Month: September 2019

Fr Ed points out that sometimes the translation of a particular word doesn’t help convey a passage’s meaning.  How is it, he wonders, that God is a “jealous” God or a God “stirred to jealous wrath” in today’s first reading when the rest of the passage is about how much God cares for his people?  The New Living Translation, with a focus more on entire thoughts rather than individual words, translates the passage as “This is what the Lord … says: My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!” St Alphonsus, might go even further and say God is “beside himself” with love for us. Let us, in return, be “beside ourselves” in love for God.

Today’s Readings

Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am intensely jealous for Zion, stirred to jealous wrath for her.
ZEC 8:1-8

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. 
LK 9:46-50

The rich man’s indifference to Lazarus’ need in today’s gospel parable prevented Lazarus – or even Abraham – from being able to help the rich man when he was in even greater need. How can we fight the indifference that isolates us from each other? A homeless man teaches Fr Tony one way – with a smile.

Today’s Readings

Thus says the LORD the God of hosts: Woe to the complacent!
AM 6:1A, 4-7

Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. 
1 TM 6:11-16

‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’
LK 16:19-31

Herod wonders who Jesus is in today’s gospel. It’s a question that, Fr Jim points out, we’re still trying to answer. For Fr Jim he turned out to be a homeless, hungry man he met one Christmas Eve. Who will Jesus be for us?

Today’s Readings

Thus says the LORD of hosts… Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses, while [the house of the LORD] lies in ruins?
HG 1:1-8

Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this [Jesus] about whom I hear such things?”
LK 9:7-9

Fr Ed likens his miserable experience at being lost recently – a result of his thinking he didn’t need a GPS or written directions to get around – to Ezra’s lament in today’s first reading.  The people of Israel had lost their direction because they, too, thought they could do it alone.  Fr Ed found his way home by not losing sight of Sombrero Peak. We, too, can always find our way home – as Ezra’s people finally did – if we never lose sight of God.

Today’s Readings

“My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven.”
EZR 9:5-9

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
LK 9:1-6

Jesus expands his family in today’s gospel to include all who hear the word of God and act upon it. Jesus isn’t saying something negative about his biological family, Fr Tony believes, rather he is inviting us to be like them as ones who listen to God and do his will.

Today’s Readings

[The elders of the Jews] completed this house [of God] on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The children of Israel – priests, Levites, and the other returned exiles – celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
EZR 6:7-8, 12B, 14-20

 “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
LK 8:19-21

Jesus declares in today’s gospel that there is nothing hidden that will not become visible. God’s light within us, Fr Peter point out, illuminates everything.  It allows us to see both the good and the bad so that we might be able to choose what is good.

Today’s Readings

“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.'”
EZR 1:1-6

“There is nothing hidden that will not become visible.”
LK 8:16-18

Fr Ed uses Leo Tolstoy’s short story, “How Much Land Does a Man Require,” to illustrate Jesus’ warning that we can only serve one master. Tolstoy’s protagonist chooses the accumulation of land as his master. In the end he gets all the land he requires – but at the cost of his life. God or mammon – the choice is ours.

Today’s Readings

We will buy the lowly for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals.
AM 8:4-7

[God] wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.
1 TM 2:1-8

“No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
LK 16:10-13

 

 

 

Fr Ed points out the word martyr comes from the Greek word μάρτυς (mártys) meaning “witness.” We are all called, along with the 103 Koreans whose lives we celebrate today, Fr Ed points out, to “witness” to the gospel with our lives.  While for some this may even include “dying for the gospel,” what matters even more is how we live – and love – for the gospel.

Today’s Readings

Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness… Lay hold of eternal life.
1 TM 6:2C-12

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and … many others who provided for them out of their resources.
LK 8:1-3

Simon resents the attention, respect, love and forgiveness Jesus offers the woman washing his feet in today’s gospel. Simon’s reaction, Fr Peter points out, is like that of a snake so overwrought that it bites itself rather an enemy.  Like the woman, Jesus calls us to love. Love, Jesus explains, is the path to forgiveness – not resentment.

Today’s Readings

Let no one have contempt for your youth.
1 TM 4:12-16

“Her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
LK 7:36-50

Fr Ed points out that it is God who plays the flute for his people in today’s gospel – but no one moves. It’s as if they can’t hear him playing. God never gives up. He’s still playing that flute – but now he’s playing it for us. How will we respond?

Today’s Readings

I am writing you, [Timothy,] although I hope to visit you soon. 
1 TM 3:14-16

“To what shall I compare the people of this generation? …They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.’”
LK 7:31-35