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!!!