5 December 2010 - Second Sunday of Advent

Our next "stop" on the Advent pilgrimage brings us to another vision of Isaiah the prophet--this one about the future figure that would come to be called "the Messiah." Isaiah lived before there was any talk about a Messiah. He just longed for a king that was good, just, and a peacemaker. The fact that he felt his "vision" would only come true a long time in the future tells us a lot about his experience of politics in his day!! But, it may be that THAT is the "hidden point" that the Holy Spirit was trying to teach when this "inspired vision" was given to the prophet. It may be that politics will ALWAYS be politics and leaders will ALWAYS have feet of clay--whether they are political leaders or religious leaders. Maybe what the Spirit wanted us to realize is that it is only when WE care for the poor, only when WE study the "law of the Lord" so that we know it so well that we live it as a matter of course, only when WE shun gossip, and only when WE  stop favoritism in our own dealings, and only when WE make peace that peace will come. That is what John the Baptist meant, I think, when he said, "Produce good fruit!" The age of peace may be bigger than any of us, and no one of us can initiate it, but each one of us needs to live it, so why wait? Such a life is the best preparation for the celebration of the anniversary of the One we believe DID initiate us on the path.

Sunday, March 7, 2010 - Third Sunday of Lent

In this week's readings, bushes burn and God's name is revealed, we are warned of destroying angels that afflict the grumblers, fig trees are threatened for not producing, but given another chance. This is, truly, an odd collection of texts. I like to look at the verbs God uses at the burning bush to commission Moses: "I have witnessed" and "I have heard," (regarding Israel 's slavery), then: "I have come," "to lead them out." These are the eternal promises we trust God for. We trust that God has seen our trials and in someway understands even our sinfulness. We trust that God hears us when we call, even with half-hearts, and we trust that we will be met in our mess and led out of it to something better. That's why we have the strength to overcome our past. Lent is always about looking toward Easter—toward TOMORROW. Tomorrow doesn't have to be a repeat of the mistakes of yesterday. So, Onward Christian!

Sunday, February 21, 2010 - First Sunday of Lent

We recite the "Creed" at every Mass, and most of us know it, or at least parts of it by heart. In the first reading of our Lenten Sunday series, we read the creed of the Ancient Israelite, and we see that it connects the ability to give an offering with the past salvation, by God, of the Hebrews from slavery. This is the Tradition (with a capital "T") that gives the believer a rootedness in the earth and hope for tomorrow. In the second reading, St. Paul lets the Gentiles know that they, too, are beneficiaries of this freeing God. And in the Gospel of the Temptations of Jesus, we see the Tradition guides us to be men and women of depth who bring freedom and dignity to the earth—it's NOT just "about us." It isn't just "what I want"—be that more wealth or power or security or fame. The Tradition lays a claim on our lives. What is it asking of you, today?

Scripture Reflection for February 14, 2010: 6th Sunday in O.T., year C

“Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings!” says Jeremiah on one of his bluer days. But, he wasn’t far from wrong, was he? We all know how often people let us down, and how often we have let others down. Sometimes, it’s not “bad will,” it’s just impossible for us to follow through. My best friend in Kansas City died three days before this past Christmas, and if you remember, we had Christmas on Thursday night and Friday, then Saturday night and Sunday were our regular worship days. I couldn’t get away to do his funeral. It wasn’t “bad will,” I simply couldn’t do it. That’s that nature of humanity. We are bound by time and space, and we are limited. Jeremiah knew this, and pointed out that it is a far more intelligent thing to commit our cares to God and to trust Him to carry us through them. That’s what Christ is getting at in the Lukan rendition of the Beatitudes. The rich often trust their money and their connections…but those can so easily evaporate. So, let’s all commit ourselves and our cares to the One Who is Faithful.

Scripture Reflection for February 7, 2010: 5th Sunday in O.T., year C

Different memories of Jesus’ call are recorded in different Gospels. Luke remembers Matthew deciding to follow Jesus after the experience of the quais-miraculous catch of fish. In the first reading the call of Isaiah to be a prophet is recorded as having been a vision. Now, each of us is “called” by God—called into being, if nothing else! At least, we are all here! The readings today point out that the “how” of the call isn’t really important—in fact, it’s “forgettable” enough that no two Gospels remember the exact same details. The important thing about a “call” is the awareness that GOD—the Center of the Universe, and the Author of all existence—is addressing YOU. When that awareness comes—however it comes—your life is different. You become a “disciple.” Our Christian life is merely a daily living out of discipleship. What are you doing to live out YOUR discipleship? What are you doing to DEEPEN your discipleship?

