Category Archives: Musings

Perseverance

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Today’s first reading is taken from Hebrews 12 beginning with verse 4. This long passage of exhortation that follows needs to be understood in the context of yesterday’s reading which included vv.1-2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us 2 while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.  Continue reading →

In case you were wondering…

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From a scan of today’s news:

  • Manatee Country Florida has reported a pond containing nearly 400 goldline snakehead fish, an invasive species able to air breath for a period of time, transport itself over dry land, and aggressively hunt frogs.
  • A green comet is making a pass-by earth (no worries – 26 million mile away). Actually it is a return fly-by having last visited during the Neanderthal period. It is about a mile across with it “tail” extending several million miles. The green comes from the carbon cloud surrounding the nucleus of the comet.
  • Just detected days ago, Asteroid “2023BU” will pass within 2,200 miles of earth before passing on. It is about the size of a truck and was discovered by Gennadiy Borisov, an amateur astronomer from Crimea. In case you’d like to watch the fly-by. the Virtual Telescope Project broadcast the event on its website and YouTube channel.
  • At the local Publix store in Stafford VA, organic, free-ranging, etc. eggs were less expensive than most commercial eggs.
  • Lastly, at the center of things, scientists believe the the molten core of the earth seems to be ready to shift speed and/or perhaps relative rotational direction. This may sound like a setup for a world-wrecking, blockbuster movie. But fret not: Precisely nothing apocalyptic will result from this planetary spin cycle, which may have been happening for eons.

A House Divided

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In today’s gospel Jesus proclaims, “...if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” (Mark 3:25). The gospel says it I believe it, my experience reveals it to be true, it makes sense – and ultimately such divided houses do indeed fall. But it is my experience that sometimes it takes a long time to collapse and in the interim, living in the house is an increasingly difficult and unpleasant time. Continue reading →

Shepherd and Kings

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Children’s Mass | Ezekiel 34:11-16 and Luke 15:1-7

This coming Sunday is Word of God Sunday when the Catholic Church celebrates the great gift of the Bible. We celebrate the stories from the Old Testament like the one this morning from the Prophet Ezekiel as well as our Gospel from St. Luke. But more importantly we celebrate that all these stories are one unified story that all lead to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Continue reading →

Anchor of the Soul

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The first reading is taken from Hebrews chapter 6:10 and following, but the larger context for the writer’s thought begins at Hebrews 5:11 where a metaphor is employed, one familiar then and now: that of milk and solid food, little children and adults. The basic problem is that those hearing this word are receiving it as children, when they should be teachers. The problem is that the hearers are refusing to grow up in their understanding of Christianity. They are stuck at the level of the ABCs and worse, they need someone to again teach them the ABCs of the faith. Continue reading →

Makes me wonder….

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In Matthew 10 we can read: “Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”  I think when lots of people hear that their first thought is … well, sometimes I have no idea of their first thought. Makes me wonder….

The challenge of those few lines brings one to the intersection of responsibility and desire.As a Christian, do you think it is your responsibility to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven at hand? Do you think, “well… that is the job of the priest or the religious sister or brother.” Pretty sure that command is for the baptized. We are all called, be it by word or deed, to be part of the infusion of excitement and energy about the Faith into the lives of people. Continue reading →

They understood

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In today’s gospel Jesus when a paralytic’s friend bring him to Jesus, the first response is: “‘Child, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, ‘Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?‘” (Mark 2:5-7). They understood exactly Jesus’ claim. They didn’t accept that Jesus could forgive sins, but they completely understood what Jesus was saying. The Pharisees had been taken to the crossroads with three choices. Jesus was either liar, lunatic or Lord. They were not leaning towards option #3. Continue reading →

Serpent in the Garden

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From our earliest days we were told the story of Adam and Eve’s temptation by the serpent in the garden. In children’s books there is often the quick explanation that the serpent is the devil/satan tempting the first humans. To be clear this earliest of accounts in Genesis 3 does not refer explicitly to Satan (which by the way is never used as a proper name in Scripture). The tempter is simply called a nāḥāš, which is a common Hebrew word for a serpent, used a total of 31 times in the OT. There is perhaps a sinister nuance possible as seen in the Hebrew word for serpent (nāḥāš) if it is to be connected with the verb nāḥaš, “to practice divination, observe signs,” a verb that appears eleven times in the OT. In the ancient Near East such divination formulae frequently involved a serpent. Continue reading →

Both And

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The first readings for this week are taken from the Letter to the Hebrews. The psalms are ones that speak of the covenant of God with his people. The gospels are taken from the earliest days of Jesus’ public ministry when he confronts the chaos, disorder and evil in the world, seen in the unclean spirits, illness, leprosy, and paralysis to which he brings release, freedom, and restoration of what God intended – that man be whole. Continue reading →