Category Archives: Musings

There is only One

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Today’s first reading is from the Book of Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah, presenting Moses’ farewell speeches to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. Structured as a renewal of the Covenant, Deuteronomy restates the Law given at Sinai, calling the people to fidelity, obedience, and love for the Lord. It emphasizes the heart of Israel’s relationship with God—not merely external compliance, but covenant loyalty shaped by memory, gratitude, and reverence. 

In our first reading Moses reminds the  people of Israel’s unique experience of God’s direct action in history with them. It was not the interaction with some remote unknown deity. They have had a personal experience of God,  “the LORD, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity” (Ex 34:6) That experience shaped them (and us) as religious people.

We would do well to pause and consider the landscape of religions across time up to now. How do they compare with the claims Christianity makes about God? Perhaps a short review is in order.

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Listen to Him

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The Feast of the Transfiguration is one of those Gospel scenes that almost overwhelms us with beauty. Jesus, radiant with divine light. Moses and Elijah appeared in glory. The mountain enveloped in a cloud—the biblical sign of God’s presence. And the Father’s voice from heaven.

It’s no wonder Peter is caught up in the awe of the moment. “Master,” he says, “it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents.” In other words: Let’s stay here. Let’s not go back down. Let’s preserve this moment forever.

Peter speaks for many of us. When life is full of light and peace, when prayer feels rich, when faith is consoling—we want to build our tents and stay put. We want the mountain without the valley. The glory without the Cross. The vision without obedience to the Word. We want Jesus the shining Savior, not Jesus the suffering servant.

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At large

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One of my daily emails comes from the good folks at Merriam Webster – “Word of the Day.” Most days I recognize the word and know its definition but there is always the etymology section of the email that traces its origin. It is perpetually fascinating to me how words and associated meaning morph and change. “We now recognize that a mouse isn’t always a rodent, and that the web might not be made by spiders. We understand cookie and bug as software today just as easily as we recognize their older meanings; context is the key to understanding words with several meanings.”

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Hidden Motives

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The first reading for today is one that is often quickly passed over. In part because it is in a book of the Old Testament which seems distant, filled with too many strange names, and there is often a sentiment of “let’s just move on to Jesus.” I have read it several times, but didn’t stop to delve into the passage. Probably a good time for me to do so.

The account centers around Moses and his brother Aaron and Aaron’s wife Miraiam. At the core of the story Miriam and Aaron complained, “Is it through Moses alone that the LORD speaks? Does he not speak through us also?” As a result, the Lord “calls them on the carpet” (so to speak – actually he calls them to the Tent of Meeting) and lets them know in no uncertain terms that Moses is the one who God has commissioned to act and speak on His behalf to the Israelites. “Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?” So angry was the LORD against them that when he departed, and the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white leper!”

How are we to understand this passage? And why is only Miriam affected? As a result she is going to be placed “outside the camp” apart from family and the people. No small thing in a wilderness environment.

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The End of One’s Rope

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In the first reading for today, it seems as though Moses has reached “the end of his rope.” We encounter one of Moses’ most raw and human moments—bordering on what may seem like a “pity party,” but is really a profound leadership crisis. A leadership that Moses was likely unprepared for and had to grow into the role. There was no mentor, no role model. He had been asked to do God’s work to free the Israelites from slavery. At this point, his encounters with Pharaoh are over and he has led the people from Egypt into the wilderness. The thrill of their freedom has worn thin and they begin complaining—again—particularly about food. They’re tired of the manna and cry out for meat.

“The riffraff among them were so greedy for meat that even the Israelites lamented again, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.'” (Nb 11:4-5; the reading leaves out the first part of v.4)

The nostalgia for Egypt is ironic—they remember the food but not the slavery. The people’s constant complaining and lack of gratitude push him to the edge – Moses is overwhelmed

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Where Heaven and Earth Meet

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In the first reading today (from Exodus 40) we hear of the “Dwelling” or the “tent of meeting” also known as the Tabernacle. It was a “portable” sanctuary used by the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness – portable in the way a large meeting tent can be erected, taken down and transported. It was not a small tent.

Exodus 36, 37, 38 and 39 that describe in full detail how the actual construction of the tabernacle took place during the time of Moses. It is a part of the Bible when readers quickly start turning pages to “get back to the action” of Exodus. But let us pause for a moment and consider the Dwelling that is detailed extensively in the Book of Exodus.

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What we treasure

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In our gospel for today, Jesus gives two short parables today—simple, vivid, and deeply challenging. They’re about people who find something so valuable that they are willing to give up everything else to possess it. One finds a treasure in a field. Another finds a pearl of great price. In both cases, the person sells all they have in order to gain the one thing that matters most.

The point is not hard to grasp: the kingdom of heaven is worth everything. Not just some things. Not just a Sunday here and there. Not just the parts of my life I’m comfortable letting go of. Everything.

If we’re honest, most of us are tempted to hold something back. A corner of our heart we don’t want God to touch. A grudge we don’t want to forgive. A comfort we don’t want to lose. A habit we don’t want to surrender. Maybe even a good thing—family, work, reputation—that we allow to crowd out the call to discipleship.

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The Heart of God

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“So the LORD passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed: ‘The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but bringing punishment for their parents’ wickedness on the children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation.’” (Exodus 34:6–7)

Today is the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. There are two gospel options. A reading from John 11 recounting the scene around the death and raising of Lazarus, or a passage from Luke 10 recounting the story of Martha and Mary during a visit by Jesus. In both passages there are lots of questions asked of Jesus. I am reminded of a passage from St. John of the Cross’ Ascent of Mt. Carmel in which St. John offers:

“In giving us His Son, His only Word (for He possesses no other), He has spoken everything to us at once in this sole Word—and He has no more to say… because what He spoke before to the prophets in parts, He has now spoken all at once by giving us the All who is His Son. Therefore, anyone who now wants to question God or desires some vision or revelation is not only acting foolishly but is also offending Him, by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty. For if God wished to speak a word, it was no other than His Son. He is the complete Word, and there is no more to be said.…” (Book 2, Chapter 22)  

The author goes on to explain that in the person of Jesus all that is knowable about God that we can comprehend has been given to us in the person of Jesus.

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Earthen Vessels

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“But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” 2 Cor 4:7

St. Paul speaks with remarkable honesty about the fragile condition of human life and discipleship. We are, he says, like jars of clay, earthen vessels—ordinary, breakable, imperfect. And yet, within us is a treasure: the presence and power of the Risen Christ. The contrast is deliberate. God’s glory is not hidden by our weakness—it shines through it.

St. James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John, was among the first called by Jesus. He was also one of the first to drink the cup of martyrdom. Though chosen and close to Christ—present at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane—James was not a perfect man. Along with his brother, he once asked for a place of honor in Christ’s Kingdom (cf. Mark 10:37). Matthew’s gospel has his mother make the request. Yet it was precisely through the transformation of his ambitions, through suffering and service, that James became a true vessel of the Gospel.

Paul continues, “We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair… always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.” (vv. 8, 10)

Christian life is not an escape from suffering; it is a path through suffering toward resurrection. Like James, we are called to remain near the Cross, to carry the dying of Jesus in our own bodies—through sacrifice, endurance, and fidelity. But we also carry His life. The trials we face are not the end of the story. The final word belongs to grace.

Paul ends with a word of hope and purpose: “Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.” (v. 15)

Our trials, our witness, even our weaknesses can serve God’s glory when offered in faith. We do not need to be flawless—we need to be faithful. Like James and so many CHristian before us, we are called to recognize the treasure within, to proclaim the Resurrection with courage, and to let thanksgiving overflow from our lives.

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