Wisdom and Folly

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Today’s first reading from St. Paul is part of a cohesive thought that he has been building upon since the beginning of this 1st Letter to the Corinthians (which began with Friday’s readings and continues for about three weeks.) It all began after Paul left the Corinth community for new evangelizing opportunities. He received a letter from a believer named Chloe who reports problems in the community: there is quarreling in the community all carried on in the name of “wisdom” and some associated boasting about who possessed wisdom and the exact nature of the wisdom. We are picking up the conversation-in-progress, but let me offer that the major point St, Paul has already made is: Are you choosing the Wisdom of men or the Wisdom of the Cross (1:18–2:5)? Continue reading →

Transitions: taboos

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. The withdrawal of Jesus to the district of Tyre may have been for a rest (Mark 7:24), but he soon moved onward to Sidon and, by way of the Sea of Galilee, to the Decapolis. Jesus has moved from Jewish territory to the land of the Gentiles. This movement follows immediately upon the conflict with the Pharisees in which Jesus declared all foods are “clean” and do not defile – and now Jesus moves into contact with the Gentile people, who under some interpretations, are themselves unclean. Thus, to have contact with them renders one unclean. Continue reading →

The Folly of God

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Today’s first reading from St. Paul is part of a cohesive thought that he has been building upon since the beginning of this 1st Letter to the Corinthians (which began with Friday’s readings and continues for about three weeks.) It all began after Paul left the Corinth community for new evangelizing opportunities. He received a letter from a believer named Chloe who reports problems in the community: there is quarreling in the community all carried on in the name of “wisdom” and some associated boasting about who possessed wisdom and the exact nature of the wisdom. Continue reading →

Boundaries and Transitions

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. After several weeks during which we took our Gospel readings from the Bread of Life Discourse in John, last week we returned to the Gospel of Mark. When we picked up again in the Gospel of Mark, we bypassed accounts of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus walking on the water, and the healing of the crowds in Gennesaret. Last week we picked up the story with Mark’s account of the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and Jerusalem scribes. Given the conflict at the end of the Bread of Life Discourse, that was probably a good segue. Continue reading →

Cathedrals of Hope

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Yesterday was the first Saturday of the NCAA college football season for most schools, my alma mater included – the US Naval Academy. I remember the first game of my freshman (plebe) year. The opponent was Colgate. I had no idea there was a college with the name Colgate. I only knew Colgate as the family toothpaste (although I preferred Ipana and its mascot Bucky the Beaver). Continue reading →

Losing one’s way

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Losing one’s way. Not all that hard to do. You just need to stop paying attention. Don’t read the road signs. Don’t listen to your digital travel app telling you to turn. Be in the wrong lane when your interstate exit comes up. And that’s just in the world of transportation. There are lots of areas in life in which you can lose your way by just not paying attention: marriage, school, sports, career, and even one’s faith life. Continue reading →

Where from here?

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This coming Sunday is the 22nd Sunday. In this week’s posts we returned to our consideration of the Gospel of Mark. Before we continue, it is perhaps good to consider a “bigger picture” and gather our thoughts. As Van Linden points out, Mark’s gospel had presented a series of six miracles and then suddenly we are in the midst of a controversy that at first seems like “making a mountain out of a molehill.” Why break up the flow? The miracles demonstrate the power of God and for the attentive, the in-breaking of the kingdom of God, but is there more that Mark is attempting to present? With that I will leave you with some final thoughts. Continue reading →

Nothing Borrowed

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A world of information, expert advice, and knowledge all sit at our fingertips. With all that available to us via a simple query or the use of artificial intelligence such as Chat GPT, we should have plenty of answers to our questions. But will the answers carry wisdom? I can find a world of knowledge about bees and bee stings with a few keystrokes. Wisdom lies much deeper than our quick keystroke answers. Knowledge understands bee stings, but wisdom does not disturb the hive. Continue reading →

Why confused?

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As a Catholic priest I have done my fair share of weddings. It is a honor to help prepare the couples and to celebrate with them – and you get to meet some really nice couples and their families. Over the years I have also seen the pre-wedding day traditions change and the costs of the wedding (dinners, receptions, etc) grow in size and cost. Continue reading →

Jesus Summons the Flock

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This coming Sunday is the 22nd Sunday. 14 He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”…. 21 From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. 23 All these evils come from within and they defile.” Continue reading →