A Touching Moment

Gospel: Mark 5: 21-43

In the midst of a big crowd it is inevitable that a person will be touched by many others.  Most of these touches are unintentional and the result of the chaos of the crowd itself.  Some touches are intentional, performed by those who like to say they've touched an idol or famous personality.  But other touches are most rare like this one in today's Gospel portion: both intentional and life-changing.

Imagine the state of this woman: she has been afflicted with this condition for many years and medicine has been of no avail.  She is legally unclean and therefore unable to be touched by anyone.  She hears of Jesus coming to her town, and she forms a plan.  It is bold and daring, but she believes that if she but touch him she will be healed.  That is in fact what happens, but then comes so much more.  She has a personal encounter with the Lord that animates her whole being.

What sort of touch do we seek with the Lord? Are we just a member of the chaotic crowd who touch the Lord with no intention at all? Are we the idol seekers who do seek an intentional touch of the Lord to boast about it to others? Or are we like this woman - recognizing our deep need for the Lord's healing touch in our life, desiring a personal encounter that transforms us and changes our life? 

On Keys and Commandments

Gospel: Matthew 16: 13-19

There was a time when the this Gospel portion and the power of the keys had meaning in the Christian world.  But no longer.  Ask any "faithful" Catholic what it means and they will begin by listing all the exceptions and various escape clauses they have created to avoid any obligation to abide by things they would rather not.  The keys are things that open doors of exception for them, but not for others.

It is not unlike the ten commandments that will now be displayed in public school classrooms, not because we believe in them but as a sign of religious imperialism.  How many exceptions to the commandment against killing have we created to justify what we'd like? Are we really going to take the commandments against adultery and bearing false witness seriously from the politicians who have imposed the posting of these commandments?  The keys and commandments no longer hold sway among us...

When we made the Christian faith about cults of personality instead of the Person of Jesus the Lord the authentic meaning was lost.  Peter and Paul are great figures because they followed the Lord Jesus.  They chose to model their lives after his example, not their own.  That is the key.  That is the commandment.   

The Real Secret

Gospel: Matthew 8: 1-4

In today's Gospel portion we find Jesus giving a familiar instruction to one whom he healed: don't tell anyone about it.  Just give the required thanksgiving to God and that is enough.  The learned and clever will tell us this is the Messianic Secret, a theological device related to Jesus' identity and divinity.  The reality is that Jesus is giving us a spiritual lesson on humility and gratitude.

The message Jesus gives us is not one we are apt to accept in our age of self-promotion and showboating.  Whenever we have some healing or miracle, we immediately post it on social media; we "testify" about it to the church: then, the cottage industry evangelists pick it up for syndication.  Meanwhile, we practice our touchdown dance for the frenzy to come.  

We will say all this is for the Lord, for advancing the kingdom.  But it's not.  It's all about us - our brand and our kingdom.  Jesus knows that, which is why he offers this lesson time and again throughout the Gospels.  The way of Jesus is a humble way, one of gratitude for mercy received, one of mercy extended outward once received.  It is the way of the lowest seat at table, the way of the servant, the way of the Cross. 

Motives for Action

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21-29

On the surface, these actions of performing miracles, exorcising demons, prophesying, and invoking the Lord's name seem to be good things.  But if they are done for one's own advancement instead of out of mercy they do indeed become actions the Lord would not recognize.  The motive and intention of our actions is as important as the actions themselves.  

Consider the example of Jesus: he rejected the temptations of the devil to worldly power, wealth, and personal exaltation.  In his public ministry he went about doing good, avoiding both the crowd and his disciples to be alone with God. Jesus knew also the crowd and his disciples would make him an earthly king, use him for their own political ends and not for the reasons of mercy and love for which God called forth the ministry of Jesus.

Today we reflect on our own motives in the actions we perform.  Are we about the work of healing and feeding others out of mercy and love for the good of others, or are we creating an earthly empire for ourselves and using the name of Jesus for personal advancement, political power, and material gain? Today is a good day to be in a deserted place alone with God as Jesus did, listening to God speak within.   

Produce Shopping

Gospel: Matthew 7: 15-20

Shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables is a skill that takes years of practice in discerning what pieces are good for cooking and eating, and which ones are not.  Qualities such as texture, color, firmness, and size are all factors.  The piece of fruit or vegetable itself will tell us whether it is good or not.  No other considerations are of any other relevance.

