Category Archives: Musings

And what about us?

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Today’s gospel is a very familiar one and is part of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry according to the Gospel of Luke. The scene is set in a local synagogue and Jesus is asked to read from the Scriptures. as seems to have been the tradition, the invited reader was able to select a passage. Jesus chose to read from the Prophet Isaiah (61:1):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Certainly the passage is meant to be understood by the listeners (and us!) as Jesus’ public testimony that he is the long awaited anointed one, the Christos. As the passage continues the listeners quickly move to “who does he think he is” and try to throw Jesus off a cliff as punishment for his blasphemy. I think the trajectory of the account quickly leaves the citation from Isaiah in the “rear view.”‘

What about us? Take some time and read Isaiah 61. The Word of the Lord is being spoken to the people of Israel in their Babylonian Exile. It is not only a promise of return to Jerusalem, but it is also a challenge of “if you say you are the People of God, then here is what I expect.” Just as Jesus promised glad tidings to the poor, liberty to those captive, sight to those blinded, and freedom from burdens – we are anointed by our baptism to offer those things in our age.

Today, in the midst of pandemic fatigue, viral uncertainty, and the loss of “normal,” we need glad tidings and to be people who bring glad tidings. We are captive to the pandemic, burdened by the necessary safety precautions, find it hard to see an end, and simply want to be free to hug family and friends. And yet, we are called to be Christ for one another, to bring the light of Christ into our lives and lives of others.

What about us? How will we fulfill our baptismal vows in which we too were anointed with Spirit of the Lord? There is a people in a modern captivity of this pandemic that need to hear the Good News.

A moment of darkness

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Someone contacted me (via email) last evening expressing their concern that my re-posting of Calumny (re-posted) was a bit over the top as it, in their mind, drew a comparison between the “stop the steal” movement and the unfolding of events in post-1918 Germany that lead to the fall of democracy. That was not my intent – it was a discussion of the teaching of the Catholic Church on the moral consequences of the sin of calumny. Those consequences are simply a matter of history with all the people of the world paying a horrific price. And today is another event of history in which people stormed the US Capitol Building.  It is an ominous sign of the effects of calumny in our time and place and its complete disregard for the truth. I believe it is but a moment of darkness, the will of the people will prevail, but we should never forget this moment.

In this moment, let us pray for peace, a peaceful transition of power – let us use words of prayer that uplift and heal.

Our Fears

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17 In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

Verse 17 tells us how to have something everybody wants to have. And v.18 tells us how to get rid of something everybody wants to get rid of. We, of course, do not like to talk about fear. We do everything we can to be free from it. Yet fear is an essential part of human existence and, like it or not, some fear will accompany us, always and everywhere, until the end. Continue reading →

Calumny (re-posted)

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This originally posted in early December 2020 amidst all the “stop the steal” chatter – which has reached a crescendo not imagined. I thought the post worth repeating. We are morally bound to our words.

“Calumny” is not a word that finds common usage in most people’s everyday vocabulary. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines “calumny” as “the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another’s reputation.” The word came into English in the 15th century and comes from the Middle French word calomnie of the same meaning. Calomnie, in turn, derives from the Latin word calumnia, (meaning “false accusation,” “false claim,” or “trickery”), which itself traces to the Latin verb calvi, meaning “to deceive.” Calumny made an appearance in these famous words from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go.” Hamlet is basically tormenting poor Ophelia. He tells her that, as a woman, she will never escape slander.

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Tireless Love

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When asked how they could possibly feed so many people, Jesus said to disciples “in reply, ‘Give them some food yourselves.’” I often think of this as the scriptural equivalent of “how do you eat an elephant?” One bite at the time. How are we to minister to the overwhelming number of needs in our life and communities? One person at a time… always knowing the we do so we the grace of God, the love of Christ, and community of the Holy Spirit.

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of St. John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia and the first male US citizen canonized. Neumann began life in Bohemia. He was a good son and excellent student. He entered the seminary in 1831 for his local diocese. But in his second year he was enthralled with the call for priests to serve in the United States – especially among the German-speaking peoples.

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A Light in the Darkness

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“…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”

Today the Church in the United States celebrates St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American to be named a saint. Born in 1774 she was born into privilege among the prominent people of New York City. She was not born into a Catholic family, but was raised in a dedicated Episcopal family. The practice of the faith was sustaining for her family and Elizabeth. Which was good, as her story is one of a slow unraveling of privilege, security, and family. Her mother died when Elizabeth was three years old. Her father remarried and her new stepmother introduced Elizabeth into social outreach to the poor and sick as a ministry of the church. But that marriage eventually failed. The stepmother left with her own children as Elizabeth’s father moved to London for further medical studies. Elizabeth entered a time of great darkness in her life, grieving the loss of father and a second mother.

“…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”

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The Complicated Epiphany

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Epiphany1January 3rd is the day we typically call “Three Kings Day,” more formally known as The Epiphany.  Epiphany is derived from a Greek word ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, meaning “manifestation,” and refers, generally, to Jesus being manifested to the gentile visitors from the East.  But in truth it is more complicated than that.  What is striking is that there are a variety of liturgical celebrations and dates that are all part of our rich Catholic tradition surrounding “Epiphany.”

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Pope Francis on Mary, Mother of God

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“Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19).  In these words, Luke describes the attitude with which Mary took in all that they had experienced in those days.  Far from trying to understand or master the situation, Mary is the woman who can treasure, that is to say, protect and guard in her heart, the passage of God in the life of his people.  Deep within, she had learned to listen to the heartbeat of her Son, and that in turn taught her, throughout her life, to discover God’s heartbeat in history.  She learned how to be a mother, and in that learning process she gave Jesus the beautiful experience of knowing what it is to be a Son.  In Mary, the eternal Word not only became flesh, but also learned to recognize the maternal tenderness of God.  With Mary, the God-Child learned to listen to the yearnings, the troubles, the joys and the hopes of the people of the promise.  With Mary, he discovered himself a Son of God’s faithful people. Continue reading →

My two cents worth

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And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14; New American Bible) The phrase “made his dwelling among us” is translated several different ways: (translation, Bible)

  • “made his dwelling” NAB, NIV
  • “lived among us” NJB, NSRV, GNT, ISV
  • “dwelt among us” ESV, NASB, NKJ, ADV, DRB
  • “made his home” NLT
  • “lived here with us” CEV
  • “did tabernacle among us” YLT

That last one is from Young’s Literal Translation. It probably struck you as odd. But here’s my two cents worth: “pitched his tent among us.”  The word used is eskēnōsen from skēnoō, “to dwell in a tent” – and it associated word skēnōma meaning “tent.” (Ref: Balz, Horst Robert, and Gerhard Schneider. Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament 1990: 252, 253)

I like my translation (however unqualified). It is graphic and telling just how “down in the dirt with us” is the Son of God. And that is love. Just saying…