Being Great

I wonder if St. Matthew had been a person of our age he might have written: “Then the helicopter mom of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons.” It is great that Mrs. Zebedee wants the best for her sons. Clearly, Jesus goes on to speak to the sons and basically asks them – are you prepared for what’s coming? But who do you think had a key role in preparing them as the sons answered, “Yes we are”? Mrs. Zebedee. Helicoptering aside, with the grace of God we know that the sons of Zebedee were men of faith and perseverance. They must have had a great mom.

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Jonah: on the beach

The American poet and Presbyterian minister, Thomas John Carlisle, wrote a short collection of poems in a volume, “You, Jonah” – a poetic commentary on each chapter of the Book of Jonah. Here is one of his poems, rather summarizing the book to this point:

“I know a better way to circumvent your silly streak of mixing love with righteous judgment,
All I need to do is take the next flight west beyond Your jurisdiction.
This will give you time for sober, second thoughts to swear off this kick of simpleminded kindness. Inside the monster I was as low as I could get when I remembered God,
odd, that my distress impressed me with His apparent absence
when his premised daily presence hadn’t meant a blessed thing.
Finding myself in that hole with my soul fainting and rolling with the swell of my swollen ego.
It was a good enough to kill me.
Good.
Instead, I saw stars in the dark and started home on a welcome water spout.”

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Repent and Repeat

One of the most common things one hears in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the sin of gossip. It has been said that the act of gossip is like buying a chicken in the marketplace, feathers and all, and then walking through town, plucking the feathers one by one. As a priest, how do I direct a person to undo all the damage caused by gossip. It is akin to asking the person to return and pick up all the feathers. Such is the nature of gossip and its redress.

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Jonah: prayer

When last seen Jonah had just hit bottom, swallowed alive. Up to this point, despite lots of opportunities, Jonah had not prayed, even when commanded by the ship’s captain in the midst of the raging tempest at sea – even as all the crew around him offered prayers to a pantheon of gods. But now it is different. He is alone, his choices and their consequences have “consumed” him, and … and what?

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Curiosity

I have written about calumny as sin, which it is indeed as noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There are times I wonder if a “lack of curiosity” is very distant cousin. This would be a place for a “wink” emoji, but I will easily resist such temptations.

The recent power struggles during the February 2021 bitter cold snap are a case in point. It did not take too long for the leadership of the State of Texas to place the blame for the extensive loss of power on the renewable energy (solar panels, wind turbines) as the culprit. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. Dan Crenshaw were quick to jump on that “party line” – pun intended – and people I know held that up as a demonstration of what’s wrong with this country; the green movement forcing people to adopt renewable energy – and “look where that got Texas.” I would such a reaction as one of many examples where a lack of curiosity helps lead people down a dead-end path.

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Making things new

Sunday next is the 3rd Sunday of Lent in Year B. You can read a full commentary on the gospel here.

13 Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. 15 He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, 16 and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” 17 His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. 23 While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 24 But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, 25 and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well. Continue reading

Showing Mercy

Today’s gospel is short, sweet with many good points. Let me muse upon just one: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” One way to consider this admonition is to ponder what are the consequence of withholding mercy.

In the early 19th century, Mary Shelley wrote the novel, Frankenstein.  While we associate the name with the creature, the name is the moniker of the novel’s scientist. This character is often thought about as the archetypical product of the Enlightenment and Industrial Age.

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Jonah: swallowed up

1:15 Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea’s raging abated. 16 Struck with great fear of the LORD, the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him. 2:1 But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah; and he remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Interestingly, many modern translations position Jonah 2:1 as Jonah 1:17, including it with the previous chapter where it makes more sense from a literary point of view. It is good to be reminded that chapters/verses were assigned by Robert Estienne in 1551 for the New Testament and 1571 for the Hebrew Scriptures for his print editions and so chapter/verse is not sacrosanct. But if you read other Bibles and commentaries and are wondering why the verses are “off” by a single digit…now you know.

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