PODCAST · religion
Cup o' Joe
by Joseph Zenk
Thoughts on the Gospels and Catholic Life w/ lay pastoral leader Joe Zenk
Episodes
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The End is the Beginning
Readings for the Feast of Pentecost - Acts 2:1-11; Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23 And so, my friends, we have reached the end. The end of the podcast only. For it is only the beginning for what lies ahead. Today is the great feast of the fusion of God's spirit and humanity - and this...
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The Baton is Passed
Readings for the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord - Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:46-53 We know the story. We've heard it dozens of times. And we know that it ends up ok in the end. But what about when we apply it to our lives? What about those moments of anxiety when we are given the keys? Or the job...
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The Dance
Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29 Let's be clear - being a follower of Jesus Christ is not for the weak of heart. Not just because it could lead to being ostracized or having to make difficult decisions, although both can be...
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Finding What Is Ours To Do
Readings for the Fifth Sunday of the Easter Season - Acts 14:21-27; Revelation 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35 The readings this weekend not only were too good to set one aside, but they all fit together so well. In the Gospel, Jesus gives us a new commandment - but it's not like a lot of the old...
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We Have to Hear Differently
Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday) - Acts 13:14, 43-52; John 10:27-30 While last week's readings invited us to see differently, this week's readings (on this Good Shepherd Sunday) invite us to hear differently. Jesus says that His sheep hear his voice and follow him....
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We Have to See Differently
The Gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Easter - John 21:1-19 Yes, this title could easily have been The Reclamation of Peter. Because really, that's what it's about. And, of course, if it's about him, it is also about all of us. Jesus, using Peter, has something to teach us all. But there's something...
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The Reclamation of Thomas
Readings for Divine Mercy Sunday - Acts 5:12-16; John 20:19-31 How would it feel to you to go around for the rest of your life with an adjective attached to your name that seemed to denigrate you? I don't think any of us would like that. And yet we still refer to Thomas as Doubting Thomas. But...
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Christ Is Risen...
Readings for the Easter Vigil - Romans 6:3-11; Luke 24:1-12 We celebrate the culmination of the Life of Jesus of Nazareth and our own hope this day. The stone has been rolled away! The tomb is empty. We are invited to look in and, like Peter before us, we are amazed! But what, exactly, does this...
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Christ Has Died...
Readings for the Feast of Palm Sunday - Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 19:28-40 We know the pattern. And on this Feast of Palm Sunday, this is the one we don't like to hear nor talk about. But it's half of the Pascal Mystery. Christ has died. Now if we were just talking about an…
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God is Not a Was; God is an Is
Readings for the 5th Sunday in Lent - Isaiah 43:16-21; John 8:1-11 You know how some people have a face for radio? You get to listen to a voice made for silence for a lengthy bit of time today - but, thanks be to God, the readings are worth it. It can often be easy for us to fall into the trap of...
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On The Plains of Jericho
Readings for the Fourth Sunday (Laetare Sunday) of Lent - Joshua 5:9a, 10-12; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Readings don't get much better than this. They both focus upon and celebrate God's goodness and presence within our circumstances. But they also remind us that there is work to do. There is a journey…
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On Fire, But Not Consumed
Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Lent - Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15; Luke 13:1-9 Lots of time spent in this podcast on the first reading which is so good. Moses and the Burning Bush. Yeah, kind of an important reading - but there is so much there. Moses thought he was in a place where he couldn't be…
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Wide Awake
Readings for the Second Sunday of Lent - Genesis 15:5-12; 17-18 Luke 9:28b-36 Most of the time, we go through life asleep. This is not a put down, it's simply the truth. We sleep walk through our days, our months, our years, our lives. But there are those days when the scales fall from our eyes,...
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Jesus is the Pattern
Readings for the 1st Sunday of Lent - Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Luke 4:1-13 We hear the same story every 1st Sunday of Lent, with the only difference being whose version it is. The story is the Temptation in the Desert and this year, we get Luke's perspective. And like so many of the Gospel stories…
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Death, Where is Your Sting?
Readings for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45 Listen, we all know that death is incredibly difficult and traumatic. So what, exactly, is Paul talking about in 1 Corinthians and how can he make such a claim? We then turn once again to the Gospel and Jesus's...
