This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In biblical thought, only God walks on the sea (Job 9:8 – “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the back of the sea”; Ps 77:20 – “Through the sea was your way; your path, through the mighty waters, though your footsteps were unseen.”). But by treading on the sea, Jesus now takes a role that the Hebrew Bible had reserved for God alone. Continue reading
In today’s first reading rebellious Israel finally crosses the point of no return… so to speak. If you have been following the first readings for daily Mass, you have seen the long brewing balance of Israel’ rebellion being met with God’s faithfulness. While still at the foot of Mt. Sinai they rebelled and wanted to know why God/Moses had brought them out into the dessert to die of hunger – plus there was the incident of the golden calf. God provided manna and quail. Continue reading
I like science and I like science fiction. So, it is always interesting when Sci-Fi uses advanced concepts of physics to animate the plots of the television shows or movies. There are several episodes of various Star Trek series that have referred to or explored the concept of quantum entanglement. Here are a few instances where quantum entanglement is mentioned or featured in Star Trek – of course I haven’t explained quantum entanglement, but maybe the way the term is used might give you insight: Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this post we catch up with the disciples who have shoved off into the Sea of Galilee at Jesus’ command. With apologies to the writer Daniel James Brown, I have borrowed the title to his 2013 book on the nine young men from the University of Washington and their epic journey through the Great Depression seeking a gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. If you have not read it, put it on your “must read” list. Continue reading
When I was a lad, the duration of time between December 1st and Christmas Day bordered on the infinite. The duration of time measured by normal standards (Sun, moon, chronometers, etc) remains the same, but the experience has been altered. What was once near infinite is now trending towards no time at all. In some sense, each of us has our own “inner time” unrelated to the passing of hours, days, and years on clocks and calendars. I had often thought it was related to some latent ratio of the duration and the time lived. For example, the 25 days until Christmas is a significant percentage of the entire life of a six-year old child; not so much for a septuagenarian. What lasts forever for the six-year old is the blink of an eye to grandfather. While that may be true at some level, there are more technical explanations being offered these days. Continue reading
In today’s first reading we read about the curious incident wherein Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses: “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman.” (Num 12:1) The reason for the complaint that Moses has married a Cushite woman is obscure, since there is no evidence for a marriage other than with Zipporah, a Midianite (Ex 2). Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Matthew is known for his use of “fulfillment” in his gospel. Notable is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the “great prophet like Moses” who was to come as Messiah. There is also another theme that arises in this content. Matthew is the one gospel writer who uses the term ekklesia, the word which means “church.”
This week “Vol. 3” of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies was released to streaming on Disney+. It is light-hearted sci-fi action fun. I was going to write a synopsis of the three movies, but it is enough to say the leader of the Guardians, Peter Quill, Star Lord (he wants everyone to call him that but no one does – he just wanted a really cool nickname…) … where was I… oh, yeah. In every one of the movies he ends up in space without all or some part of a space suit. Continue reading
If you have been following along with the daily readings at Mass, you know that the first readings have been following the 12 tribes of Jacob as they escaped slavery in Egypt, received the Ten Commandments, fashioned a golden calf, and spent a lot of time complaining, grumbling and being unhappy – especially with Moses’ leadership and God’s providence. Yet… God still desired to be present to them, to be with them in the journey. The reading on Thursday last was all about the construction of the Tent of Meeting and how it is the restoration of human access to the Holy Place where heaven and earth meet. That was all contained in the Book of Leviticus. We turn the pages of daily first readings and suddenly we are in the Book of Numbers. Take a moment and watch this short video overview of the 4th book of the Old Testament and see the overarching story that is playing out: Book of Numbers Summary: A Complete Animated Overview. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle A. Most often the first post in the series is “Context,” but given the nautical setting of the story, “getting our bearings” seemed more appropriate. After the collection of parables in Mt 13, the following chapter takes up what might well be a natural fall out of his teachings that are increasingly vague even as they point to coming judgment – weeds that will be burned and fish that will be discarded. People begin to wonder if Jesus is pronouncing judgment upon them or their “group.” Continue reading
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