It was a simple email. The writer said that she was committed to reading and studying the Bible. For her first time through, she wanted to accomplish it in a two-year period. She had already researched the internet for Bible study plans and discovered there are tons of plans, lots of perspectives, and advice a plenty. So much so, it was hard to sort through it all. And such was the genesis of the email asking for advice on “the plan.” Continue reading
In 
the 16th Week of Ordinary Time, the first reading for daily Mass comes from the Prophet Micah. So, take a moment find out more about this amazing prophet of the Lord.
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Like his better-know contemporary, Micah proclaimed God’s word during the reigns of three kings of Judah: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. It was during a particularly turbulent era when each of the three Judaean kings had to face the machinations of four Assyrian kings with empire expansion on their minds. The Assyrian goal was simple: completely dominate the western Fertile Crescent that also included the Kingdoms of Israel (north) and Judea (south). There is not a great deal of biographical information in the text itself to narrowly date the time of Micah’s ministry, but the consensus of scholars is that his earliest writings preceded the fall of the northern kingdom, Israel, in 722 BCE. The majority of his writing are associated with the 701 BCE threat again Jerusalem/Judah by King Sennecherib of Assyria. This leads to the best estimate of a ministry that covered some 20+ years. The solitary reference to Micah outside the book (Jer 26:17–18) places him in the reign of Hezekiah and reports that he went from his small town to proclaim the word of the Lord in the capital, and asserts that his announcements of judgment against Jerusalem moved the king and the people to repentance. Continue reading
Today is the Feast of St. Bonaventure the great Franciscan saint, theologian and provincial minister of the Order in the mid-13th century. There are a special set of feast day readings for the Saint. I was particularly taken by the feast day’s first reading that describes a deep abiding intercessory prayer by St. Paul for the community of Ephesus: Continue reading
Today marks the Feast Day of one of the great figures in Franciscan history – St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio – as well as the 15th anniversary of our Franciscan presence in this historic downtown parish. St. Bonaventure is a good model of what it means to be a Franciscan while at the same time being a priest in leadership positions in a parish. Bonaventure reminded the friars of his day that our first vocation is as “brother.” At the core of our charism, we are a fraternity in mission to the People of God striving to continue our Order’s 800-year-old mission: bringing the Gospel into the everyday experience of men and women through our life in fraternity and compassionate service to all. Continue reading
I have always thought yesterday’s gospel was harsh. Likely, we all prefer the comforting, peaceful Jesus rather than the Jesus who proclaims: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” And that is just the warm-up – here is what follows: “For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household.” While I might think it harsh, perhaps a more important question is was it necessary. The Christian writer Flannery O’Connor has some insight about this: Continue reading
This 15th Week of Ordinary Time (2020) the first readings in the daily Masses are from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. With other prophetic works, to talk about the writings are to talk about the prophet themselves. Isaiah calls for more nuance in that the prophet was a person of the 8th century BCE who preached to Judah (the southern kingdom) and its capital Jerusalem. It was during a particularly turbulent era of three Judaean kings and four Assyrian kings. The later who sought to overrun the western Fertile Crescent that also included the Kingdoms of Israel (north) and Judea (south). Isaiah provides more than enough “markers” for us to know with certainty that he exercised his prophetic ministry from 740-701 BCE.
And yet, in Isaiah 44:28 (and 45:1), the prophet proclaims that Cyrus, King of Persia, will release the Jews from the Babylonian Exile, return them to the promised land and order that the city and the temple be rebuild. Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 587 BCE with Cyrus conquering Babylon some 40 years later – in other words, 110-150 years after the prophetic ministry of Isaiah who preached to the three Judaean kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. What are we to make of that? Continue reading
Next Sunday is the celebration of the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You can read a complete commentary on the Gospel here.
24 He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. 26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. 27 The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Continue reading
Four months ago, Florida announced its first coronavirus cases. On Sunday, it broke the US record for the number of cases reported in one day — 15,300 with positivity levels almost 20%. Reuters noted that if Florida were a country, “it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases a day behind the United States, Brazil and India.” Continue reading
Over the years while leading Bible studies, participating in RCIA to help folks fully enter the Catholic Church, or just in the odd discussion, I try to make a point about the most basic purpose of Sacred Scripture. It is simply this: for God to reveal God’s self to us – an invitation to a personal and communal covenant relationship. God tells us about God’s self through stories, the people’s experience of God in the history of Israel, and most especially in his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Think about the stories of our ancestors in faith. Basically, they all begin with an invitation to begin, follow, and slowly learn about God. My reading of the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses, King David, the prophets, and more all began with an invitation. Their encounter with God led them to a journey of an ever-deepening relationship with God. Along the way there are plenty of questions – some as simple as Moses’ inquiry about the name of God: “if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what do I tell them?” (Ex 3:13) The same pattern is played out in Jesus’ calling the apostles from their fishing boats, tax collection stations, and other endeavors. Calling them to leave all behind and journey with him for three years: from Galilee to Calvary. Continue reading
From time to time people tell me that “this year I am going to get into the Bible!” Music to my ears! Their declaration is quickly followed by something akin to “So, what should I do?” Maybe next week I will take a cut at answering that question, but for now let me explain how not to read the Bible! I would offer you five basic principles to keep in mind: Continue reading
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