Monthly Archives: January 2024

Amazement

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Today’s gospel is, in its own way, part of a thread in Mark’s gospel in which the nature of the family of God is slowly revealed.

  • In Mark 3:7-12, Jesus is calling and appointing 12 as apostles, the foundation of the family of the Church
  • In v.21, Jesus’ biological family arrives on the scene: “When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 
  • In v.35, we hear Jesus proclaim: “Here are my mother and my brothers. [For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Between chapters 3 and 6, the “family” grows as people witness the teachings and mighty deeds/miracles of Jesus and come to believe in Jesus. Continue reading →

Are we cheated?

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Pheme Perkins (Mark, 546) raises the following questions: “How can we read these stories about Jesus, the exorcist and healer, without feeling cheated? God or Jesus has only to will it, and a person is healed. Does God will that person’s suffering? If anything would make Jesus angry, it would surely be the charge that God wills the suffering and evil in our world” Continue reading →

Fear and Trust

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In today’s gospel we encounter the well known stories of the Daughter of Jairus and the hemorrhaging woman. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus is closely involved with women nine times. Today’s gospel captures two of those interactions. with two of Jesus’ more moving encounters with women. Both stories begin with someone seeking out Jesus, the healer. Both stories end in the cure of a person who had been hopelessly sick. Continue reading →

More than meets the eye

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. It is very easy to simply note that Jesus cured Peter’s mother-in-law, be swept along in Mark’s breathless pace, and wonder if there is more to the story than meets the eye. Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man: A Political reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, 141) raises this question at the beginning of his comments on Mark 1:21-39:

These “miracle” stories raise important issues of interpretation. Is Jesus simply “curing” the physically sick and the mentally disturbed? If so, why would such a ministry of compassion raise the ire of the local authorities?

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Forgiveness

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The recent issue of the Arlington Catholic Herald, the diocesan newspaper (print and online), regularly carries a column from Mary Beth Bonacci, a syndicated Catholic columnist, who regularly writes on living out faith in everyday life.  Her recent article on Forgiveness is well worth the five minute read. Enjoy.

Image credit: Pexels

Connections

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. The narrative moves quite quickly in the Gospel according to Mark. The narrative’s pace and immediacy is one of the most notable attributes of the writing sty;le Lest one think that Mark is simply concatenating stories without a larger vision in mind, it is always good to “step back” and see the larger framework in which the Gospel account exists. Continue reading →

Anxiety and Idols

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This week, in our second reading, Paul simply writes: “I should like you to be free of anxieties.” (1 Cor 7:32).  Seriously, can I get an “Amen” to that? Wouldn’t that be awesome, to have a life without anxieties? In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us not to have anxiety about food, clothing, money and such things. God takes care of the birds in the sky and we are much more loved by our heavenly Father, so don’t worry. And yet we do.  In 1 Peter 5, we are told to give all of our anxieties and worries over to God. And yet we hang onto them. Jesus tells Martha that she is anxious about many things and points out to her the better part that her sister Mary has chosen (Luke 10:41-42). And yet… Continue reading →

Demonic Knowledge

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. That the demonic powers possess a certain knowledge of Jesus’ identity is clear from the cry of recognition, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” This statement of recognition, however, does not stand alone. It is part of a larger complex of material exhibiting a striking difference between the forms of address employed by the demoniacs and the titles used by ordinary sick individuals. The latter group appeals to Jesus as “Lord” (7:8), “Teacher” (9:17), “Son of David” (10:47–48) or “Master” (10:51). The demoniacs, however, address Jesus as “the Holy One of God” (1:24), “the Son of God” (3:11) or “the Son of the Most High God” (5:7), expressions which identify Jesus as the divine Son of God. Continue reading →