In yesterday’s post we reviewed the theme of conflict which is a recurring theme throughout Matthew’s gospel – a conflict which is building heading toward the events of Holy Week, a week in which the faith of the disciples will be sorely tested. In today’s post we consider the event of the Transfiguration itself. Continue reading
Today’s reading is from the “golden calf” incident recorded in the Book of Exodus. You know the story: Moses comes down from the mountain top carrying the 10 Commandments carved into stone tablets. He comes upon the scene of people dancing wildly around a statue of a golden calf. Today’s psalm has about as good a summary as you might want: Continue reading
The Transfiguration is a Feast celebrated on August 6th – which happens to fall on a Sunday this year. It is also the traditional reading for the 2nd Sunday in Lent and is taken from Matthew 17. To remind you of the context, Jesus and his disciples are no longer in Galilee – they have withdrawn to the area of Tyre and Sidon (15:21). But they have not escaped on-going conflict with different sectors of secular and religious life. Continue reading
The kingdom of heaven is like…. There are lots of parables that begin with those words. Maybe we can do a thought experiment – a kind of fill-in-the-blank thing. Keep your answers silent within your own thoughts. And since no one is listening, you can be completely honest with your answer. For you…. the kingdom of heaven is like……. What? (No hurry, I’ll wait….) Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The opening description in 13:3 and the concluding transitional comment at 13:53 indicate that Matthew considers everything in between to be parables, including v. 52. Thus, although commentators have liked to find exactly seven parables in the chapter, Matthew apparently considered the concluding picture of the scribe to be a parable as well, a parabolic concluding picture on the use of parables. Continue reading
Today’s gospel was part of the Gospel for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time but it is noteworthy that there was a shorter and a longer option. The shorter included the parable only, while the longer version included our gospel for today – an explanation of the parable. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.” The net pictured here is a large dragnet, usually about six feet deep and up to several hundred feet wide, positioned in the lake by boats and requiring several men to operate (hence the plurals of v. 48). The picture is realistic, portraying an ordinary event with no surprising twists: The net brings in “every kind” of both good and bad fish, which are then sorted, the good being kept and the bad thrown out.
I grew up in Orlando during the last century – somehow that make me sound like one of the ancient ones. I have to admit, I am getting there. Anyway. In my youth Orlando had no “metropolitan area” and was a mid-sized with population of just a little over 52,000 people – and an annual county fair. The fair grounds were towards downtown in the area now west of I-4 and extending west to Paramour Ave. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Matthew apparently intends the parable of the treasure to be interpreted together with the parable of the pearl, which immediately follows. The two parables do have common features: (I) In each case only a brief vignette of a crucial situation is given, without enough details to evaluate them as realistic stories. The interpreter should, therefore, be wary of filling in the gaps from pious imagination, but concentrate on what the parable does, in fact, portray. Continue reading
In today’s first reading we have the story of the Lord delivering manna to the people at the beginning of the Exodus. It has been about one month since their departure from Egypt and it seems like they have been complaining the whole time (see Monday’s reading!) Continue reading
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