quot Return to me with all your heart rdquo This is the cry of a lover who has been separated from the loved one either by distance or time or perhaps by betrayal It is a heart-to-heart cry In the writings of Joel it is God begging Israel to return to God rsquo s gracious and merciful love W

What comes to mind when you think of blessings Perhaps some degree of prosperity or good health Your musings might include something as weighty as deliverance from harm or as commonplace as victory in a high school basketball game When circumstances seem to go the way we want it is not uncommon

It is likely that while we were growing up many of us wore clothing or played with toys that had been handed down to us from an older member of the family At such times we grew into the clothing or took possession of the toys making them our own Now as independent as we adults might like to thi

The title of a highly acclaimed musical comedy ldquo I Love You You rsquo re Perfect Now Change rdquo describes some of the dynamics found in many human love relationships We can genuinely love someone and be captivated by that person rsquo s charm and wit intelligence and sensitivity unsel

How can a message that was intended for people who lived thousands of years ago have any meaning for us today Some of the stories in the Bible certainly make exciting action movies but are we expected to live like that To think as they did To cherish the same aspirations Isn rsquo t the newspap

Today we move from one beginning to another from Jesus rsquo coming among us in the flesh celebrated during the Christmas season to his coming among us in ministry remembered during Ordinary Time His baptism by John inaugurates this ministry and it is commemorated today The Gospel says that th