Authority and Example

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FrancisSanDamianoAfter his 1220 return from his mission/travels to Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor, Francis of Assisi resigned as “minister” of the Franciscan movement. As with most changes in the life of St. Francis, there are a host of modern commentaries that offer reasons why. Some conjecture Francis was upset that clerics, ordained priests, were starting to inject their priestly charism upon the fraternity; hence he resigned in protest. Others offer that he was protesting the increased oversight and intrusion of the Pope into the affairs of the friars and their life. Some have insisted that Francis recognized that this religious movement was becoming a religious order – something he did not intend nor desire. Continue reading →

An Exodus to Compassion

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gospel-of-markThis coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, a gospel in which Jesus calls to the disciples. “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” As noted in yesterday’s post, it is not just the disciples who answer the call. A multitude of people respond and not just follow Jesus, but anticipate him so that when Jesus and the disciples put ashore, the people are already there in that deserted place. Perhaps the place which Moses and Joshua spoke of looking to a greater “rest” (anapausasthe) the word also used of our eternal reward – truly, the ultimate intention of God. In this way,  And so the people are on a second exodus to find rest. Continue reading →

An Exodus to Rest

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gospel-of-markThis coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. The scene is that Jesus and the disciples have been moving around the Sea of Galilee in ministry. They have been at it for a while. Jesus admonishes them: The admonition “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” And so they look to put ashore and to just that. But the crowds follow. “People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.”
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Directing the Gospel

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woe_unto_youSeveral weeks ago on my blog, I published “Your Script”.  I am borrowing from that post for today’s homily. In the gospel Jesus says, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida”. Previously I noted that one way I explore Scripture is to imagine that I am a cinema director tasked with filming today’s gospel as a scene in the larger narrative about the life of Jesus.  So…. what direction would you give to actor playing Jesus about the tone and tenor he should use in the line above? Continue reading →

Needed R&R

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gospel-of-markThis coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. “The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. 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. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.”

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. While the word “apostles” is accurately translated in v.30, there is a tendency in modern reading to associate this with “the Twelve” and to associate the term with an official title. What might get lost is the whole purpose of why they were sent. Simply put they were missionaries. Continue reading →

A Reading of Rest

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gospel-of-markThis coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. The admonition “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” always catches my attention and I think to myself, “I need to do that.” As always I try to offer a context for the gospel we are about to read. After all Mark is writing a story and so it is good to remind ourselves where we are in the narrative. Consider the sequence of passages assigned to these summer Sundays (in juxtaposition with all the verses of Mark): Continue reading →

Risky Business

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Amos-prophet“Off with you, visionary…never again prophecy in Bethel.” (Am 7:12–13) Amaziah, Beth el, Amos, Israel, Judah…. Isn’t it often the case that the first reading from the Old Testament is this jumble of odd names and places – and not enough of the story to really know what is going on? Let me  fill  you in.

This whole scene takes place well after the time of King David when the 10 northern tribes have broken away from David’s and his successors, forming the nation called Israel – leaving 2 tribes in the south to form the nation of Judah.  The folks up north in Israel have built a rival capital to Jerusalem and even a rival temple – Beth El – literally, the “House of God” – and it has been that way for more than a hundred years. Continue reading →

Foundational Stories

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storytellingAll of us tell stories. Sometimes were are the hero of the stories about ourselves. Stories define us. To know someone well is to know his or her story—the experiences that have shaped them, the trials and turning points that have tested them. When we want someone to know us, we share stories of our childhoods, our families, our school years, our first loves, and so on. And there in milieu are the stories that inspire us. I wrote about one story that inspired me. Continue reading →

Story and Intuition

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Carvill-MatalinJames Carville, the Ragin’ Cajun, is an American political consultant and author who has strategized for candidates for public office. Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the Bill Clinton presidential campaign. Also interesting is that he is married to Mary Matalin, an American political consultant well known for her work with the Republican Party. They don’t talk politics at home. Continue reading →