The same is true in our moral and spiritual lives.  It is the virtues and the Beatitudes - whether we possess and live them - that determine whether we are fruitful or not in matters ethical and spiritual.  Have we been like the tiny mustard seed that has grown to a large tree open to welcoming and sheltering all?  Or are we the man who took his talent and buried it in the ground, not sharing or taking risks to care for others?

We have come to see "fruit" merely in terms of attendance numbers and fundraising goals.  Such things are the essence of the ironical annual "spirituality reports" of churches.  But Jesus never speaks of these things; they are never the criteria he uses in talking about fruit.  For Jesus, fruit is always about the virtues and Beatitudes that should govern us, the produce we should be shopping for in our lives. 

Narrow Lanes

Gospel: Matthew 7: 6: 12-14

Wide roads into ancient cities are impressive and tempting paths to take.  Their breadth and width are so massive, the doorways and arches into the city so grand that one can't help but imagine a great train of carts and caravans in procession into the grand entrance.  How embarrassing it would be to be just a simple pilgrim with a walking staff and sack on such a road and gate!  

In calling Jesus' disciples and sending them out he ordered them to carry nothing with them, to have little possessions.  The disciple is to avoid the wide road to avoid both the temptation to great possessions and the mocking of the world.  In having little possessions, the disciple is to find the narrow road and gate into the city, the way of the pilgrim.  

The Church is once again been called to be a pilgrim people, one with few possessions and no pretensions.  The disciple is again reminded of the folly of the wide road which history both distant and recent all too abundant.  The narrow road is the one less taken, but one that is more satisfying and the one that is our way of salvation. 

Something New

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66, 80

"His name is John." This is a startling announcement from Elizabeth, one that she insists upon.  God had revealed to her that the child would be named John, but who would believe a woman? Especially since this name is not traditional in either her or her husband's family.  So, in this story we have a break with tradition announced by a woman to whom God spoke and whom no one would believe because she is a woman and what she announces is not traditional. 

But God has always done new things and continues to do so in our own day.  John is the end of one testament and the beginning of the new.  He is not Elijah, but his ministry is in the spirit of Elijah, though John does something new with the practice of baptismal repentance.  John is the herald of the ultimate new thing God does in the person of Jesus, the one who brings a new being to humankind.

In celebrating the birth of John the Baptist we celebrate God who is ever ancient and ever new.  We maintain an openness to the new things God can and will do in our lives both as individuals and as communities of people.  In remembering John's birth we look forward to the birth of Jesus and our own rebirth as a new creation in the new order and new being God brings through Jesus. 

A Three Hour Tour

Gospel: Mark 4: 35-41

The disciples all get into a boat with the goal of going to the opposite shore.  The Gospel portion does not say whether they arrived at that opposite shore or not; this original goal is not what is important any longer.  What becomes important now is the journey itself, the storm and the peril it brings, and who it is we are traveling with along the way.

When the storm arises, the original goal of arriving at the opposite shore is no longer important.  What is important is surviving the storm.  The disciples scurry about, doing all in their power and knowledge to secure the boat, but it is of little avail.  Then they remember who is traveling with them - Jesus, who is asleep on a cushion.  When they remember this fact, the storm is no longer a threat.

We all have goals we hope to achieve.  Sometimes we do realize them, but many times we do not.  Other more important things come into our lives that sometimes prevent us from them, or we realize that goal we had was not a worthy one after all.  Regardless of our goals and journeys, today we are reminded that Jesus is present to us in the midst of our boat, and if we are conscious of this fact, no storm or calamity can separate us from this presence among us. 

Worry and Happiness

Gospel: Matthew 6: 24-24

Everyone is familiar with the phrase - "Don't worry - be happy." Jesus himself said this very thing in the sermon on the mount.  Recall that the sermon began with the Beatitudes, the eightfold pathway to happiness in our life: being merciful, a peacemaker, being poor in spirit, meek, pure of heart.  If we but follow this path to happiness, we would not worry about anything at all.

But we do worry because our hearts are divided.  God's kingdom has provided the Beatitudes as our pathway to happiness, values that are utterly antithetical to every earthly kingdom that exists based on lies and violence.  Worldly kingdoms, in fact, create worry in order to push people to entrust themselves to the strong man, to the worldly powers that promise all sorts of things in the name of security.  