Scripture Reflection for January 31, 2010: 4th Sunday in O.T.: year C

The first reading reminds us that the Word of the Lord (at least as it came through Jeremiah) wasn’t particularly popular! The authorities tried to kill Jeremiah, but his friends saved him at the last minute, under the cover of darkness. And the Gospel reminds us that Jesus’ message of love of enemies, turning the other cheek, etc., will not be particularly popular, either. They nearly kill Him today at the beginning of His ministry in Luke, an act that will find its fulfillment at the end of the Gospel, with the story of the Passion. The advice of God to Jeremiah, then: “Gird up your loins!” is good advice for us, too. We need to be “prepared” if we want to live these teachings. They are easy to live, and they won’t make us overly popular if we live them! So, we need to be long-suffering, as St. Paul suggests, for in the end, it will be our acts of love that endure, and only those.

Scripture Reflection for Jan. 24, 2010: 3rd Sunday in O.T.: year C

The first reading records a revolution in religious history—the turning over of all the secret lore of a religion, kept by the priesthood for millennia, to the laity. Everybody can know everything! That was a world-wide first! And from that day, each Jewish individual could read the Torah and know what was required of him or her—and God required the same things from everyone. Paul tells the Corinthians that all are equal, too, in the importance of God’s gifts. God’s requirements and God’s gifts know no hierarchy—they come to all of us. And Jesus, in the Gospel, recognizes His mission as He reads the text of Isaiah: to bring the Good News of God’s love to the “poor”—those who had been deprived of hearing of it—in this case, probably, the Gentiles—none of whom had been taught Torah, and so were truly “spiritually impoverished.” So, Christ saw His mission and message as directly for us—the Gentile folk of the world. His words are our treasure. Let us truly live by them.

Scripture reflection for Jan. 17, 2010: Second Sunday in O.T., year C

Christ’s first miracle in John’s Gospel, or, as John would call it, “the first ‘sign,’” takes place at a wedding. Marriage is, then, the symbol for whatever it is that God is doing in the world in Jesus of Nazareth, at least as St. John sees it. Now, there is no record of Jesus, Himself, ever having been married, though speculation always abounds, so if it isn’t about Jesus, Himself, what is “Marriage” or “the Wedding Feast” symbolizing for the author of the Gospel? And what does he want us to intuit from his cryptic account? In the first reading, Israel is said to be “wedded” to God when her integrity shines. So…what do you think we are meant to grasp? Water to wine is a major transformation. A mother’s insistence is a minor theme. The theme of “best for last” hints at something under the surface. So what do you see in today’s Gospel? What do you think Jesus is doing that can be symbolized by a wedding, a major transformation, the role of an insistent woman, and the theme, “the last is best?” And what is the role of Israel ’s integrity? Let me hear what you’re thinking!

Scripture reflection for Jan. 10, 2010: The Baptism of the Lord, year C

Water is the matrix of creation, water is the sustaining element of life, water cleanses us, and according to the story of Passover in the Book of Exodus, it frees us. Here, in today’s Gospel reading, we see water commissioning the Christ to His mission. Interestingly, from a literary point of view, all these “waters” are significant in their positioning. The water of creation stood outside of time...at the edge of nothing and everything (sort of like womb-water to a fetus), the waters of the wells of our ancestors that sustained them stood at the edge of civilization, the Red Sea was placed at the edge of power, separating free land (the untamed Sinai desert) from the land of control (enslaved Egypt.) And the Jordan River in which the Christ stands, in today’s reading, is placed at the edge of the kingdom of Israel...between the land of blessing and the lands of the Gentile pagans...the border between faith and faithlessness. It is there, at the edge of things that newness begins. Are you feeling “at the edge?” Perhaps driven close to despair, or perhaps on the outside looking in? It is there that Divinity creates, sustains, cleanses, frees and commissions. Get ready for greatness. It’s coming YOUR way!!!