Daily Archives: September 11, 2024

Blessed are the poor

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“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.” (Luke 6:12)

Over the years I have read many and varied interpretations of this single verse that reflect a rich diversity of thought within Christian theology rooted in various theological perspectives and contexts. The focus of thought hinges on the meaning/understanding of “poor” and “Kingdom of God.” Is it a literal promise to the economically poor? Perhaps it is a spiritual call to humility. Some offer its understanding as a prophetic vision for social justice. For others its primary meaning centers or eschatological hope. Perhaps the one overlap is that most understandings emphasize God’s concern for those who are marginalized, humble, or oppressed. Continue reading →

All these years later

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Everyone remembers 9/11 differently. 93% of Americans over the age of 30 remember where they were and what they were doing when they received the news. For Americans 25 and under, the number drops of 42%. For Americans 20 years and younger, they were not yet born or not old enough to have a memory. Nonetheless 9/11 affected the nation. Want to know more? Read the Pew Research Center’s Two Decades Later, the Enduring Legacy of 9/11. Here and at your parish may we all actively remember and pray with and for 9/11 family members, survivors, and rescue and recovery workers for their service and healing.

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Who do you say that I am?

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This coming Sunday, the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, is taken from Mark 8:27-35. As the storyline reaches Caesarea Philippi, we arrive at the first major climax of Mark’s Gospel – the second being the Passion and Crucifixion. Until now, Mark has been revealing who Jesus is in the mighty deeds he has done. Along with this revelation, Mark has also reported Jesus’ reluctance to have people believe in him only because of those wondrous deeds. This Caesarea Philippi passage comes to the heart of the matter. Jesus now says explicitly that his way is a way of suffering. The way of the Messiah is the way of the cross: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (8:34) – that is perhaps getting ahead of ourselves. Continue reading →