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Let Those With Ears Hear
Readings for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; Luke 6:27-38 The Kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms we create as humans. And if we try to fit our understanding of God and the teachings of the Kingdom into our current mode of thinking or our current…
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A Fork in the Road
Readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jeremiah 17:5-8; Luke 6:17, 20-26 Jesus invites us down to a level place and shares a hard truth with us. And for many of us listening, it's a time to take a look in the mirror and see which side of the truth we've been living within. But as with all...
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All of Heaven Awaits Your Response
Readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8; Luke 5:1-11 In today's readings, we hear about the call of God. But, thankfully, it doesn't just focus on the action of God. It focuses on the ones God calls - their thoughts, their response, how they see themselves and how they…
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Against the Wind
Readings for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 2:22-40 Continuing my shameless ripping off of the titles of famous songs (and this time, my apologies to Bob Seger), we hear a familiar story that sounds so wonderful at first listen. A couple presents their child in the...
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What Was I Made For?
Readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21 My apologies to Billie Eilish on stealing the name for this title. But I just had to. It works too well. Today we hear about beginnings in the Gospel, and new beginnings in the first reading. And both...
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The Arc of the Universe is Long
Readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 62:1-5; John 2:1-11 As a Church, we step out of the Privileged Time of Advent and Christmas, and begin this short season of Ordinary Time between now and March 5, when we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday. And so in this Year C where we hear from...
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Beloved
Readings for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22; It's odd, right? Just last week Jesus was an infant receiving gifts from the Magi. And here he is, all grown up and being baptized. And we are still in the Christmas season. How do we put this all…
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Coming in the Unexpected
Readings for the Feast of Epiphany - Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12 We've heard these readings before. Like family and close friends, they can become so familiar, we don't see or hear them anymore. We already have them figured out. But God often comes through the unexpected. Like Luke, who had the...
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God Desires To Be Right Where You Are
Gospel Readings for the Feast of the Incarnation of our God (Luke 2:1-14) & the Feast of the Holy Family (Luke 2:41-52) I know - a double shot of the Gospel on this episode. Couldn't be more appropriate. This week, we simply marvel in the humble, audacious and bold love of our God. There is…
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Greetings, Mighty Warrior!
Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Advent - Micah 5:1-4a; Luke 1:39-45 Finally! Mary takes center stage and Bethlehem is mentioned. Just not in the way we might think. The former has to do w/ someone else's birth and the latter w/ a prophecy. But at least we are getting somewhere. Just where,...
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Love Calls Forth Love
Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Advent - Zephaniah 3:14-18a; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18 The Third Sunday in Advent is commonly referred to as Gaudete Sunday, a Latin word meaning "rejoice!" And each of our readings invite us to do this very thing, w/ Paul pleading for us twice in the first...
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God Loves Us in Reality, Not in Theory
Readings for the Second Sunday in Advent - Baruch 5:1-9; Luke 3:1-6 I won't speak for others but only me. And for me, it's easy to read the Scriptures and see the love of God working in and through others in a different time and place and think "I wish God would still act that way now." But I…
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Your Redemption Is At Hand
Readings for the First Sunday in Advent - Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 We begin our new liturgical year with readings that sound an awful lot like the readings from last weekend, the close of our last liturgical year. Why, exactly, is that? Even more importantly, these readings which...
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Invitation vs. Domination
Readings for the Feast of Christ the King - Daniel 7:13-14; John 18:33b-37 This weekend, we celebrate the Feast of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. But it would be a tragedy if we only reflect upon this once a year. Who is Lord of our life today, this very moment? It's not an exercise...
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The End
Readings for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Daniel 12:1-3; Mark 13:24-32 As we draw nearer to the end of the Liturgical Year, our readings darken and we hear readings of The End of Time. And that is w/ purpose. Our liturgical calendar is rooted in time and time, indeed, is linear - moving...
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Faith, Certainty & Doubt
Readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Kings 17:10-16; Mark 12:38-44 The heroes of our readings today are two women who literally have nothing. Nothing, that is, but a faith that you and I would be wise to give everything we have to gain. We all know that we are called to be women and...
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One Thing
Readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Mark 12:28b-34 Sometimes it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Scripture is so thick, there are so many books and sometimes the answers can even seem to contradict one another. How do we know who or what to listen to? Today, we hear...
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If We Could Only Be So Blind
Readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jeremiah 31:7-9; Mark 10:46-52 At first glance, this Gospel reading looks like just another story where Jesus heals a blind man. But this is not just any old healing. We'd all be blessed to be as blind as Bartimaeus. Special thanks to Bridget Zenk…
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Whatever We Think Glory Is, We're Wrong
Readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 53:10-11; Mark 10:35-45 Martin Luther once invited us all to "Sin boldly!" He must have been thinking about James and John in today's reading. They are bold - make no mistake about it. And they are 180 degrees off-base in their assumptions,...
