Monthly Archives: February 2024

The Encounter

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This coming Sunday is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the previous post we located our reading in the flow of Mark’s gospel and discussed some of the implications of having leprosy in 1st century Israel. The healing of the leper is a remarkable scene, full of marked contrasts. It is a fitting conclusion to Mark’s first chapter. The powerful but misunderstood Messiah is approached directly by a person who is normally denied any contact with healthy people. This outcast’s trust in Jesus is met by the pity and power of his touch and word. However, the leper’s exhilaration at his cure is dampened by a stern repetition of Jesus’ prohibitive messianic secret: “Tell no one anything!” (v. 44). (Only the priest is to know, because only his word can allow the outcast to re-enter the society from which his sickness has kept him.) Continue reading →

The Temple of the Lord

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Did the first reading for today make you feel like you were dropped into the middle of a movie and you want to lean over to your friend and ask, “What’s going on?” The reading is from the 1st Book of Kings and describes a key event in the history of ancient Israel. King David wanted to build a “house” (temple, tabernacle) for the Lord, but instead God promised to build David a “house” (dynasty from which would come the Messiah). Nonetheless, King David brought the Ark of the Covenant (but not the Tent of Meeting which was still in Gibeon) to Jerusalem (1 Chron 5). There he built a “tent” to house the Ark (1 Chron 21). The building of the “house” (permanent Tent of Meeting – we know as the Jerusalem Temple) was left to David’s son King Solomon. The plans for the Temple are described in 1 Chronicles 22-28, but the construction and dedication of the Temple is one of the major topics of 2 Chronicles. And by the way, Kings and Chronicles overlap on the story line with Chronicle providing more details and information about some events. Continue reading →

Transgressor of the Boundaries

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This next Sunday is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. The Markan narrative continues to move along. Our gospel for this Sunday is still early in the first major section of Mark’s Gospel which extends from 1:14 to 3:6, and describes the initial phase of the Galilean ministry. A quick summary of events so far include: the calling of the first disciples, Jesus’ ministry in and around Capernaum, taught with authority in the synagogue in Capernaum so that the people “were astonished at his teaching”, cast out a demon from a possessed person, healing Peter’s Mother-in-law, and later that same day healing all the sick that were brought to him. Then we read from last Sunday’s gospel: Continue reading →

Are we asking the right question?

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This weekend our pastor is preaching at all the Masses for the Bishop’s annual Lenten appeal – so I have a homiletic homily (so to speak). I thought it might be good to provide some context for this very somber and sobering first reading from the Book of Job. Take a moment and read the first two chapters of Job. It should only take you a few minutes. Continue reading →

The Decision to Leave Capernaum

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 35 Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and those who were with him pursued him 37 and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” 39 So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.  Continue reading →

Ready for another day

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While the nation celebrates Groundhog Day, we as a church celebrate the Feast of the Presentation as recounted in today’s gospel. St. Luke’s narration is of the Presentation in the Temple. The presentation that was required 40 days after Jesus’ nativity to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth, and to perform the redemption of the firstborn son, in obedience to the Torah (cf. Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12–15). It is then and there that the Holy Family encountered Simeon who had waited a lifetime. Then suddenly Jesus was there. Continue reading →

The Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 29 On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. 31 He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. 

The connection with the preceding incident is explicit, indicating that the healing occurred upon the Sabbath. Tradition holds that the house shared by Simon and Andrew was not far from the synagogue at Capernaum. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law is brief and to the point. The few details contained are told from Peter’s point of view, and not once is the name of Jesus introduced into the account. It is not possible to know what disease had caused the illness of Peter’s mother-in-law, for in the ancient world fever was regarded as an independent disease and not as a distress accompanying a variety of illnesses. In response to the disciples’ request (v.30), Jesus stood beside the bed, seized the woman’s hand and lifted her up. The fever was removed and there was no trace of the weakness which could be expected under normal circumstances. As so often in the gospel narrative, the touch of Jesus brought instant healing: and she waited on them.

Restoring Position. I think modern minds are a bit surprised that the woman seems to immediately rise and begin to serve the guests of her son-in-law. But we have a different sense of hospitality. In 1st century Palestine, serving/hosting such a notable person as Jesus would have been something the matron of the house would have insisted upon as a matter of rightful place and honor. Perkins (Mark, 546) writes: Continue reading →