What did they hear?

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What did they hear?

This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Matthew 13 is a “day of parables.” The parable of the sower is spoken in public to great crowds (vv. 1–3), but its explanation and the teaching about parables are spoken only to the disciples (vv. 10–11). More parables are then spoken to ‘the crowds’ (v. 34), but the crowds are again left behind (v. 36), and the second explanation and further parables are spoken to the disciples in ‘the house’ (which Jesus had left in v. 1). The unresponsive crowds are thus clearly distinguished from the disciples to whom alone explanation is given, and this distinction is spelt out in vv. 11–17. Continue reading →

Joseph’s Revenge

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In the sequence of first readings for weekday Masses, we have just made a huge leap from Jacob (Gen 28) to the end of the story of Joseph and his brothers (Gen 41). A quick synopsis of the story would include: his brothers, all older, were jealous of Joseph and colluded to sell him into slavery in Egypt. Long story, short, Joseph eventually thrives and serves as a chancellor to Pharaoh himself. A famine hit Israel and Joseph’s brothers came to buy grain. That all serves as background to our first reading today. Continue reading →

Blink

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In the blink of an eye, I decided to add another post to explain the word “blink” as used in  the previous post on the post Groups of Three. In the previous post I noted the use of the word “blink” by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her dissent on the recent college admissions decision.

The word “blink” comes from the Old English word “blincan,” which means “to close or shut the eyes quickly.” It is related to the Old Norse word “blikna,” which means “to twinkle.”  Justice Brown wrote: “This contention blinks both history and reality in ways too numerous to count.” In the legal setting “blink” means to “neglect, fail to acknowledge.” She was arguing against the idea that the law must be colorblind.

I did not know that meaning and use of the word “blink.” But it gave me an understanding to one of my dad’s expressions which I always found intriguing but vague. He offered: “a blink is as good a nod to a blind horse.”  Or was it “wink”? Dad was rather flexible with that idiom.

Groups of Three

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While scientists have long known of the general problem known as the “group of three,” families have always experienced the problem. There is an old adage about kids that goes something akin to: one child presents the spoiled child possibility, two children begets the “mommy loves me best” retort, while with three children, one will be ganged up on by the other two. It is the third child which brings a new level of chaos to the family. Continue reading →

A sower went out to sow

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This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. “A sower went out to sow.” As France [2007, 504] notes, in a primarily agrarian society the choice of agricultural imagery for parables needs no special explanation; three of the parables in this chapter are set on the farm. It is estimated that 90% of Israelites worked in some aspect of agriculture. There was also already a tradition in the prophetic books of using agricultural imagery, primarily in judgment narratives (e.g., Is 32, 35 and 44; Jer 31 and 51; Joel 3; and Amos 8). Continue reading →

Whenever you begin work…

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Today is the Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia (480-521 AD) the founder of the Benedictine Order. He was a monk, a scholar, and a theologian. His most enduring work is the “Rule of Benedict,” a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness which persuaded most Christian religious communities founded throughout the Middle Ages to adopt it. As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. For this reason  Benedict is regarded as the founder of Western Christian monasticism. Continue reading →

Context

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This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the previous post we considered the definition of a parable. In this post we’ll consider the context leading up to this gospel. Last Sunday’s gospel was composed on the final pericope in Matthew 11; today our gospel begins with Mt 13:1.  One can rightly ask, “What happened to chapter 12?”  As it happens, Matthew 12 is not used on any Sunday or Solemnity in the church’s celebrations – and with respect to bible study, that is a critical omission because Mt 13:1-23, the Parable of the Sower along with its explanation, is Jesus’ response to the events of chapter 12. Continue reading →

Repurposing

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In the first reading, Jacob, having fled from his brother Esau’s wrath, finds himself at a shrine, where he rests for the night, using a stone for a pillow. It is here that Jacob a divine revelation comes in a dream. Jacob sees a stairway going from earth to the heavens. It was believed in the ancient world that there were certain places on earth where the divine and earthly realms met. One such place was Bethel. Continue reading →

Mosquitos

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It’s that time of year again. Summer is upon us and we are drawn to the back porch, the deck, or whatever forms the backyard of your place. It is time to barbeque, hangout, or just enjoy the evening with family, friends, and the uninvited guests: the culicidae  – aka, mosquitos (…. and yes “mosquitoes” is also an acceptable spelling according to Merriam Webster). Continue reading →

Parables

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This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle A. We read from Matthew 13, known as a “day of parables.” What is a “Parable”? Definition: “At its simplest a parable is a metaphor or simile  drawn from nature or common life,  arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness,  and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.” (C. H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961, p. 5)  Less accurate, but perhaps more to the point – when heard, a parable should give you pause and turn your world upside down. Continue reading →