Unselfish giving is defined as love. Literally it is what we mean we say that Agape is love. In one of John’s epistles we find the one “is” statement about God. St. John writes that “God is Love.” (Actually it’s: God is AGAPE.) We know about God because of God’s choice. And the fact that we as finite creatures have encountered the infinite in a comprehensible way means that the infinite has freely chosen to […]
There are some startling implications to be drawn from the Gospel passage this week. Jesus proclaims the nature of the Church and seems to tie it intimately to the recognition of the Creator in the Incarnation which is given to us by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Once again in this theophany, this unveiling of God’s nature, we see the actions of all three Persons of the Trinity. What you bind will have been […]
I don’t like the idea that Jesus could be defeated. I think I know why it bothers me exactly. I suppose it has to do with who I believe Jesus to be. If Jesus can be tricked, or changed by a witty remark, is he still God? Can the person who split the waters be beaten at a game of the dozens? Does salvation come down to who comes up with the most clever remark? […]
Much of the literature and most of the sermons on this lesson focus on the miraculous nature of the event. Very few try to peer through to the meaning. The reason that so few people are spending the time to understand the lesson rather than merely trying to convince themselves that this event is believable is that most clergy and interpreters have been trained to explain the faith to the world around them. We’ve become […]
The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there,” said L.P. Hartley in his novel “The Go-Between. We think we know what is going on when we read accounts of ancient doings, but truth be told, what we experience when we hear accounts of things that happened long ago is necessarily filtered through our present experience. We simply aren’t able to inhabit the mental structures, ideas, experiences and symbolic meaning of things that […]
Jesus, in this week’s Gospel is trying to describe people who are both aware of God in the world, and people who are blind to God. He uses everyday examples of people who are able to recognize the immense value of the Kingdom of God, and when they see it in their daily life, will do something to be able to fully experience it. That is sadly lacking today. People don’t experience the Kingdom of […]
There are many ways to read a parable. It’s worth remembering that no one was literally reporting on what Jesus said as he was saying it. The Gospel accounts are at least a generation, and likely two generations, removed from the actual events. The interpretation that we read of the parable in this Gospel is one that made sense in the particular circumstances of the community in that generation. Perhaps it’s what the Apostles remembered, […]
As humans, we experience a world of boundaries and limitations. There can be enough for all, but it will require us to be attentive and to plan. But that’s not how it is with God, or with the abundance of God’s realm. God’s infinite riches and blessings require us to grow beyond our human experience of limited resources. In the parable of the sower from Matthew’s Gospel, we are presented with an image of God […]
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus points out that people are criticizing him because he is meeting with the people that others think are beyond the reach of God. And that people are ignoring John the Baptist when we urge people to walk away from their sins and return to God’s presence. One group rejects Jesus’ for his tolerance, and the other rejects or ignores John for his call to holiness. When we stop worrying about […]
This week’s Gospel presents a different way of thinking about who is worthy of God’s Realm. Jesus tells us that it’s what we do to others that matters, not what we’ve attained for ourselves. He even points out that we can get the same reward as someone who is a prophet or has lived a righteous life simply by being in relationship to them. The same reward! That’s not how the society we actually live […]