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What Seduces Us?
Readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Wisdom 7:7-11; Mark 10:17-30 This weekend, we get to have a mirror held up to us. The good news is - it's not entirely a bad thing. There are parts of this mirror that actually have us looking good. But other parts, not so much. The best part? Jesus...
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Let's Talk About Sin
Readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Genesis 2:18-24; Mark 10:2-16 This one is a bit more lengthy, but how does one talk about sin quickly? So often when we think about sin, we think about something much smaller than the reality. We think of the outer showings but pay little attention…
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There Is No Inside or Outside
Readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Numbers 11:25-29; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 It's so easy to get caught up in titles and degrees and membership. I'll listen to this person because they carry the right credentials but not someone without them. I'll follow this person because they…
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The First Death
Readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Mark 9:30-37 Jesus picks up on the same topic that he ended with last week - if we are to be a follower of His, it leads to Jerusalem and the cross. This is the second time of three times that Jesus will make these statements to...
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Risky Business
Readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 50:5-9a; Mark 8:27-35 The word Gospel, as we all know, means "Good News". And while the Gospel is always good news, sometimes that news can also be hard. Today is one of those days. Isaiah shares with us the path of the Suffering Servant…
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Can You See It?
Readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 35:4-7a; Mark 7:31-37 Isaiah speaks to a people without hope and does his best to give them a vision of what hope would look like within a hopeless place. For until they have bought into the vision, until they are able to see it, they have...
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The Fork in the Road
Readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Both Moses and Jesus (there's a couple of heavyweights for you!) call us out into the deep today. We are not invited to stay in the shallow end of the pool by merely going through the motions of our beliefs or...
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Decision Time
Readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17a, 18b; John 6:60-69 This week comes with a challenge. Actually two. Joshua gives one in the first reading and Jesus in the Gospel. Which way will you go? Whom do you choose? And you will notice in each case, they give the grace...
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The Two Tables
Readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Proverbs 9:1-6; John 6:51-58 I know - this sounds like a JRR Tolkien novel. Sorry, nothing so sublime here. Just a juxtaposition between wisdom and folly that we hear in the book of Proverbs, looking at the values that each holds. And if, perchance,...
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Miles To Go Before We Sleep
Readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Kings 19:4-8; John 6:41-51 The thread between the two readings couldn't be much easier to spot. We can't make the journey on our own. It's too difficult. But what it also reminds us is that we are not at the end, either. No matter what is…
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It'd Be Funny If It Weren't So Close to Home...
Readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; John 6:24-35 This weekend, we hear about how God provides for us - specifically giving us Bread from Heaven (in the form of manna and Jesus, himself). And while there is much to explore there, I went in a different route. I...
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Philip or Andrew?
Readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2 Kings 4:42-44; John 6:1-15 God desires for you and I to be fed. It's as simple as that. Whether it is manna in the desert, food during a plague or 5,000 people sitting on a grassy field, God desires not that we remain empty and in need, but rather...
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both/and
Readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jeremiah 23:1-6; Mark 6:30-34 In hearing Jeremiah play the role of prophet, we hear him both rage against the unjust shepherds of the day, and remind the people that they are loved and seen and heard. In our Gospel, Jesus longs for rest, but chooses...
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Faith In vs Faith Of
Readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Am 7:12-15; Mark 6:7-13 In this weekend's readings, we hear about the call and struggles of the prophet Amos, as well as Jesus sending out the Twelve. Which, of course, begs the question for us - Am I called to go out, too? If so, where and how? And...
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The Gift of Imperfection
Readings for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Mark 6:1-6 So often it seems we struggle against those parts of us of which we are ashamed. We pretend. We hide behind masks. And in doing so, we refuse to open ourselves to the gift of grace that God and those around us are...
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Death Is Irregular
Readings for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24, Mark 5:21-43 The foundation for our Gospel is laid in the first line of the first reading - don't miss it! God did not make death, nor does God delight in the destruction of the living. Death is not the vision or the desire…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Thoughts on the Gospels and Catholic Life w/ lay pastoral leader Joe Zenk
HOSTED BY
Joseph Zenk
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Cup o' Joe currently has 723 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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Thoughts on the Gospels and Catholic Life w/ lay pastoral leader Joe Zenk
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