Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the challenges we face when we read scripture is interpreting it for contemporary times. For example, today’s gospel reading has two very black and white scenarios. First, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. … You cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus simply does not leave room for anything in between. Again, after his teaching about not worrying about what to eat, drink and wear, Jesus says, “All these things the pagans seek.” And then, contrasting the pagans with the disciples, he says to his disciples, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” In the Jewish world view, there were only two kinds of people – the Israelites and the Pagans. As far as the Israelites were concerned, there were no in-betweens.
Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Two words you rarely hear in the same sentence are “Jesus” and “indignant.” Yet there they are, right next to each other in today's gospel (Mk 10:14). Now, I can be indignant sometimes and that usually means I need a nap or I know that I'm wrong; but Jesus getting indignant is a different story. I have a sneaking suspicion that he has a little more justification than general grumpiness or pride. In today's gospel, this indignation stems from the direct actions of his disciples as they rebuked people, presumably parents, for bringing children to Christ. Beyond that though, I think he expected them to know better because of what they were just taught in the previous passage.
Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
One of my ethics professors always walked into class on the first day and said, "Let me sum up the entire semester for you right now: Never Lie."
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sin. It’s something with which we all struggle. It’s a reality in all of our lives. The important question we must ask is not – do I have sin, but what do I do about my sins? In today’s gospel Jesus tells is telling us “Yes, I know sin is real in your life, now do something about it!” He is calling us to not only recognize our sinfulness but to cut that sinful action out of our lives.
Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
I used to think I understood what it meant when someone told me they loved me. It meant they cared for me and would take care of me. It is a good thing to have people care about us. Yet for me this did not translate as unconditional love. This love is best captured in scripture as agape.
Tuesday of the Seventh week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings are…awkward. They are awkward for a very specific reason: the state of the American Catholic Church. Right now things don’t seem very bad but come the next election, we will once again remember just how divided our Church has become. We argue at our dinner tables and water coolers, maybe even in the church parking lot or vestibule. We yell and say mean things, all in the name of whatever person or party we think best aligns with Church teaching. There is a little solace when we realize that obviously the early Christians and even the Disciples had their own disagreements and conflicts. But this consolation quickly passes when we hear the challenge of today’s readings.
Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
God is all powerful, all merciful, and all loving, but unfortunately I still find myself like the man in today’s gospel asking Jesus to help my unbelief. Just recently I was reminded of my need to turn to the Lord and trust Him in the midst of a frightening situation. This last October my daughter and son-in-law shared the wonderful news that they were expecting our first grandchild this summer. We were thrilled! A month or so after this announcement, my daughter experienced some complications and an ultrasound was done. After the test, the doctor came in and told my daughter and her husband that there was a large bleed surrounding the baby and it was not likely that the baby would survive. They were told that the baby may live a few more weeks, but most likely would be lost by 20 weeks into the pregnancy. Needless to say, we were all devastated by the news.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am going to ask you to put your hands up as I ask you a few questions. How many of you think that you are perfect? How many of you think you are holy? This question is for couples? How many of you think that your spouse or partner is holy? This is for children. How many of you think that your parents are holy? Are they perfect? And here is the last question. What makes somebody holy? What do I expect to see in a holy person?
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
Today is the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. I know, we Catholics are not only crazy enough to bless our cars, houses, and pets, but we also have a feast day for a chair! We are an interesting breed aren't we?
Obviously, this is not the feast day of a wooden object with four legs and cushion, or even a rocking chair for that matter. We know this because in the Biblical sense, the chair or seat of someone is their position of authority, governance, or power. Hence Christ tells the people “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach but they do not practice” (Mt 23:2-3 RSV). Thus, today is the feast day of Peter's position, his seat of authority, which really means that this is a feast day that celebrates the promises of God as well as, the call for power and authority to be transformed by Christ. That transformation is what I want to focus on today, (despite my temptations to write exclusively about the significance of the giving of the keys).
Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Last year at this time, we had a pope who had resigned, and we were debating and waiting, wondering who the new pope would be. It would be an understatement to say that Pope Benedict XVI's retirement was a surprise; it would be still more an understatement to say that Pope Francis's papacy has been a series of surprises - from paying his own bill at his hotel to his off-the-cuff remarks in interviews. Yet, commenters on both popes have noted that their actions are things that make sense. It makes sense that someone in his mid-80s might retire from an exhausting head-of-state jet-setting life, and that a cardinal who has always refrained from living in fancy houses would continue to refrain from doing so.
