We have so much…

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When I was a year or two short of being a full-fledged teenager, I was invited to attend my first funeral. It was not a Catholic funeral – and as I came to know – nothing like a Catholic funeral. It was a fundamentalist, born-again, raucous affair for a person who by all measures was a backsliding, church-skipping, no-good, no-count, reprobate of a man. The preacher made no bones about where this particular dearly-departed would spend eternity. He held up the miserable failing and sinful ways of this man as a warning of what would happen when Satan got his claws into you and dragged you down into the pit. Continue reading →

The Return

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This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. At the conclusion of their mission to the Galilean villages the disciples returned to Jesus. He had commissioned them to be his emissaries (Ch. 6:7–13), and it is appropriate to this circumstance that they should report to him how they had fulfilled their commission.

30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. 32 So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

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The Summer Sequence

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This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. The sequence of Gospel texts in this part of Ordinary Time serves as a reminder we are not simply moving from chapter to chapter, story to story in the Gospel according to Mark. Consider the sequence of passages assigned to these summer Sundays (in juxtaposition with all the verses of Mark): Continue reading →

The Mission

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This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  12 So they went off and preached repentance. 13 They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. The New American Bible (NAB) offers a translation that seems minimally functional – merely reporting that they set out on mission and what they did when they got there. A more literal translation of the verse is: “And they went out and proclaimed so that all might repent.” The second part of the verse is a hina clause in Greek, normally indicating purpose, aim, or goal. The purpose in their proclaiming is that people might repent, that is, have a change in mind/heart.  Such preaching will include the demands from God and our failure to live up to them. It also includes the grace of God that accepts the law-breakers. It includes the mandate to speak the truth in such a way that it leads people to repent, to have a change in mind about their own sinfulness and about God’s gracefulness. Continue reading →

Final Instructions

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This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. 11 Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” The final instruction provides a response for those who reject the disciples. Shaking dust off one’s feet was a gesture of cursing a place. Continue reading →

The Message of Hosea

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The book of Hosea is a collection of prophetic messages delivered by the prophet Hosea and narrative descriptions of Hosea’s marriage and the birth of his children (1:2-2:1; 3:1-5). Most of Hosea’s messages are announcements of God’s anger with Israel (the northern of the two Israelite kingdoms) and God’s impending judgment on these people. Hosea’s messages focus on Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord. This lack of faithfulness is seen in Israel’s worship of other gods (alongside the Lord). The religious leaders of the people are singled out by Hosea for condemnation. Their job was to lead the people in faithfulness, but they actually did the opposite. The prophet also criticizes the political leaders of the nation for forming covenants with Egypt and Assyria, rather than relying on the Lord. The book also includes messages of hope, most notably the tender image of God as the parent who taught the child Israel to walk and will not, in the end, abandon the nation. Continue reading →

Provisions and Logistics

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This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Missionary pairs appear to have been characteristic of early Christianity. Jesus initially called pairs of brothers (1:16–20). Acts refers to Peter and John (Acts 3:11; 8:9), to Barnabas and Paul (Acts 11:25–26), and to companions whom Peter takes with him to Cornelius (Acts 10:23). The dangers of travel in antiquity make such arrangements necessary. Other interpreters have suggested that the use of pairs should be associated with the legal requirement for two witnesses to testify in a case (Num 35:30; Deut 19:15) since a judicial note is introduced in the gesture of judgment against those who refuse to hear the messengers of the gospel (v. 11). Continue reading →

An outline of Hosea – Part 2

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The second section of Hosea (4:1-14:10) consists entirely of prophetic messages that Hosea delivered. These messages are generally grouped into sections chronologically:

  • Chapters 4-8 likely reflect the earlier period of Hosea’s ministry (~20 years) during the reigns of Kings Jeroboam II Pekah which included prosperity in the beginning tainted by moral corruption, but also involved the Northern Kingdom in a regional war
  • Chapters 9-12 reflect the three year period of peace following the regional was war; and
  • Chapters 13-14 reflect the last ten years of the Northern Kingdom, which was destroyed in 722 BC by the Empire of Assyria.

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An outline of Hosea – Part 1

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Introduction (Hosea 1:1) – “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel.”

Marriage as a Metaphor for the Covenant (Hosea 1:2-3:5)

The first section of the book is organized around the theme of marriage as a metaphor for God’s relationship with the people. According to this metaphor, God is like a faithful husband who is married to Israel, a faithless wife. This section of Hosea has been the source of much controversy and debate. This section announces judgment on Israel and then promises restoration following punishment. Continue reading →