Father Chris Looby

  Last week, I watched Michael J. Fox receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards. (Watch the full speech here) Most of us remember him as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties or Marty McFly in Back to the Future. But in 1991, at just 29 years old, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. For years, he kept his diagnosis private. In his acceptance speech, he explained that he was afraid of what would happen if people knew he was sick. Would it affect his career? Would audiences still laugh at his jokes? Those were understandable fears. But eventually, something changed. He realized that accepting Parkinson's didn't mean surrendering to it. Instead, he began asking himself what he could do for other people living with the same disease. He went public with his diagnosis, became an advocate for patients, raised money for research, and established a foundation dedicated to finding a cure. And as I listened to him speak, I was struck by something. His circu...

In 1998 I took a year off from the seminary and worked at St. Alexander's Church in Morrisonville where I am now pastor.   Drive through Peru, New York this time of year and you don't have to use much imagination to picture today's Gospel. The orchards are busy. The apples are ready. And many workers—some of whom have come a long way to be here—are putting in long days bringing in the harvest. So imagine this. You start picking apples at seven in the morning. You've been climbing ladders, carrying bags, working in the sun all day. Then at five o'clock, just before quitting time, another worker shows up. He works for an hour. And when payday comes, he gets exactly the same amount you do. I don't know about you, but I think I might have something to say about that! And so do the workers in Jesus' parable. "These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat." It doesn't seem fair. B...

Albert Einstein is often credited for defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. We all know people who seem to do the same thing over and over again. Someone says something hurtful. We forgive them. Then they say something hurtful again.  We forgive them. Someone disappoints us. We give them another chance. And after a while we might think: “Are they insane? Why do they keep doing the same thing over and over again?” But the flip-side to that question is: If I keep forgiving them over and over again, am I insane too? In a way, Peter asks Jesus that very question in today’s Gospel. “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” You can almost hear what Peter is really asking: “Jesus, when have I done enough?” I forgave him once. I forgave him twice. I forgave him seven times. At some point you want to say, “That’s it! I can’t do this anymore! I’d have to be insane to forgive this guy ag...