But Jesus tells us not to worry, to trust in God entirely as we go about our daily life.  If we put our trust in these values of the Beatitudes, we will see how false are the promises of worldly kingdoms and possessions.  We will not worry, for we will have the confidence Paul had in saying that nothing can separate us from God's love and mercy, and if we have that then we have everything. 

Two Different Treasures

Gospel: Matthew 6: 19-23

The treasures we seek in the world are self-centered pursuits.  We chase after money in order to horde it for ourselves, or we spend those monies on things for ourselves such as properties, cars, and entertainments.  Even when we give the money to some charitable cause we often do so in order to purchase for ourselves some honor or award.  This is the way of worldly treasure.

The heavenly treasure of which Jesus speaks is only one thing: God's mercy.  It is the one and only treasure that matters, but unlike worldly treasure we seek to share this treasure and give it away to as many people as possible.  This treasure has set us free from our self-centered lives and the hording of things for ourselves. This heavenly treasure sets us on a path of self-giving that gives life to others by providing them with this same gift of mercy we have received.  For we discover that in giving mercy we do not lose it for ourselves.  

So much of church life is spent in fundraising and in "stewardship" campaigns.  We are about the treasure of the world to preserve our buildings and worldly assets.  But the one treasure we do have - the one we should be giving away freely - the mercy of God we hold back for a select few.  Jesus gave it to all without question or condition. It is for us to do likewise.   

The Heart of It All

Gospel: Matthew 6: 7-15

Over the centuries a countless number of treatises on The Lord's Prayer have been written.  Each line of the prayer receives an endless theological explication, and in the process the forest is lost amid the trees.  For Jesus himself summarizes the entire prayer by focusing on the need for all of us to show mercy to others in order to receive mercy from God.

It makes little sense to ask for mercy if we ourselves are unwilling to show mercy to others.  The entire heart of the prayer and the Christian life itself is the extension of mercy to others.  Jesus himself is the mercy of God sent to the world.  He lived his entire life extending mercy to everyone he met.  No one was refused mercy or a seat at the table.  Even when his disciples would seek to exclude others from the Lord's presence, Jesus rebuffed those who would withhold mercy and offered care to the one before him.

Rather than reading one of the many treatises on the Lord's prayer, it may be better for us to reflect on the Lord's own summary of it, to make a resolution to live this life of mercy a little better each day.  As we individuals grow in mercy, perhaps the Church and society may also grow in the mercy institutions are called to extend as much as individuals.   

A Humble Life

Gospel: Matthew 6: 1-6

The dawn of the modern age brought with it the idea that self-interest is and ought to be our primary motivation for human action.  Self-promotion is not only encouraged but required in almost every profession if one wants to advance in a career.  Social media itself is an exercise in self-promotion: all our activities, beliefs, political views, and the like are all shared for people to see and give us the adulation we desperately seek at all times.

This modern impulse acquired two religious half-breeds.  The first is the prosperity Gospel wherein we have no value at all in religion if we have not prospered because of it.  The second is a merit based theology where we do good deeds, recite certain prayers, and the like in order to store up merit from God: indulgences and notice from ecclesiastical authorities that inflate our egos and create a self-interested religious life.  

Today's Gospel is a tonic to all of this.  To follow the Lord Jesus is to live a life of selfless loving kindness and mercy for others.  It is not to seek recognition, to avoid seats of honor and distinctive garb and the adulation of others.  Certainly such an approach is one our hired PR firms and fundraisers would shun, but it is a more authentic and honest life, a life modeled after the way of the Lord Jesus. 

Perfection Itself

Gospel: Matthew 5: 43-48

The command to love from God is not only to those we like and to those who are close to us.  It also includes those we dislike and those who dislike us.  God provides good things for all people.  God created all people and all are God's children.  Even those who reject God remain God's children and have a place always in God's house - that is the lesson of the prodigal son.

Those who show mercy to the stranger and enemy is the one who fulfills the law of love - that is the message of the Good Samaritan.  The one who is godly loves all people, extends mercy without discrimination to all who need it.  Mercy is the seed the sower scatters far and wide with great generosity on all sorts of soil.

If we seek perfection, then we can only find it in a life of love for others, a life that again and again tries to love even those most difficult to love and care for.  Jesus met many difficult people in his ministry, and he met many who hated him.  Still, he ate with them, healed them, and extended mercy to them, even in the moment of their greatest hatred for him at the cross.  This is our way to follow as well. 

