Finding Oneself in God

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In the first reading, we reach the end of the Book of Job. In a certain way, the story line has been a prosecution of the events that “robbed” Job of his family, possessions, and well-being. The event was well described and presented. Witnesses appeared: the four dialogue partners – or perhaps they were the prosecution team with Job acting as his own defense lawyer? In Job’s closing argument, continuing to profess his innocence of any wrongdoing, he laments that the key witness, the Lord, has not appeared. Continue reading →

The Family as Kingdom

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This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is fitting that a passage on children should follow one on marriage since both were especially vulnerable in first century society. But this passage first addresses the Kingdom of God and what prevents people from being included. The Pharisees and scribes had already been rebuked for substituting the traditions of men for God’s law and intention. Jesus made an example of service to a little child to overturn the disciples’ arguments about which of them was the greatest in 9:33–37. That episode was followed by the disciples’ trying to prohibit an outsider from using Jesus’ name (9:38–39). This episode begins with the disciples’ attempting to enforce the standard social norms that children are not deserving of attention or time. Continue reading →

An Invitation to Wisdom

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The first reading this week has been taken from the Book of Job. It is considered to be one of the scrolls belonging to the Wisdom category and is a narrative that, in its own way, attempts to address the question of suffering during one’s life. Our story began with Monday’s reading in which we learn that Job is pious and upright, richly endowed in his own person and in domestic prosperity. He suffers a sudden and complete reversal of fortune. He loses his property and his children; a loathsome disease afflicts his body; and he is overcome with sorrow. Nevertheless, Job does not complain against God. Continue reading →

I bear the marks…

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In the first reading today for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Paul writes: “From now on, let no one make troubles for me; for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.” (Gal 6:17).  Over the centuries many hold that St. Paul is referring to the beating and other physical assaults he has endured. Others hold that Paul had received the stigmata. Stigmata, from the Greek word, generically points to a “brand” or a “mark.” It is the common word to describing branding of cattle. In the Christian context it refers to the bodily marks resembling the wounds of the crucified Christ. St. Francis was the first person, historically recorded, who bore the marks of the crucified Christ in his hands, his feet, and in his side. Continue reading →

Buona Festa!!

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Today is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Many blessings to all Franciscans and all those of a Franciscan heart.

The Lord bless you and keep you.
May He show His face to you and have mercy.
May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
The Lord bless you!

Happy Feast Day!

In Private

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This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the privacy of a house, the disciples question Jesus about “this” – presumably, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  Jesus has taken the question back to the divine intent. One way to understand the unstated question is that the disciples are not asking about divorce per se, but the broader question of all the things that cause the separation of what God has joined. Jesus declared without qualification that a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. The use of the word “adultery” directs the disciples back to the absolute command of God (Ex. 20:14) and clarifies the seriousness of the issue. But to be clear, Jesus is not saying that divorce and remarriage is the only circumstance that lead to adultery, but it is of the same gravitas. Continue reading →

Through Death to Life

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In Western Christianity, the Transitus (translation from Ecclesiastical Latin: crossing or passing over) refers to “the time of passage through death to life”. The Christian theologian German Martinez writes that: “The idea of death in the Latin transitus … represents a unique Christian terminology linked to the paschal mystery. It consecrates the passage of the dying to eternal life. Offering the sacrifice of his or her personal life, the believer shares in the paschal transitus of Christ himself. Each year on the evening of October 3rd the Franciscan family throughout the world pauses to celebrate the solemnity of our Holy Father Francis’s Transitus, passing over from this life to the next. Continue reading →

The Transitus of St. Francis

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In Western Christianity, the Transitus (translation from Ecclesiastical Latin: crossing or passing over) refers to “the time of passage through death to life”. The Christian theologian German Martinez writes that: “The idea of death in the Latin transitus … represents a unique Christian terminology linked to the paschal mystery. It consecrates the passage of the dying to eternal life. Offering the sacrifice of his or her personal life, the believer shares in the paschal transitus of Christ himself. Continue reading →

God’s Creative Intent

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This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Thus, Jesus moves the dialogue to a deeper question and asks about what God intended in the creation:  “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Continue reading →

Spiraling

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We are in the middle of an extended conversation between Job and three friends. The basic message his friends deliver is (1) God does not make mistakes, (2) God punishes sinners, (3) you are being punished, (4) admit your sin, ask forgiveness, and be restored. Job has been defending himself in that he knows not his sin but his friends essentially say he is in denial and prideful. Slowly Job is spiraling downward. The great expressions of faith in the beginning chapters are gone. Continue reading →