Prophets and Kings

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When it comes to the reading selections for daily Mass I sometimes think the first readings are on their own track, telling a story, but only it bits and pieces, starts and stops. Today we are introduced to King Ahab and the prophet Elijah. To this point the First Book of Kings has largely been recounting the stories of the Kings of Israel (in the Northern Kingdom) and the Kings of Judah (in the Southern Kingdom). Especially in the north, it is not a pretty story.  Let me share the verses immediately preceding our text: Continue reading →

Answering Questions

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This coming Sunday is the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle B.

26 He said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land 27 and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28 Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” 30 He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. 34 Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.  (Mark 4:26-34)

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Rebellion

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“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold” is a quote from the William Butler Yeats poem “The second coming.”

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

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The Family of Jesus

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This coming Sunday is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  20 He came home. Again (the) crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat.21 When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” …. 31 His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him.32 A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers (and your sisters) are outside asking for you.”33 But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and (my) brothers?”34 And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.35 (For) whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Continue reading →

The Unforgivable Sin

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This coming Sunday is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time. After having reduced the scribal accusations to empty words and without waiting for a response from the Scribes, Jesus takes the argument to its logical next step. Having argued that the source of his irresistible power is not of Satan, one should only be able conclude that the source is from God – and this brings the scribes and others to a pivot point: it is time to decide and declare from whence comes the power Jesus is using in the world. Jesus simply tells them the consequences for choosing wrongly: 28 Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.29 But whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”30 For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” Continue reading →

Crossing the Divide

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The author Ian Toll’s trilogy of the Navy/Marine Pacific campaigns during World War II was a wonderful read. What lets Toll’s trilogy stand apart from those historians who wrote before him was his access to the personal war diaries of women and men on both sides of the conflict in the Pacific. One of the journals cited at various points along the timeline was from a young Japanese woman. Continue reading →

Jesus’ Response

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This coming Sunday is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time. So far we have heard the accusations of family and Scribes. Now it is Jesus’ turn to respond: 23 Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan?24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him.27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Continue reading →

Accusing Jesus

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This coming Sunday is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we considered the reaction of those close to him (hoi par’ autou) – presumably his family. They think “He is out of his mind.” What the Scribes, representing the Jerusalem authorities, think is clear: “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” (v.22) Continue reading →