“Whose image is this and whose inscription?” Matthew 22.20 In Sunday’s gospel Jesus confronts a worldview about who images God–Caesar or the human person. Jesus insists we cannot keep separate our obligations to God and those to government. God blesses and calls us to integrate the spheres of our lives and image the One who […]
Gospel Reflection for October 19, 2014, 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time Read More »
“Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” Matthew 21.31 Like all parables, Jesus’ parable of the father with two children invites hearers to judge themselves in making a judgement about the parable. The chief priests and elders see the first child as the one who does what the father (God
Gospel Reflection for September 28, 2014, 26th Sunday Ordinary Time Read More »
“These workers last hired have worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” Matthew 20.12 When the 11th-hour workers get a full day’s wage, the owner of the vineyard reorients the parable. It is no longer about the wages
Gospel Reflection for September 21, 2014, 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time Read More »
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3.14 Sunday’s gospel refers to Jesus’ crucifixion as a “lifting up.” Being lifted up condenses within a single verb the whole paschal mystery—Jesus’ crucifixion and death,
Gospel Reflection for September 14, 2014, Exaltation of the Holy Cross Read More »
“It’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Matthew 15.26 Perhaps it is the rudeness of Jesus’ words that impels Matthew to edit Mark’s earlier version of this story. Matthew provides a reason for Jesus’ refusal to help this Gentile woman, whose daughter is tormented by a demon.
Gospel Reflection for August 17, 2014, 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Read More »
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13.44 As a teaching method, Jesus repeatedly explores the kingdom of heaven by comparing it to real life stories and
Gospel Reflection for August 3, 2014, 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time Read More »
The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full, they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good in buckets. What is bad they throw away. Matthew 13.47-48 Matthew never knows when to quit. Rather than end his chapter
Gospel Reflection for July 27, 2014, 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time Read More »
Master, did you not sow good seed in your fields? Where did these weeds come from? Matthew 13.27 Life takes time; God’s reign will take time. In the end God’s wisdom is not human wisdom. Some apparent weeds may be flowers. The smallest of seeds may yet grow into a plant that provides hospitality for
Gospel Reflection for July 20, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Read More »
“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Matthew 13.8 Jesus’ parable of the sower is prophetic but the promised yield doesn’t happen within the gospel. There Jesus’ teachings fall on path, rocks, and weedy patches where the seeds fail to flourish. The disciples who
Gospel Reflection for July 13, 2014, 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time Read More »
“God so loved the world, that God gave the only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” John 3.16 God is the shared life at the heart of the universe, three in one love. We must constantly be aware that when we use language to name God, we are
Gospel Reflection for June 15, 2014, Trinity Sunday Read More »