Aaron Simms's Blog, page 4

“Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets”

In chapter eleven of the book of Numbers, the Israelites are in the desert of Sinai after being led up out of their captivity in Egypt.  The Lord has been providing manna for them to eat, but some of the rabble begin to despise the manna.  They have the Lord to thank for delivering them and providing for them, but they want to go back to the way they were before.  They have a strong craving; they long for the days of captivity where they had fresh fish and all sorts of vegetables to eat.  Thi...

Children of the Father

I think that at times we’ve probably all experienced the feeling that perhaps people aren’t really listening to us, or understanding us, when we’re trying to tell them something important.  You can tell that their mind is wandering.  

Jesus has a similar experience in Mark 9:30-37 where his disciples aren’t quite grasping what he is trying to tell them.  In fact, as you read more and more of the Gospels you come to the realization that Jesus probably had this experience quite a bit.  In the r...

Words of Blessing

St. James in his epistle mentions horses (James 3:1-12).  If you’ve ever ridden a horse, you’ve seen the bit that you put into the horse’s mouth to control him.  The bit rests in the mouth and on the tongue.  The bit then connects to the bridle, and then the rider sits on the back of the horse with the reigns connected to the bridle.  So, through the little bit in the mouth and on the tongue, the entire animal can be controlled.  That one little part controls the huge beast.

Likewise, says Ja...

Restoration for a Fallen World

The key to the Old Testament and Gospel readings for today is given in the very last verse of our reading from Mark (Isaiah 35:4-7a and Mark 7:31-37).  After Jesus heals the deaf and mute man, Mark says, “And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”

Jesus heals.  He brings restoration to those who are broken and to a world which is broken.  In fact, our reading from Isaiah speaks of this restoration.  The prop...

Dirty Restaurants

A number of years ago I happened to meet a county health inspector.  As we were talking I said to him, “I bet you don’t eat out much at restaurants.”  He said, “Oh no way.  You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen.”  Then, he proceeded to tell me stories about the strange and gross things he had witnessed at restaurants during his inspections.  After talking with him, it took me awhile before I was able to go eat at a restaurant again.

Basically what the health inspector told me is that he h...

A Life of Worship

Remember when God led the people of Israel out of their captivity in Egypt through Moses?  It’s part of your history as God’s people, the Church Israel.  After Moses led the people up out of Egypt, God led them all to Mount Sinai in the desert.  Moses went up on the mountain to receive the Law from God while the people remained at the foot of the mountain.  But, when Moses later came down from the mountain he found that the people had created a golden calf for themselves to worship.  While Mo...

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

God’s word to the Ephesians through St. Paul: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret” (Ephesians 5:11-12).

The day of exposing is upon us.

By now you’ve probably heard or read about the report concerning sexual abuses in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.  The reports are horrific, disturbing, and shameful.  

It might be comforting to think that this is a Catholic problem.  That perha...

More than Meets the Eye

There are a lot of things in life that are not as they first appear, or perhaps more than they appear.  For example, when you receive a present that’s wrapped in a box, you know that the box itself is not the gift, it contains something.  You don’t just sit and look at the wrapping, thinking that that is all there is to see; instead, you open it up to see what’s inside.  So what your eyes perceive is not all that there is, your eyes can not see everything that there is to know; some things ar...

Rest

In the reading from Exodus 16, the Lord makes a reference to His third commandment concerning the Sabbath (Exodus 16:2-15).  The people are complaining about the lack of food.  They want to go back to captivity in Egypt where they were well fed, and they accuse the Lord of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them.

So, the Lord says that he will rain bread from heaven for them and that they will gather a day’s portion each day and then on the sixth day the Lord will provide twice as much...

Sign of the Promise

Rainbows – I think we all somewhat inherently like rainbows.  I still try to take a picture of every one that I see.  

In Genesis, God tells Noah that the rainbow is the sign of His covenant (Genesis 9:8-17).  Now, to put this in context we should back up a little bit and review the events of Genesis.  When God created Adam and Eve, He created them and all creation good.  Everything was perfect.  But, Adam and Eve rebelled against God and brought sin and death into the world.  Even in the mid...