among the crowds? But what counts for Jesus is not fame, it is carrying the cross. 

Paul too has a problem: How does he handle a slave who has become a follower of Jesus...his brother in Christ? 

Might we have a problem, too?

If our image of Jesus is founded in the sweet Jesus of Children's lullabies and Children's Bible Illustrations, then today's gospel reading from Luke hits us with a wallop! Here we have a raving Jesus talking about division and blazing fires. What's up with that? 

Let's find out...

The lovely story of the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth in Luke is filled with tenderness, Spirit, grace, and love. Those blessings don't exist apart from the humanity of their bearers; they are made manifest in the flesh and blood of both women. Spirit and flesh cannot be separated or divided from one another! It is no surprise, then, that Mary's share in Jesus' Resurrection is one that is for the whole Mary, both spirit and flesh. 

Con de la comunidad cátolica de Brewster, (Washington), Padre Kevin predica sobre la persona generosa, quien sea en realidad, "la persona eucharistica."

The greedy and avaricious person described in today's Gospel passage forces the question: how do we be otherwise? How do we live the generosity that Jesus so often calls us to? In find a fitting contrast to the greedy person, maybe it is best to look to the liturgy and see if the movements of the Eucharist don't reveal the fundamental character of the generous person. 

When a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan walk into one of Jesus' stories, you can bet that Jesus is about to blow the minds and hearts of his listeners with a revolutionary teaching on God's character and our relationship to God! 

In a simple story of a beaten up fellow on the side of the road...Jesus turns upside down the religious tradition of ritual purity in favor of spontaneous compassion. 

(Please excuse the buzz in the audio background!)

Father Kevin was honored to be invited to preside and preach at the Jubilee celebration of the Sisters of Providence in Spokane. 

Peter's kind of knucklehead in the Gospels. He is a "three strikes and you are out" kind of guy. 

Jesus responds to his tri-fold failure by insisting on a tri-fold reassurance of his love. He then gives Peter his mission: feed-serve-feed my sheep!

Listen in to Father Kevin A. Codd's reading of his latest book, Beyond Even the Stars: A Compostela Pilgrim in France, hosted by Rebecca Nappi. 

The event took place in the Sacred Heart Parish Center with over 125 people in attendance on April 26, 2019.