Spouses, Mothers, and Brothers

Posted on by
Reply

Just a few Sundays ago, the gospel reading from Mark recounted a moment from early in the public ministry of Jesus. He and the disciples had been to many towns and villages in Galilee and in the neighboring Decapolis region. There Jesus had cured many, cast out demons, and proclaimed the advent of the Kingdom of God. He was attracting huge crowds: “Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat.” (Mark 3:20). Continue reading →

Differing Accounts

Posted on by
Reply

This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This chapter begins the second major ministry section in John (6:1-10:42). There are similarities to the beginning of the first major ministry section (2:1-5:47). O’Day [591] suggests: “It is probably no accident that the two inaugural miracles involve wine and bread, the sacramental symbols of God’s grace in Jesus.” Both sections start with miracles in Galilee that show God’s abundant grace and Jesus’ divine glory: Continue reading →

Apostle to the Apostles

Posted on by
1

Did you know that Mary Magdalene is mentioned 12 times in the gospels, more than most of the Apostles. She was present at the crucifixion and was the first witness to the Resurrection (John 20 and Mark 16:9). She was the “Apostle to the Apostles”, an honorific that St. Augustine bestowed upon her in the fourth-century, and possibly he was but repeating a moniker already in use.

Mary Magdalene has long been confused with other women in Scripture also named Mary as well as an anonymous women, the unnamed sinner (commonly thought to have been a prostitute) in Luke 7:36-50.  In time, the identities of all these women were conflated into one in the person of “Mary Magdalene, the repentant prostitute.” The first written evidence we have of this conflation  of Mary Magdalene being a repentant prostitute comes from Ephraim the Syrian in the fourth century. Continue reading →

From Mark to John

Posted on by
Reply

This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time during Lectionary Cycle B. There are two contexts for this week’s Gospel: (1) the liturgical sequence of Year B’s readings in which the Gospels are primarily drawn from the Gospel according to Mark, and (2) the scriptural setting of the Gospel according to John. There is a high degree of overlap, but then again, each sacred writer has his own emphasis, a different way of telling the larger story of Jesus, and a distinctive lexicon of language. Continue reading →

For a while….

Posted on by
1

For a group of elite US athletes a moment is quickly arriving – the 2024 Olympic games. I think people have their favorite sport. In my case, no surprise, it is the swimming events. Every four years people are brought to a moment. And they don’t arrive unprepared. Years of preparation.

There is a threshold of practice that raises one’s level of performance to expert. And then a dedicated persistence and perseverance in that practice is needed to maintain that level of expertise. The number oft mentioned in 10,000 hours. Last century, when I was in college I had reached 10,000 hours and more. I competed at a national level, in the deep end so to speak, where lots of people competed in races that were resolved in tenths or hundredths of seconds. Continue reading →

Food for Thought

Posted on by
Reply

This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. As ever Pheme Perkins [601-2] offers food for thought.

This passage begins with Jesus expressing compassion for the crowd. Teaching and feeding show that Jesus is the shepherd. The combination represents a variant of the teaching and healing that have been characteristic of all of Jesus’ ministry. People today find it difficult to balance those two aspects of Christian responsibility. Some think that the social ministries of the church are all that is necessary to make Christ present in the world. Others think that the church should have nothing to do with feeding and healing except when it is necessary to help someone in the local community. The church’s ministry, so the argument goes, is to preach the gospel and provide for public worship.

Both sides are wrong. There is no Christianity without proclaiming the gospel. Teaching and learning the Word of God are as essential to faith as are prayer and belonging to a Christian community. A community that has the same compassion for the suffering that Jesus exhibited cannot be content with only preaching the gospel to the already converted. Christians must also attempt to meet the pressing social and material needs of others, even if few of those who receive such services ever become members of the church.

Christ preaching to the Apostles, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1381| Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain US

A Heart Moved

Posted on by
Reply

This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. It is easy to imagine the groan of despair that must have gone up from the exhausted disciples, when they saw, long before they had reached the other shore, that the inevitable curious crowd had followed and the possibility of rest was fading.

34 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Continue reading →

Another Exodus

Posted on by
Reply

This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. It seems as though Jesus and the apostles have attracted a large crowd of people. The short lake voyage, back to the old familiar surroundings of the sea, after tramping the dusty roads, must in itself have been a rest and relaxation for the Galilean fishermen. But the small size of the Sea of Galilee made it quite possible for the crowds, traveling along the shore, to outdistance the little ship, which probably did not have favorable wind. Continue reading →

The Wrath of God

Posted on by
Reply

Last week all of our first readings were from the Prophet Hosea. Any one of the reflections could have begun: “In today’s first reading the Northern Kingdom of Israel is being warned about the choices they have made and are making – and the consequences of those choices should they continue.”  The actors in the passage were Hosea, the King of Israel, and Assyria. In the first reading for today, the era is the same, the opening remains the same, but the stage bill changes. Now the lead roles are the Prophet Isaiah and the King of Judah; Assyria retains the same “supporting role.” There is a lot going on in the Book of Isaiah, but perhaps these verses can give you the lay of the land: Continue reading →

The Rest

Posted on by
Reply

This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Jesus invited them to a deserted/wilderness place to anapausasthe (rest, remain quiet, cease). It is noteworthy that Mark twice notes that the place of rest is in the wilderness, apart from the crowds of people. The word eremos most literally refers to an uninhabited place in contrast to polis = “a populated place,” “city,” “town.” While sparseness of people and vegetation often go together in the Middle East, e.g., a desert region; this word centers more on the lack of population than the lack of vegetation. Note that in v.39 the crowd sits down on the green grass. Continue reading →