For almost the first four hundred years of the Church’s existence only adults were baptized. Apparently, in the Early Church, a person could not be baptized unless they passed a certain litmus test. The litmus test was that they had to know their way into and their way out of three important stories: the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (last Sunday), the story of the man born blind (today), and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus …
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In the unsettling times we live in, I recognize the absolute need for prophetic voices to help me (us) see that creation is still good, that God is still in charge, and that God’s life-giving plan will ultimately be victorious. These prophets, however, don’t just fall from the sky like treats from a vending machine. Prophets are born out of painful calls of the suffering earth, its people, and from the persistent nudging from God. While I’ve known of …
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I mentioned in last weekend’s homily how I believed that while Jesus was transfigured, on Mount Tabor, it was the apostles who were ultimately transformed. Transformation isn’t cosmetic; it makes a deep claim on you and changes you forever. There is a definite “before” and a definite “after.” You were one person before the experience, and you were clearly another person after. The Samaritan woman at the well is a classic story of transformation. Before, she was a woman …
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I ended the last article by describing how the prophet, one of the archetypes within each of us, is never satisfied with the status quo. Prophetic people feel disloyal to themselves and to their higher calling whenever they have to succumb to “the way things are” especially when “the way things are” are unjust and cause unnecessary suffering. They feel for the “little guy,” the “underdog” and are attentive to peoples’ grief before it becomes a statistic. The homeless …
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Once again, the opening line of the gospel is very telling and points us beyond the story itself. It starts off by telling us that Jesus led Peter, James and John up a mountain to be by themselves. You’ll recall that this will be the same trio who, later on, will be with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. Peter, James and John, who witness his glory on the mountain peak, will soon afterwards …
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Prophet: The Much-Needed Archetype (Part 1)
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role and the need for the “prophet,” especially considering the turmoil, instability, and the gratuitous violence I see unfolding in the world. It’s always been there, both the need for the prophet and the violence. However, the grease lightning speed at which we are bombarded with news (both media and social media) and the fact that we have a narcissist, a highchair …
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I have no real problem calling this gospel passage of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert by what Christians have called it for a very long time–“the temptations of Christ.” The devil, whatever you image that to be, is portrayed as the culprit, the one who enticed Jesus into sin then and the one who entices us into sin now. It’s much like the snake in the Genesis story we just heard. The snake is the antagonist who lured …
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Each of us will live these 40 days of Lent in the unique way that God has called us to. As long as we are drawn closer to God and each other by the end of it then one person’s journey during Lent will be just as valid and just as good as another person’s journey. If we hear and respond to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth, then we can be sure the …
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One day a very successful lawyer headed out the door for work. In his path was his three-year-old son playing with blocks. The man patted the boy on the head, stepped over him, open the door, and went outside to get to his car. Halfway down the walk a guilt bomb exploded within him. “What am I doing?” he thought to himself. “I’m ignoring my son. I never play with him. He’ll be old before I know it.” In …
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For most of my life, when it comes to the spiritual life, I always thought it started within me and then it becomes manifested in the outer world. In other words, firstly I get in touch with the light within me, and by letting it shine, it encourages others around me to their light shine. I saw it as a dominoes effect. Each of us initially getting in touch with a light that Jesus obviously sees in us– otherwise …
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