While we as an American people might be fascinated with things of the royal family, tales of King Arthur and his Round Table, affairs of Lords and Ladies, and all manner of things of the Royal Court – we fought a revolutionary war to throw off the burden of kings in order to live free. As a political people we want no king. But what about as a people of faith? Of course, the answer is “yes” on this day we celebrate “Christ the King Sunday!” Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we considered those executed alongside him – the two thieves. Today we conclude our study and consider “Amen, I say to you.” This is the sixth time Luke has used this phrase and the only one addressed to one person. It is also the last of the emphatic “today” pronouncements. Like the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame in Jesus’ parable of the great banquet (14:21), the thief would feast with Jesus that day in paradise. Like Lazarus who died at the rich man’s fate (16:19-31), the thief would experience the blessing of God’s mercy. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we explored those people and leaders who mocked and condemned Jesus. Today we consider those executed alongside him – the two thieves – an account only in the Gospel of Luke Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we considered Jesus’ famous words: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Today we explore those people and leaders who formed “an unholy alliance” against Jesus: those who mocked him and those who condemned him. Continue reading
I promised the folks at yesterday’s morning Mass that I would post something on Revelation‘s “Letters to the Seven Churches. So…digging back into my notes, I found some materials that I prepared for a bibles study back in 1995! … which was the last time that I lead a study in this “last” book of the Bible. It is detailed in places, so be fore warned ! Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we explored Luke’s sparse description of crucifixion and pointed to the scriptural evidence regarding the location of the execution. In today’s post, we consider Jesus’ famous words: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Continue reading
In today’s first reading we again read from the Revelation. It is an early section in the scripture referred to as Letters to the Churches of Asia (1:4–3:22). Part of today’s text is the Letter to the community of Laodicea. The city was founded by Antiochus II Seleucid and named for his wife Laodice sometime prior to 240 BC. It was principally known as an agricultural and marketing center, but also known for banking, large manufacturing and its textile industry. The city was home to a prestigious medical center which discovered a well-known eye salve. There is ample testimony to a large, influential Jewish community in the city (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 14.241-243) for in 61 AD the Jewish community gave 22 lbs of gold to the Temple in Jerusalem and archeological discoveries have uncovered inscriptions regarding the feast of unleavened bread and Pentecost. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we covered some background on the solemnity, the titular use of “king” as applied to Jesus and an exploration of Luke’s use of the phrase “the kingdom of God.” Today, we take a look at Luke’s sparse description of the crucifixion and its location. Continue reading
The gospel today is Luke’s account of the blind man on the roadside who cries out: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” The underlying word is eléos – I don’t know why they translate it as “pity” – the meaning is “to show mercy,” indicating a response roused by an undeserved affliction in others. It denotes a kindness resulting from a relationship.
In our penitential rite we pray “Kyrie Eleison.” Lord have mercy. Eléos is the mercy that the Good Samaritan shows to the wounded, robbed person he had never met. Eléos is the word used to describe the Hebrew hesed – the mercy of God, divine mercy. In its original use, mercy/hesed/eléos was associated with requests of essential, vital help which the person is unable to attain by themselves. The one to whom the request is addressed is able to assist and must make the free moral choice to commit – not the action – but to the person in need – the willingness to enter into a relationship. Such is divine mercy, divine compassion – it is fundamentally about relationships.
A relationship of mercy that is so much more than pity. Allowing some poetic license …there is no pity in God …there is only merciful compassion. A mercy which forgives – not because we are good, but because God is good. A mercy which loves – because God is good. A mercy which is not limited, not a scarce resource, but a mercy which is infinite – a fountain fullness, overflowing of grace into our world, into our lives.
The suffering, troubled and poor of Prince William County, our state, our nation and our world do not need our pity. They need the divine, merciful compassion Jesus bestows on Bartimeus. In this time and place, we are the conduits of that Divine Mercy and Compassion into this world.
Image Credit: BibleProject.com, Public Domain
A little more…
Please take a moment to watch this wonderful 5-minute video on the Compassion of God from the good folks at BibleProject.com. While the above reflection focused on the Greek of the New Testament, this video looks at the Hebrew Scriptures to explore the Divine Mercy and Compassion of God. It begins with a description of the character of God expressed in Exodus 34:6 in which rakhum, “compassion” is the first attribute given – a word related to the Hebrew word for “womb,” rekhem conveying the deep love of mother for child.
An earlier post today brought up the idea of unholy alliances that stand against Jesus, especially in the events of Holy Week. We had referenced the work of Joel Green and I thought that I would make a longer citation from his work available for those who wish to take a deeper dive into this topic. Continue reading
