In the first reading, we hear the story of Naaman, a Syrian general, who comes to Israel seeking a cure from his leprosy. When Naaman finds the prophet Elisha, he offers all manner of riches and gifts as inducement and payment. But Elisha wants none of it. He simply instructs Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan. Pretty simple and ordinary, yes? Continue reading
When one thinks of the word “speed,” what comes to mind? Fast cars or memories of childhood racing down a steep hill on your bicycle? The 1994 movie “Speed” with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves (yes, it has been that long!)? There are all manner of “go fast” memories and thoughts that course through our minds, rapidly turning over in our heads as we race through the day, quickly getting ready for the day or the next thing to-do. We live in a speedy world.
“Speed” derives from the Old English spēd, which referred to prosperity, good fortune, and success. This sense of “speed” lives on in Godspeed, which comes from the Middle English phrase God spede you (meaning “God prosper you”) In Genesis 24:12, a servant of Abraham says aloud, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, let it turn out favorably for me” (NAB), but a older translation is “I pray thee, send me good speed this day…. ” These days, “God speed” lives on in our wishes for someone to have a prosperous and safe journey under the protection of God.
As you race though this and that, God speed to you this day!
It has been about a year since “social distancing” became an all too familiar expression. No doubt we can all look back on the year past and collect our own anecdotes. This post is from a year ago. It is eerily accurate and still funny. Enjoy.
One aspect of Francis’ changing life that has attracted recent attention is the movement of Francis from solitary figure, living a quasi-hermetical life for four to five years, now beginning to live in a growing community of brothers – all of whom are looking to Francis for spiritual and communal leadership. There was something attractive about Francis, his way of following the gospel, and perhaps the recent “commissioning” by Pope Innocent III gave a certain cache of legitimacy to this way of being Christian in the world. Eventually many people came to join the Franciscan movement, which soon enough became a religio and eventually an ordo, but those demarcations are eight to ten years in the future ahead of the Spring of 1209.
Virtually all scholars agree that Francis, at this point, did not envision his group to be more than a small group of men living an evangelical life in common. But there are also no indications that Francis thought too far ahead in any matter at this point in his life. Things just seemed to unfold, signs appeared along the way, and Francis followed the path in faith. And people followed Francis. Whether he liked it or not, Francis was their leader. Continue reading
The prophet Micah preached to Jerusalem, but he was not from the city. He was an outsider from the farming village of Moresheth in the Judean foothills. You can imagine how the people, priests, and temple prophets received his prophecies of death, doom, pestilence and punishment. I am sure they would have liked to cast him away, tossed outside the city walls.
Where some prophets are rejected because the town knows them too well, e.g., Jeremiah and Jesus, other are rejected because the listeners assume their town of origin automatically dismisses them. In our own day, we too have trouble recognizing and accepting the prophets. They tend to chip away at the edges of our consciences and memory where lies guilt, remorse and regret; and too often, hesitancy to acknowledge our fault and seek reconciliation. They are the things we too should cast away outside the walls of our lives.
One of the famous pieces of Franciscan art can be found in the left transept of the Lower Church of San Francesco in Assisi. It is a fresco done by Pietro Lorenzetti and is one of 17 frescoes he created in the church. This fresco is located lower on the transept wall under Lorenzetti’s masterpiece, The Crucifixion. The fresco is known as Our Lady of the Sunsets.
In the scene the Virgin Marry is holding the Child Jesus. The other two figures in the fresco are St. John the Evangelist (right) and St. Francis of Assisi (left), both of whom are looking at what is unfolding in the center of the scene. There Mary and Jesus are focused on each other, and Mary has a unique gesture, holding her thumb up pointing back to Saint Francis.
“10 When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.” (Jonah 3:10) Great! The Ninevites repented, God relented, and Jonah’s prophetic mission is complete. As mentioned, that would have been an “they all lived happily ever after” ending. But there is another chapter in the story whose first verse gives us an idea that the story’s ending is anything but happy.
“But this was greatly displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.” (Jonah 4:1) Jonah’s reaction reveals something about the nature of repentance. In Nineveh, the King and all the subjects repented in their heart and in their actions. And Jonah? While externally he is obedient, he has long since lost the inspiration that fueled his psalm of thanksgiving in the belly of the great fish. When God relents of the destruction of Nineveh, the “fuse” runs out on Jonah’s own internal bomb. The prophetic saboteur falls prey to his own true feelings. When it becomes clear that Nineveh will be saved by the gracious mercy of God, Jonah is infuriated – “greatly (gā·ḏôl) displeasing.”
This is part two of my day-off-curiosity about voting. As noted in the previous post, it is moral obligation to cast your vote. And there has been a bevy of action in State legislatures about voting. So… the moral landscape may be changing. I was curious.
As of mid-February, thirty-three states have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 165 bills to restrict voting access. These proposals primarily seek to: (1) limit mail voting access; (2) impose stricter voter ID requirements; (3) reduce voter registration opportunities; and (4) enable more means and reasons to purge voter roll. But then other state lawmakers are seizing on an energized electorate and persistent interest in democracy reform. By mid-February, thirty-seven states have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 541 bills to expand voting access mostly regarding the same topics listed above.
It is my day off and I am curious. About what? About H.R.-1, the For the People Act of 2021. This is a Democratically sponsored bill in the House of Representatives that addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and more. It is discussed, pro and con, in the news, by politically oriented talk shows, former presidents, current presidents, and places in between. So, I spent part of the day being curious about the details and issues attending the topic at hand.
I wondered if there is a moral obligation to cast a vote. Of course, there are lots of voting guides for Catholics, discussions about the forming of a moral conscience, but I did not easily find anything on the basic moral obligation to participate in the civic function of voting. But if one is curious enough… Continue reading
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” (Jonah 3:4) I think it noteworthy that Jonah does not announce the reason for the destruction or by whose hand, what the Ninevites can do to avert disaster, only that there is a set time of 40 days. What was the reaction of the Ninevites to Jonah’s proclamation? “When the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.” (v.5) It does not seem as though it took a whole lot to get Nineveh to repent.
friarmusings 