Monthly Archives: June 2021

Ubiquitous?

Posted on by
2

rooftop-techShira Ovide sent out an interesting article. Shira writes a technology column for the NY Times. It is not a deeply technical article about software or the newest tech devices, but more a “big picture” view of things technical going on in the world. Her post today looks at what we think we know – that ain’t necessarily so. Some curious factoids:

  • Americans spend about two-thirds of their TV time watching conventional television and just 6 percent streaming Netflix.
  • Online shopping accounts for less than 14 percent of all the stuff that Americans buy.
  • Remote work is a hot topic these days, but only about one in six U.S. employees are working that way.
  • About 6 percent of Americans order from the most popular restaurant delivery company in the United States.

Continue reading →

Whose we are

Posted on by
Reply

Jesus-weptToday is the Memorial of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, the latter of the two who is more popularly known as he was the central character of the movie, “A Man for All Seasons.” The film depicts the final years of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Lord Chancellor of England who refused both to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul Henry VIII of England’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and to take an Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church of England. But St. John Fisher was in the same situation as Thomas More. Continue reading →

Absent from life

Posted on by
Reply

Mark-5-two-miraclesThe full gospel reading for Sunday (there is a shorter option) begins: “When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.” He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.” (Mark 5:21-24) – and then drops this story line, picking up the account of a woman on the way – a woman hemorrhaging for many years – and thus rendered ritually “unclean” because of the flow of blood. Although suffering, she was very much alive, but at the same time face a kind of death because of her isolation from family and society. Continue reading →

The fullness of life

Posted on by
Reply

Mark-5-two-miraclesLast week (the 12th Sunday in Year B) we heard Mark’s account of Jesus on the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41) during which Jesus calmed the seas with his word. This coming Sunday’s gospel moves into Chapter 5. The chapter begins with Jesus and the disciples returning to Jewish land as they again cross the Sea of Galilee. In Mark, the lake represents literally and figuratively the boundary between Gentiles and Jews.

The lectionary moves into additional miracle accounts while skipping the story of the Gerasene demoniac. Our gospel selection includes a miracle within a miracle. They are the final two miracles of the “miracle section” of Mark (4:35-5:43), which includes four miracles and reactions to the miracles:

  • Calming the storm at sea — the disciples still have no faith (Mk 4:34-41)
  • Casting a demon from a man and the subsequent desire of the locals that  Jesus leave town even as the healed man becomes a witness (Mk 5:1-20)
  • Raising Jairus’ daughter – “don’t be afraid, only believe” (Mk 5:21-24, 35-43)
  • Healing the hemorrhaging woman – her faith saved her (Mk 5:25-34)

Continue reading →

Francis and the Crusades – Part 2

Posted on by
Reply

crusaders2The previous two articles give the background for Francis of Assisi’s mission during the time of the Fifth Crusade.  The previous article introduced two key ideas that seemed to be part of a strong spiritual movement in Francis’ time: peregrination pro Christo (“wandering for the sake of Christ”) which we would now call “pilgrimage,” and the long-established idea of Christian martyrdom.  We have already seen the friars “wandering for Christ” in their trips throughout central Italy. Continue reading →

Getting there

Posted on by
1

he_qi_road_to_emmausLet’s see…where was I? It has been several weeks since I posted about my time in mission in Kenya. In a previous post, The Long Way Round, I was standing in 3.5 feet of snow, shovel in hand, looking down a long driveway to a dirt road that had not yet been plowed and wondering if this was a sign from God about a faulty discernment process to leave the world as I had known it, and serve as a lay missioner in a far away land. Today, if I was looking at the same scene,  I likely would have thought: “this is beautiful and God put it here. Think I’ll enjoy it and let God take care of it in His own good time.” Back then, I dug my way out.

Continue reading →

Indeed, who then is this

Posted on by
Reply

LJA130270Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” (Mark 4:40-41)

After quieting the violent storm with a word, Jesus turns to his disciples (and Mark’s readers) and asks: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” (v. 40). The first disciples’ only response is: “Who then is this?” (v. 41). This passage continues to reveal Mark’s theology of discipleship. These very same disciples who have been chosen in 3:7-12, who have been given the mystery of the kingdom of God (4:10-12), and who are privileged to hear Jesus’ teachings and explanation (4:34) are here chided for their timidity and lack of trust, their lack of a deepening faith. The question of their faith is abrupt at this point in Mark’s gospel. Increasingly as Mark’s gospel continues this question of faith continues to arise.  Continue reading →

Be still

Posted on by
1

LJA130270This coming Sunday is the gospel of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. “Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)  While the storm raged, Jesus lay sleeping in the stern upon the cushion that was customarily kept under the coxswain’s seat for those who were not involved in the actual sailing or fishing. The other’s aboard are having a much different experience. Given that at least four of the disciples were professional fishermen and must have experienced such storms before, their anxiety/terror indicates the severity of the incident. The usual pattern for a deliverance from a storm at sea involved a plea to the deity for help, but Mark’s version lacks such a formula. In Matthew the disciples’ words to Jesus to fit the anticipated pattern, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” (Matt. 8:25). In Mark, however, their cry carries an edge – rebuke? Disbelief? Incredulousness? It is hard to assign a meaning that leaves the disciples other than accusing Jesus of being indifferent to their plight. Continue reading →

Reward and Righteousness

Posted on by
Reply

The gospel for today is from Matthew 6 and is part of the Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29), but too often it is presented in isolation from the Sermon and thus the connection is not obvious to many listeners. Jesus has begun to preach in Galilee, as Scripture foretold (4:12–17), and large crowds are being attracted to his teaching (4:23–25). Matthew presents a lengthy collection of that authoritative teaching.

Continue reading →

Learning to be better

Posted on by
Reply

jesus-teaching-mountJesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said,  You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

I just finished reading Ian Toll’s trilogy on the War in the Pacific 1941-1945. I started around Memorial Day – which seemed quite appropriate and finished last week. I thought I knew a lot about the War. Being one of the children of the Greatest Generation – and the most silent, too, the absence of stories from my father and my uncles left me with a curiosity to know more about what they were ready to forget.

Continue reading →