For many years I have “plugged away” at writing commentaries that are not overly technical, but help to give more depth and context to the verses being considered. Sometimes the daily Mass readings reveal “gaps” in my coverage of a particular gospel writer. Today’s gospel is one of those occurrences. So… I filled in one of the gaps. Continue reading
The gospel for today is a very short reading from the Gospel of Luke:
Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words. (Luke 19:45-48)
In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans he quickly addresses gentile people’s culpability for knowing – or at least having an strong inclination of – the one true God given they did not have the benefit of the covenant relationship with Him. Paul writes: “For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:19-22) Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel. Pheme Perkins [694] offers a final thought on apocalyptic speculation and doing the will of God as a disciple. Continue reading
Today is the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours perhaps best described as a reluctant solider, reluctant bishop, but ever a servant of the people of God. The first reading for the Memorial is taken from the Book of Wisdom 7:22 and following. It is not often easy to post about a reading taken from Wisdom. So often the text does not easily stand alone, but still, it is an amazing part of Scripture that should be read and reflected upon more often. But today’s has an interesting feature.
Continue readingThis coming Sunday is the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel. Today let us consider:
32 “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. 35 Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. 36 May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
Today is the feast day of St. Pope Leo the Great. The gospel reading is the familiar Lukan account of the 10 lepers who encounter Jesus on the way and are healed – yet only one returns to give thanks to God. There is a lot that can be said of the reading, but let me mention but one: boundaries. “….As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.” (Luke 11:17) In the one simple verse, we are reminded of the divided tribes of Israel. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel. Today we consider: “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Mark 13:28-31) Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel. Today, let us consider: “But in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather (his) elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. (Mark 13:24-27) Continue reading
The gospel for 1st Sunday in Advent (2020) was Mark 13:32-37. Now at the end of the liturgical year, the reading again appears this coming Sunday, the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel (13:1-37). In the Gospel of Mark there is no passage more challenging than the prophetic discourse of Jesus on the destruction of the Temple. The questions posed by the form and content of the chapter and by its relationship to the Gospel as a whole are complex and difficult and have been the occasion of extensive literature. The Olivet discourse is unique as the longest uninterrupted course of private instruction recorded by Mark. Moreover, it is the only extended speech attributed to Jesus by the evangelist. Continue reading