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
I kind of sympathize with Peter in today’s gospel reading (Mark 8: 27-33) when Jesus rebukes him for rejecting his prediction of his suffering to come. Jesus uses strong words, “Get behind me Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Well, yes, Peter is human and so are you and I. I think I get that Peter didn’t understand or want to believe what Jesus was explaining to him and the other disciples. He probably had it in his mind that Jesus was the political liberator that was popularly expected of the awaited Messiah at that time.
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Recently at Bible Study, we were talking about a phrase in Matthew’s Gospel “the evil eye”. As we dug deeper into our resources we realized that in Jesus day this understanding of the evil eye meant that a look could harm someone. Through further discussion we explored all things that have to do with eyes. Although we never talked of blindness, we did talk of cataracts and how they muddy our vision. A person who just had her cataracts removed described how once again she was able to see the brilliance of colors and light.
Tuesday of the sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s reading challenges us to examine both the sources of our sinfulness and our inability to remember the goodness of God.
The first reading, from James, attends to the origin and consequences of sin and temptation. On one hand, temptation is neither a creation of God nor an action of God towards His creation. It is our human desires that give rise to temptation. This desire gives birth to sin. In turn, sin gives birth to death. On the other hand, all good things are gift from God. God does not will either sin or temptation. Instead, God wills only the good for humanity, the “word of truth.” It is God’s will that we might be the first fruits of God’s creatures.
Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
s social life was centered on church or involved relatives and friends who were catholic as well. I barely knew the kids in the neighborhood that went to public school. Looking back now, I can see that is was a bit insular in some respects and I know my parents made the greatest sacrifices to send all of us to Catholic schools, but the benefits far outweighed any shortcomings. Growing up in the context of a strong faith community, having friends who shared the same background and values, and feeling at home there created a sense of security in my life that I do not think I can ever fully appreciate. It is where my faith was born and it is where my faith was fed and nurtured. And all of this was accomplished by individuals working together to create that community of faith.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
It would take a weekend retreat to do justice to the depth of today’s readings. And for that reason, I have decided to go directly into the three practical implications. My vantage point in reflecting upon these reading is the phrase – “Immense is the wisdom of the Lord” (Sir 15:18). In fact, if we reflect upon all the three readings together we realize that they all talk about the wisdom of God made know to us by God, because God loves us. In today’s second reading too, Paul talks about God’s wisdom – mysterious and hidden (1 Cor 2:7). Jesus too, in today’s gospel reading refers to God’s Law as something eternal. That is why he says that, “not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Mt 5:17-18)
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Throughout my faith journey I've heard many claims about scripture that have caused me to scratch my head and wonder. I've heard people say, “Come on, you're not supposed to take the Bible literally.” I've also heard, “People need to stop looking for allegory in Scripture, why don't they take the Word of God seriously and for what it says?” And I've heard everything else in between those two. Now, I have neither the desire, nor the qualifications to write a discourse on “How to Read the Bible.” In light of today's gospel though, I do want to bring up three considerations.
Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop
Most of you probably know that the Catholic Church has been focused on "the New Evangelization" for a couple years now. The New Evangelization is meant to encourage people to spread the Good News of Jesus (as Christians have done for centuries) but with an eye to our particular contemporary needs. For example, the New Evangelization emphasizes a need to be present online and to witness to Jesus in relation to all our technology. The New Evangelization also recognizes that people today often wonder about the relationship between science and God, and whether our views of science mean that belief in God is false - and so we are asked to consider these real concerns of people and address them.
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
My parents loved to listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash. When I think back to my childhood many of their songs fill the soundtrack of my memories. Today’s readings made me think of one their most popular songs – “Teach your children well.” Even as a child I remember liking this song. I loved that it spoke to parents and children to both teach each other. Now as a parent I see the truth of that sentiment even more so. For as much as I am teaching and forming my children they are teaching and forming me as well. The parent/child relationship is one of the most important relationships in the world and as parents teaching our children well is one of the biggest responsibilities we will ever have.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lately, I have been exposed to a variety of points of view that are on both sides of the spectrum, some to the right and some to the left. At times it is hard to discern what it is that I am supposed to believe. It seem that I am being asked to choose between the two sides. What is interesting is that in praying with the two different schools of thought I realize I do not need to choose. The Spirit, Wisdom, helped me to understand that both schools lead to the same ends.
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
The first two readings for today are rich with the thought of where God dwells. Solomon, Israel’s great leader and builder of the majestic Temple, prays that God will look favorably on what he has built. He begins his prayer with an interesting question: “Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth?” By the end of his prayer, he asks that God listen to it from God’s “heavenly dwelling.” It thus remains a bit ambiguous where we are to find God: can we seek him here or is he far away? In today’s psalm, we hear the refrain, “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!” The ambiguity from Solomon’s prayer persists here, as the verses alternate between imagining God’s heavenly dwelling and rejoicing in finding his presence here on earth.