Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
The folks that Bill and I write about (Answers in Genesis or AiG) spent over $100,000,000 to build a ginormous (510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet tall) ark made of timber. The enormous structure is very impressive, to be sure, and it serves as the centerpiece of Ark Encounter, a biblical theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky.
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
“May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to his call” (Ephesians 1:17-18). That verse forms our Alleluia today. What an awesome prayer! Let’s enter into it together, asking God to heal any blindness that keeps us from being hopeful, and trusting in God’s covenant promises that inspire our hope.
Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop
I hear a parental God in today’s readings. A very frustrated, parental God. In fact, in the first reading from Genesis, God is so frustrated with the state of the world, the “wickedness” of human kind, that God even regrets that he made human kind. And God’s “heart was grieved.” That’s pretty strong emotion. Similarly, in the gospel reading from Mark, we hear of Jesus’ frustrations with his disciples. Almost like a frustrated parent, we hear Jesus
exclaiming, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? …Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember…? Do you still not understand?”!!
Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
To sigh: emit a long, deep audible breath expressing sadness, relief, fatigue, or similar.
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
A recent meal with 10 strangers around a common table in the home of an Argentinean couple came to mind when I read today’s gospel reading. Jesus recognizes the significance of food, and He also understands sharing food can be a means to bring unity and blessings. Through the sharing of food and all of our gifts, the reading today reminds us that God calls us to share our gifts with all people, so God’s love will be made known to the world.
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, virgin
With today being the Memorial of St. Scholastica, I have the pleasure of sharing one of my favorite saints’ stories. Robert Ellsberg, in his book All Saints (c.1997), tells it well based on the writings of Gregory the Great about St. Benedict, the founder of Western Monasticism. Did you know that St. Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict?! The following story is said to have occurred just a few days before Scholastica’s death.
Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
With today’s first reading selection from Genesis, we continue to hear the familiar stories from the very beginning of the Bible. This day, the man created by God comes to an important realization, namely, none of God’s creatures are suitable for him as a partner. God, of course, knows that none of the animals will satisfy the man’s need for companionship, but nevertheless God presents the man with these animals in order to help him understand the value of her who God will create for him. And indeed, the man seems to appreciate the utter uniqueness of the woman. He recognizes in her a similarity, that they are the two variations of the one humanity. The passage for today ends with what the author sees as the implication or message of this story, namely, that this is why a man clings to his wife. In other words, the appreciation of the opposite sex in a unique person is the reason for marriage. The very last line of the excerpt notes that the man and woman felt no shame at their nakedness. This Genesis passage is a foundational text for Christianity. We see the original peace and harmony in humanity as created by God. The man’s words represent an utter joy at the other who is at once the same as him and different from him. How then, we might wonder, do we get from this passage in Genesis to the gospel selection from Mark?
Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Our first reading from Genesis prompted me to think about the gift of life and how incredible it is to be alive! God created us and breathed life into us, not that we might merely exist, but that we might live a life of beatitude in God. God fills us with abundant life in Christ. What does that mean for you and for me as we go about our daily lives?
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
I sometimes find myself getting caught up in what I need to do. With tasks constantly multiplying on ‘to do’ lists, long days, and seemingly never-ending agendas it is often difficult to perceive that God loves me unconditionally. The first reading for today reminds me that the reason for this lies in the fact that God created me and that what he created he called ‘good’.
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
In biblical times, Jewish men wore tassels on the corners of their garments, adorned with a cord of blue as a reminder that they were a people set apart (Numbers 15:37-41). In the Ancient Near East, the corner of a man’s garment represented his essence; a symbol of who he was and what he stood for.
Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In today's gospel reading from Mark, Jesus sends his disciples out to get some rest while crowds continue to seek out teachings and healings. It causes me to reflect over how present Jesus was, not only to the concerns of those needing care, but to the caregivers as well. But it can be quite the struggle to find that rest away from the world.
Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, we reflect on the beheading of John the Baptist. There are stark similarities between the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist and the passion of Jesus. Herod and Pilate are both fully aware of the holiness of John and Jesus. Each has the worldly power to set free or condemn. In turn, they both succumb to the pressures of their ‘peers’--Herod is influenced (through his disgusting lust) by the anger and resentment held by Herodias toward John, and Pilate by the hatred of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus. In the end, the innocent man is put to death for unjust reasons. Lack of justice–sounds familiar. We can point out many examples today where innocent people die at the hands of corruption, seething hatred, and evil. The imagery of the scene in today’s gospel and that of the passion of Christ are gruesome and vulgar. As I spend time with the stories, they become more unsettling each time I read them–just like stories about mass shootings, bombings of civilians, abuse of power by law enforcement and politicians, harmful treatment of children, and so much more.
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Today’s readings begin: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not suitable for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.’” Let that first line sink in. It is not suitable to be alone – man, woman, child – we are not made to be alone. We are made to be in partnership, in community.
Jesus says to us in today’s Gospel, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” Jesus experienced the sting of offense as his “tribe,” the people of his hometown, rejected his teaching and his ministry. I wonder how many of us have experienced this same treatment when we’ve attempted to share the Gospel with those closest to us. Witnessing to friends and family can be very difficult. Perhaps today is a day to be enlivened, empowered, and emboldened to walk as Christ’s disciples and find our prophetic voice in our closest circles.
Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest
In today's Gospel reading we find Jesus healing two women. The first is healed because of her faith in Jesus through touching Him. The second is raised from the dead because of her father's faith in Jesus' ability to heal. One of the synagogue officials, desperate to save his daughter's life, turns to Jesus for help. The daughter is dead by the time they arrive, but Jesus raises her from the dead. It is Jesus Who has the power over life and death. This is because Jesus is God. But, as the church fathers were fond of saying, God became a human so that we might become gods. We do not really become "gods," but at our Baptism we do really receive the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity. God comes to dwell within us. In the Eucharist we do really receive Jesus completely, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Again, God dwells within us. We are sanctified and elevated.
Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In one of the most graphic accounts in all of Mark, today we find Jesus on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, in pagan territory.
It is a strange and baffling tale. The possessed man is the most violent we meet in the New Testament, and is in the grip of a legion of unclean spirits. Yet this “legion” recognises who Jesus is and even “bows down before him.” Jesus expels them, ordering them into a nearby herd of swine to commit mass suicide, rushing headlong off a cliff into the Sea of Galilee. Greatly rattled, the locals ask Jesus to leave their territory immediately.
Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Living with uncertainty is part of the human condition. We do not know what will happen tomorrow or even in the next hour. Most of the time we just continue to move forward in our daily routine not terribly concerned about what tomorrow will bring. Then something shocking occurs- an accident, a diagnosis of cancer, a pandemic. Suddenly the future seems unsure and there is an increasing worry about what will happen. In today’s gospel, Jesus reminds the disciples to have faith when situations arise that may be overwhelming. Jesus calls us to increase our faith in Him as well when we face challenges that seem insurmountable. Jesus desires us to trust in God’s love for us no matter the circumstances.
Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time
I think it's important to reflect deeply on the everyday stuff we often miss, or just really don't account for in our lives. I'm thinking here of how it took me a year to be able to do a particular pedal move on the organ; or how it takes a very slow, long time for my youngest to have learned how to draw. She was drawing chicken scratches; two years later she's drawing all kinds of amazing cows and ducks and superheroes that are actually recognizable.
Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops
Today is the Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. St. Paul saw both Timothy and Titus as spiritual children. In some way the shape of their faith and the positions they held within the church were a result of St. Paul’s ministry among them. They are both carrying on St. Paul’s ministry. In the first option for the first reading for today, from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy, we catch a glimpse into another important means of carrying on the faith and helping the faith grow. In a line that is easy for many to pass over almost unnoticed, St. Paul writes to Timothy, “as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you” (2 Timothy 1:5).
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
“And so Paul was knocked on his arse,” I heard from our Irish monsignor when I was a kid. My parents would say, “get off your arse” or “you need a kick in the arse.” An Irish thing, I figured. Left over Gaelic. But the way our monsignor said it, “Knocked on your arse,” my ten year old self thought, “must not always be a bad thing.”
And Saul Paul of Tarsus’s arse was the most significant one to ever hit the ground.