Thanksgiving Blessings to you and your family!
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Daily Archives: November 22, 2023
Knowledge of Mercy
In the morning prayer of the Divine Office, we began with Psalm 36: “Sin speaks to the heart of the sinner in the depths of his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. He so flatters himself in his mind that he knows not his guilt… all wisdom is gone. He plots the defeat of goodness..”
Being Irish Catholic and a product of Catholic elementary and high school, there is no chance that I do not know my guilt. One can only hope that there is a residue of wisdom, Given that personally I am a big fan of goodness, plotting its defeat is not something that is in the cards. I am not saying I don’t bruise goodness from time to time, but it was never part of a large insidious plot. Continue reading
The Providence of God
I am grateful for a day in which we, as a people, pause to give thanks. And who do we have to thank for this holiday? Your answer is likely “The Pilgrims.” You would not be wrong, but then not completely correct, either. Certainly, Thanksgiving and the religious response of giving thanks to God is as old as time. When one considers enduring cultures, one always finds men and women working out their relationship to God. There is almost always a fourfold purpose to our acts of worship: adoration, petition, atonement, thanksgiving. Such worship is part and parcel of life. And yet, there is still a very human need to specially celebrate and offer thanksgiving on key occasions and anniversaries. Since medieval times, we have very detailed records of celebrations marking the end of an epidemic, liberation from sure and certain doom, the signing of a peace treaty, and more. Continue reading
The Man Who Would Be King
“The Man Who Would Be King” is a story by Rudyard Kipling. This is not that story, but today’s gospel. If this gospel sounds super familiar, it should be. This is the parable of the gold coins as told by St. Luke. Just this previous Sunday, the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, our gospel was the parallel in the Gospel of Mattew, the parable of the Talents. If you are so inclined, you can read my Sunday homily on the gospel. Continue reading
Separating the flock
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King: 32 And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. The distinction and division in the end times does not make its first appearance here at the end of Matthew. The image has recurred in many different contexts in this gospel; to note several instances: 7:13–27; 8:11–12; 10:32–33; 13:40–43, 49–50; 16:25–26 and the whole of 24:36–25:30. Now it is underlined by an image perhaps based on Ezek 34:17 where God, the shepherd, judges between different members of his flock. In the Middle East sheep and goats were (and are) often pastured in mixed flocks. Continue reading
Fulfillment
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him.” Matthew, writing to a largely Jewish Christian audience, has, from the beginning, relied heavily on OT imagery and scenes. And as this commentary explores, and has already noted, the verses are particularly dense with OT references. Continue reading
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