Sunday Readings: Genesis 2.18-24; Hebrews 2.9-11; Mark 10.2-12 “Tell us, does the Law allow a husband to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10.2) Marriage is the topic in Sunday’s gospel. In Rome this Sunday the Synod on the Family begins. Second marriages is one topic on the agenda. Many people in the pews pray the Spirit […]
Gospel Reflection for October 4, 2015, 27th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Numbers 11.25-29; James 5.1-6; Mark 9.38-48 “Whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9.40) Jesus claims broad middle ground in this saying. Often activists, liberal or conservative, reverse Jesus’ saying and eliminate middle ground. In mobilizing advocates for change in public policies, they insist whoever is not for us is against
Gospel Reflection for September 27, 2015, 26th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Wisdom 2.12, 17-20; James 3.16-4.3; Mark 9.30-37 “Whoever wants to be first must be last and the servant of all.” (Mark 9.35) When Jesus begins to tell his disciples that suffering lies ahead, that he will be put to death and rise again, they find themselves too afraid to ask questions. But they
Gospel Reflection for September 20, 2015, 25th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Isaiah 50.5-9; James 2.14-18; Mark 8.27-35 “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8.29) Mark’s gospel explores how the faith of Jesus’ disciples matures. For all of us faith develops across the life cycle. As children, our brains limit our understanding. As adolescents, we share the faith of our families, neighbors, and
Gospel Reflection for September 13, 2015, 24th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Isaiah 35.4-7; James 2.1-5; Mark 7.31-37 “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” (Mark 7.37) In Sunday’s gospel Jesus heals a man who is deaf. His lack of hearing separate the man from his society. He experiences the world as silent. Worse, his
Gospel Reflection for September 6, 2015, 23rd Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Deuteronomy 4.1-2, 6-8; James 1.17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23 “Nothing that enters a person from outside can make a person impure; it is the things that come out that defile. It is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.” (Mark 7.18-21) Every generation has to discern which traditions
Gospel Reflection for August 30, 2015, 22nd Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Jeremiah 23.1-6; Ephesians 2.13-18; Mark 6.30-34 Crowds follow Jesus’ disciples back to Jesus. People’s hunger for his teaching and healing keep swelling. Mark writes the first gospel to tell Jesus’ story about A.D. 70, some 40 years after the events in the gospel. The disciples Jesus sends on mission and then welcomes back
Gospel Reflection for July 19, 2015, 16th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Amos 7.12-15; Ephesians 1.3-14; Mark 6.7-13 “Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two…They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” (Mark 6.7, 13) Why does Jesus send out twelve? Jesus’ intimate circle of followers includes many more than twelve.
Gospel Reflection for July 12, 2015, 15th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Ezekiel 2.2-5; 2 Corinthians 12.7-10; Mark 6.1-6 “Prophets are not without honor except in their hometown, among their own kin, and in their own house.” (Mark 6.4) Sunday’s gospel tells a terrible story about a town where Jesus can work no miracles. Jesus’ home folks can’t get beyond their certainty that they know
Gospel Reflection for July 5, 2015, 14th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
Sunday Readings: Wisdom 1.13-15, 2.23-24; 2 Corinthians 8.7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5.21-43 Jesus took the girl by the hand, saying, “Talitha cum, Little girl, arise.” The Gospel has two daughters of faith. A girl of 12 near death whose dad begs Jesus for help. A woman whose hemorrhaging has lasted 12 years. If she lived
Gospel Reflection for June 28, 2015, 13th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »