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After another weekend in the Mackenzie with Mass at Fairlie on Sunday morning followed by coffee with many parishioners at a local cafe, I drove down to my hometown Timaru where I celebrated Mass on Tuesday morning, again with a cuppa with parishioners after Mass.

The scriptures for yesterday’s St. Thomas’ Timaru Mass at first glance were a bit of a challenge: an old Testament battle conflict and a Gospel warning to Sodom and Gomorrah.

I pondered these readings sitting in the Timaru presbytery as the first light came into the sky bringing the well-known Sacred Heart Basilica into view.

Then something happened that happens for me so often.

I discovered a personal treasure.

I often find that those difficult scripture readings, the conflicts of the Old Testament with oddly named characters and the tough teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, contain hidden treasures, personal encouragements for those who are prepared to sit and let the light illumine the texts.

And yesterday morning God gave me a tender encouragement from the midst of the unpronounceable names in the Isaiah scripture: Pekah, Remaliah, Aram, Shear-jashub and Ahaz.

I received exactly what I needed.