Monthly Archives: February 2023

Context

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This coming Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent for Lectionary Cycle A. From the 4th Sunday to the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Sunday gospels include most of the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5:1-7:29)  On the first Sunday in Lent, the traditional reading reverts to several chapter earlier – Mt 4 – to consider “the tempting of Christ in the dessert.”  This was preceded by the account of the baptism of Jesus which revealed him as the Son of God: “And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ ” (Mt 3:17). Following the temptation, Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee staring at Mt 4:12 Continue reading →

Perfect Moments

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There is a picture in my office that I have had since last century. It is a picture of Jeff Pierce. You probably have never heard of Jeff. He was a professional bicycle racer. He rode for the 7-Eleven team back in the late 1980s when they were the first American team to race in Europe. In the 1987 Tour de France, Jeff was a domestique, a rider whose principle task was to be a support for the team leaders: carry water bottles, protect the top riders from the ravages of wind, and at the end of the day to struggle across the finish line well after the leaders. Against all odds Jeff won the grand finale, the last stage in Paris on the Champs Elysees. A gendarme in the background of the photograph stares in disbelief. Jeff is alone. Crossing the finish line, arms raised in unbelieving triumph. He won against the greatest riders of his day. An American in Paris.  I look at that picture and know that perfect moments are possible. Continue reading →

Good News – Bad News

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We people of a certain age grew up watching “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau”, a documentary television series about the world beneath the waves. At some point we were introduced to the voice and calls of the humpback and other whales. You can listen to a sample here. To me the calls always sounded melancholy – and in a way, they were. By-in-large, the calls are done almost exclusively by males and are part of a mating ritual. Continue reading →

Final Thoughts: being perfect

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This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have been considering Jesus’ lessons that continue to make clear the personal responsibility of freely entering into the covenant relationship with God and to answer the question, what does it mean to truly be God’s people? At the end Jesus commands: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Continue reading →

Listening and Being Present

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Earlier this week I presided at a burial interment at Quantico National Cemetery. An 86-old woman was being buried alongside her husband, an Army veteran, who has passed away in the mid-1990s. The woman was born in 1947 in Berlin amidst the destruction and occupation following the war. She met her GI husband and they fell in love. He wanted to remain in Germany, but she wanted to start their new life together in the United States. It is not an uncommon story. Continue reading →

True Love

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This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we considered whether Jesus is asking Christian discipleship to move beyond what the dominant culture anticipates and expects. Today we extend that thought as love of the enemy is discussed. “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…” Continue reading →

The Extra Mile

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This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we moved beyond retribution and retaliation and considered the meaning of resistance as taught by Jesus. Today we consider whether Jesus is asking Christian discipleship to move beyond what the dominant culture anticipates and expects: If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.  Continue reading →

The Flood

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From the city-states of ancient Greece to the tribes of the Amazon rainforest, cultures everywhere have preserved similar stories about heroes slaying monsters, talking animals playing tricks on each other, and jealous siblings fighting to the death. Especially common in world mythologies are stories about world-ending floods and the chosen individuals that managed to survive them, like the biblical Noah. Continue reading →

Something wicked this way comes

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In the first reading for today we encounter the well-known account of Noah as he is commissioned by God to gather all living creatures that would survive the Flood. (Just for the record, please note that Noah collected seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of unclean animals.) But the reading begins ominously: “When the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.” (Gen 6:5-7) Continue reading →