What Does Sabbath Mean to You?
Recently I was in an R.C.I.A. meeting and as a group we were looking at today’s First reading. As our leader read the text for us, we were asked to listen intently and then share a word or phrase that we heard that really jumped out at us. The line that kept replaying in my mind was, “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” As we shared our responses to the question on the ...
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A few years ago, I had the privilege of being on Mount Tabor, the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration. While it was “good to be there,” I have to admit, it was a little anticlimactic. It would have been wonderful if, on that day, the words of today’s gospel would have come true where it says, “they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus.” I didn’t get to that personal moment with Jesus alone, not even in my mind. ...
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REFLECTIONS FOR 2ND SUNDAY OF LENT
Today’s readings encourage obedience to God through the examples of Abraham and Jesus. Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice Isaac and Jesus’ submission to His Father’s will during the Transfiguration both exemplify profound obedience rooted in trust and love. The psalm in today’s readings calls us to trust even in the midst of trials and even to offer thanks despite the suffering. There is a resolve in the psalmist to remain faithful and to keep on walking ...
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On Ash Wednesday we celebrated, as we do each year, a rite called the “Imposition of Ashes.” It sounds like throwback language the Church used long ago, yet there is something to this word. An imposition is something imposed on us that seems unfair or something that makes an unwelcomed demand on us. The boss asks you to do more at work without necessarily increasing your salary is an imposition. It’s an unwelcomed demand and doesn’t seem fair. Impositions are ...
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Almost all the Scripture readings we hear at liturgy, we hear only once every three years. One of the exceptions to this pattern is the Ash Wednesday readings; we get them every year. From it, we hear that Jesus is all for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and thinks we should be, too. However, he warns against parading these classic Lenten disciplines before others. Perhaps he saw too much of this in the Pharisees of his time and how far their ...
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In both the first reading and the gospel, we have references to leprosy. That first reading, from the book of Leviticus, speaks about the consequences of being diagnosed with leprosy. The consequence is that lepers had to wear torn clothes, had to let their hair become disheveled, had to live outside the camp, and had to announce in a loud voice when approaching others, “Unclean, unclean!” Those where some of the consequences of living with leprosy, but the deep pain ...
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Law Enforcement
There are many levels of interpretation for today’s readings. The first reading is from Leviticus, chapter 13 verses 1 and 2, then 45-46. The Book of Leviticus is part of the first 5 books of what used to be called the “Old Testament” (as opposed to the New Covenant created by Jesus at the last Supper). Those first five books were cobbled together in Babylon by all the different leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel, thrown together and ...
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As always, a little bit of context might help us enter into these Scripture readings. In the Mediterranean world, the world where Jesus walked the earth, the world where all our books of the Bible emerged from—in that world every gift carried the expectation of a gift in return. However, don’t think of it as a tit-for-tat world where you only return a favor to those who have shown you favor, or where you only love those who have shown ...
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The Breaths of Life
Patience is not one of my virtues. Lack of it is probably one of my more glaring faults. While I have spent much time in my life praying for patience, persuaded to continue to do so by a priest friend when I was about to give up (or run the risk, he felt, of losing my trust in God’s willingness to respond to our prayers 😊) that particular prayer has not, as yet, been answered.
The first reading ...
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Wow, the people who were in the assembly that day must have had some interesting conversations when they left the synagogue and headed for home. This was not your typical sabbath gathering with just the usual prayers and hymns and message from the rabbi. As I read and thought about today’s gospel, there were a few questions that came to mind and if you will indulge me, I would like to share these questions with you.
When you come to church ...
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