The Persistent Widow – The Faith

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Friar Musings

This parable is a twin of the parable of the neighbor in need (11:5-8). Both are used to illustrate the importance of persistence in prayer. Both present a person in need persistently pressing a request, and both parables call for reasoning from the lesser to the greater: If a neighbor or an unjust judge will respond to the urgent need and repeated request, then will not God also respond? It is an argument from lesser to the greater by which Jesus affirms the faithfulness of God – He will assuredly act on behalf of the righteous. Continue reading →

The Persistent Widow – Context

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Friar Musings

Luke 18:1-8 ¹Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, ²“There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. ³And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ ⁴For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, ⁵because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” ⁶The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. ⁷Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? ⁸I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Continue reading →

Becoming Grateful

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Friar Musings

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus meets 10 lepers. They ask for mercy, they are cured, and told to show themselves to the priest who will verify their healing and ritually cleanse them so that they can re-enter society. Only one returns to thank Jesus. There are lots of commentaries and folks who conclude that the other nine, in some way, lack gratitude.

Could be, but I don’t think so… who wouldn’t be grateful to be cured of this dread disease? Who wouldn’t be grateful for being restored to their family and community? Grateful, that they are no longer banished from the towns, the market, and the usual ebb and flow of life; no longer consigned to beg day upon day without end. I suspect they were grateful. Continue reading →

Boundaries, Faith, and Gratitude – Gratitude

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Friar Musings

Gratitude

The Samaritan fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. Some might argue that it reads too much into the posture to say that it is an act of worship (although I think that is a fair reading of Luke) – but in any event, is it an act of humility. St. Bonaventure, sometimes referred to as the second founder of the Franciscan friars, wrote in his work The Tree of Life that humility is the guardian and gateway of all the other virtues and that gratitude is its first evidence. Continue reading →

David and Goliath – a second look

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Friar Musings

I suspect most folks know and can tell some version of the story of David and Goliath (see 1 Samuel 17). It is a narrative that lends itself to story telling for people of all ages. It is also a story that is so familiar that when we attempt to study the biblical passage we are likely to engage in isogesis, placing our interpretation upon the text, rather than exegesis, letting the story inform us. I regularly lead a bible study with emphasis on “study.” I think the line I most often use is some variation of “Is that what the text says?”

With that as background, have a look at the ever interesting Malcolm Gladwell’s talk on David and Goliath

Boundaries, Faith, and Gratitude – Faith

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Friar Musings

¹¹As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he was entering a village, ten lepers met (him). They stood at a distance from him ¹³and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” ¹⁴And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. ¹⁵And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; ¹⁶and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

People of faith. “Stand up and go; your faith has saved [sozo] you” (v.19). Such are the words spoken to the Samaritan leper, the only one who returned and gave thanks to Jesus. sozo has as a basic meaning, “to rescue from danger and to restore to a former state of safety and well being.” Thus it is translated with words like “save,” “heal,” “make whole,” depending upon how the danger is understood. How are we to understand the use of sozo here in this verse? Continue reading →

Boundaries, Faith, and Gratitude – Boundaries

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Friar Musings

They stood at a distance from him ¹³and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” ¹⁴And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. ¹⁵And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; ¹⁶and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”

The telling of this encounter seems straight forward: (a) Jesus encounters a group of lepers on the road to Jerusalem, (b) they ask for his mercy, (c) they are cured, but (d) only one returns to thank Jesus and that one is a Samaritan. A simple miracle story, yes? A narrative about faith as the foundation of healing? Such simple summaries, even if true, miss several key aspects of the encounter and the chance to reflect further on our own life of faith in Jesus. Continue reading →

On Mission and Crossing Over Boundaries

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Friar Musings

Among founders of religious orders, Francis of Assisi is the first who consciously included mission ad gentes (to the people of the world) as part of the order’s Rule of Life. Francis was clear about the ad gentes nature of mission in the Franciscan tradition: “But I tell you in truth that the Lord chose and sent the brothers for the benefit and salvation of the souls of all people in the whole world and they should be received not only in the land of the believers, but also in that of non-believers.” (Assisi Compilation, 108)

Clearly Francis held to the idea of the universality of mission, yet some people might find Francis’ distinction of the world as the twined categories of believer and non-believer to be somehow less than welcoming or out of sorts with our sensibility of what it means to be Franciscan. Yet note how Chapter 16 of the “Early Rule” (1221 CE) is named by Francis: “Chapter XVI: Those going among the Saracens and other Nonbelievers.” I mention this as a way of pointing you back to the first reflection where it was noted that the way you think about Jesus, church, when and how God’s reign is fully inaugurated, the nature of salvation, how the Church values human beings, and the role and value of culture – all these things affect the way in which one understands and carries out mission. As questions, these six topics remain present, even urgent, in every age because how they are answered is how Christianity finds its concrete identity as it constitutes itself in fidelity to Jesus’ mission. Continue reading →

Boundaries, Faith, and Gratitude – Context

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Friar Musings

Luke 17:11-19

Undressing at the Crossroads

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Friar Musings

Back in March, we all rejoiced as the white smoke billowed and jubilation erupted in St. Peter’s Square and around the world –habemus papem! We have a pope. When the name of the new pope was announced, given that he was a Jesuit, I assumed it was in honor of St. Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit missionary and saint. That would have been a great choice to tap the tradition of his own order for a new evangelization. But from the beginning, it was clear that there was something different here – “See I am doing something new.” Even the first appearance on the loggia of St. Peter’s was different. Here was our new pope – and instantly I was struck by his appearance. It was as though he was wearing the minimally acceptable papal wardrobe – and the pectoral cross seemed plain – and his demeanor unassuming. Continue reading →

friarmusings

the musings of a Franciscan friar…