This coming Sunday is the 8th Sunday in Lectionary Cycle C. Again we are considering the “Sermon on the Plains” from the Gospel of Luke. Most years we do not celebrate the 8th Sunday because we will have already begun Lent. But this year, on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday (2022) we again engage Jesus’ preparation of his disciples for mission. Continue reading
Did you catch the language of the second reading when St. Paul talks about “the first Adam” and “the last Adam?” It is his reference to our human nature and, with God’s grace, our possibilities. St. Paul talks about the first Adam being an earthly creature – and that is a good thing. When God created this world, he pronounced his work to be good – and when we created the first Adam and Eve, he pronounced his work to be very good. We are the work of the divine potter who knew us before we were created in our mother’s womb. We are part of that divine, creative outpouring of love that is how and why the world was created and what sustains the world in being…. and yet it was through Adam and Eve that sin entered the world. And in the millennia since, we have all participated in sins from the most grave of mortal sins to that “little white lie” and “harmless gossip.” Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet had it right: “What a piece of work man is…” The deck was stacked in our favor by a loving God and yet we do what we do…Yikes! Continue reading
The days of the secreted and persecuted church during the 2nd and 3rd centuries were long gone when the Roman Empire fell in the late 5th century. The Latin church found itself increasingly needed in secular affairs and seduced by them. By the Renaissance period of the 15th century, the millennium had long let loose the siren’s cry of secular power, national politics, and a host of other factors. This lead to the formation of the Papal States, the rise of a courtly Roman Curia comprised mainly of lay nobility, a complex means of funding the increasing “empire” of the Church, and a culture of corruption, moral laxity, and an obscuring of the lines between the holy and the secular. In the mix there were saintly popes and popes with, shall we say, other foci, aspirations, and intentions. The church was unknowingly on what the historian Barbara Tuchman would famously call “the march of folly.” The march reached its zenith in the last six popes before the Protestant Reformation(s). The folly of the papacy and the Roman Curia, pursuing secular goals at the expense of its spiritual mission, bewilderingly ignored the growing outrage and distrust of common people seeking some assurance of salvation – which they found in the theological focus of the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther. The papal/curial folly gave birth to the Reformation(s). The six popes highlighted over the next several weeks were the ones occupying the Chair of Peter in the 50 years preceding the Protestant Reformations that swept through Europe in the 16th century. They were the last pontiffs over a united western Christianity Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time in which we are reading the second part of the “Sermon on the Plains” that began in Luke 6:17
From David Lose: So after setting out his crazy – at least according to our experience in the world – vision for the Christian life, he does two things. First, he assails the logic of the kingdom of the world. How can we honor things we do out of our own self interest? Doing good to those who do good to us, loving those who love us, may be the norm, but it is essentially self-centered and nothing to be admired or emulated. And following in that pattern won’t move us beyond the violence-saturated and scarcity-driven history of the world. We have to find a new way forward.
Second, he offers the only motivation strong enough to withstand the pull of the culture to look out first and foremost for our own interests and invite us to take that new path. He point us, that is, to the very nature of God – the one who is merciful and loving even to those who don’t deserve it.
And that includes us.
The only thing that invites love that transcends self-interest, you see, is being loved. And the one thing that prompts mercy that is not self-serving is receiving mercy. So Jesus directs our attention to God, the one who abounds in compassion, mercy, love, and forgiveness.
And because that’s so hard for us to believe, Jesus ultimately won’t just talk about that love, he’ll show it, spreading his arms wide upon the cross to offer God’s loving embrace to each and all of us.
If you grew up in the South in the 1950s and 1960s and were Catholic, you were someone who needed to be saved, at least in the estimation of your Reformed, Protestant and Evangelical brothers and sisters. Anytime was the right time to ask “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior” – at the post office, the gas station, or the local Piggly-Wiggly (and “yes” it is a real store and not a fictional name created for the movies). Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time in which we are reading the second part of the “Sermon on the Plains” that began in Luke 6:17. In v.35 ff Jesus repeats the triplet of love, doing good, and lending/giving as challenges the listener to exercise all three actions freely, without obligation, and without the expectation of return. He is advocating an inversion of the social norms in order to establish a new people, a new family of different ethic and calling. What is the motivation? “…expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High” Note that this is still “something given in return” but not from the act of one’s beneficial act or the gratitude of the recipient, rather, it is God who rewards them. In a new way, God becomes the great benefactor and protector, but not in a contractual manner – but in a covenantal way. It is not an exchange of goods or services or favor, but a giving of oneself wholly to the other even as the other gives one wholly to you. Continue reading
We continue with our consideration of the Letter of James that comprises our first readings this week. In today’s reading the community is being reminded (perhaps admonished) that the meaning of “all are welcomed” is to not make distinctions between the poor and rich members of the community. I am sure that dynamic remains a part of parish life to some degree large or small. But the problem of “partiality” that is more prevalent in our times is welcoming the stranger, the visitor, the person not known to us that joins us in Sunday worship. Continue reading
My Franciscan brother, Casey Cole OFM, has a great video (actually, lots of great content) on his YouTube channel that takes a look at second part of the great commandment about love. It begins with a TikTok video in which a very cute little girl, on camera, is asked by her mom if the little girl thinks of herself as smart (Yes!), strong (Yea!), brave (Yea!), pretty (Yea!), kind….. and then the little girl pause, looks away, and responds, “Not really.” The moment is unexpected, honest, and a challenge to us all. Take a pause this morning and watch Fr. Casey’s video. Better yet subscribe to his YouTube channel!
This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time in which we are reading the second part of the “Sermon on the Plains” that began in Luke 6:17. In yesterday’s post we considered the “golden rule,” patronage, and the law of retaliation. How will the wisdom of love called for by Jesus operate in such a milieu? Continue reading
In today’s first reading we read: “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, his religion is vain” (James 1:26)
The tongue, speech more broadly in our understanding, is a mighty thing. We are people driven by very strong reactions and emotions. The tongue can become unbridled. It can teach, counsel, praise, bolster, speak words of love, give comfort and assurance, offer peace, forgive and more. It can gossip, slander, criticize, condemn, and more. It is fueled by emotion, shock, hurt and other events. Continue reading
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