The Path to Non-Violence

Gospel: Matthew 5: 38-42

It is certainly true that the Old Testament lex talonis was a reduction in the amount of violence allowed in ancient times, a violence that was nearly absolute.  It is also true that the teaching of Jesus replaces the old law of an eye for an eye, and that the new law of love has no room for violence, vengeance, or any appeal to self-protection or to our property.  

Over the centuries we have built a massive reserve of excuses and reasons why this Gospel portion does not apply to us.  We endlessly defend stand your ground laws, unjust wars, and immoral death penalty systems.  We engage in endless lawsuits against our neighbor for the slightest offenses, and our Christian Lawyers Guild is ever at the ready to announce the latest grievance.  

Jesus, however, lived his own teaching.  When asked for food he provided it; when pressed for the Temple tax or the tax for Caesar he provided it.  When unjustly accused and condemned, he offered no protest and gave up his life.  He did these things not vicariously so that we do not have to do so, but he did them that we ourselves might have the example and strength to do so when it is asked of us. 

A Vast Kingdom

Gospel: Mark 4: 26-34

The similes Jesus provides in describing the kingdom of God should dispel any equating the kingdom with the Church.  The first simile in today's Gospel portion highlights the fact that the kingdom is the entire earth itself - that God has planted the seeds of the word in all of creation - and that the growth of this seed in all parts of the earth is a great mystery of divine indwelling.

But if we are to see the Church as some part of the kingdom, then the mustard tree should be this metaphor.  The tiny seed of faith grows into a large tree that is open to all and large enough to provide for many.  Are our communities large enough in heart to welcome all, to provide a place of shelter and nourishment for all? Or are they instead exclusive clubs and cliques designed only for a few?

In our mistake to equate the kingdom of God with the Church we make a second mistake in using the metrics of worldly kingdoms in looking at the kingdom of God: population and attendance numbers, vocation numbers, sacramental participation, and the all-important income line.  In none of Jesus' similes on the kingdom are such metrics part of his equation.  The Church Jesus established is not a bureaucratic institution but a movement of mercy, healing, and loving deeds in the world, for that is the work of God in the world. 

Idle Words

Gospel: Matthew 5: 33-37

The amount of empirical evidence to demonstrate the lack of value our human words have is considerable.  We make oaths, promises, pledges, professions, and statements of all kinds that have no substance whatever behind them, for our actions betray the words we say.  How often in the Old Testament do we see professions of faith and covenant oaths only to see the actions of the people contradict the words they claim to make.

This is the point Jesus makes in today's Gospel portion, and it is the point he made with his life on earth.  Jesus did not go about making oaths or creeds; he did not compose prayers or liturgies to be followed.  Rather, he went about doing good, performing deeds of mercy and loving kindness to others.  It was these deeds that formed his creed, and it is his example we are to follow if we claim to be his disciples and members of his community.

It is ironic that Christianity has become all about the recitation of creeds and professions and so little about concrete actions.  We hang on the word of every prelate as if it were an oracle of God, hoping whatever they say confirms what we already believe.  Perhaps instead we might put away our words and just go about living as Jesus did - going about extending the mercy of God to all, healing others, feeding others wherever we go. 

Two Living Streams

Gospel: Matthew 5: 27-32

In the ministry of Jesus we receive two living streams that sustain and nourish our lives.  In the first, we have the words of Jesus that inspire us to an ideal by which to live.  This ideal gives us a goal and an aspiration that all human beings need in order to thrive and flourish.  Without such ideals and words we are lost and without direction as people.  

The second stream is the pastoral work of Jesus in the individual lives of people who fall short of that ideal, a group that includes all human beings.  So here we find Jesus engaged with the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery.  He does not condemn them.  He does not exclude them.  He engages with them and finds a path of inclusion, participation, and communion with them

We cannot find full satisfaction in only one of these streams, for we will have only a rigid legalism on the one hand or a lax libertine life on the other.  We also cannot have a two tiered ethical system that shows no pastoral mercy for lay people while providing an infinite supply of creativity for clergy.  Jesus calls us to a high ideal in our ethical conduct, and a high ideal in the showing of mercy to all people - raising them up and encouraging them again and again to a life of love and virtue. 

Endless Dissention

Gospel: Matthew 5: 20-26

Today's Gospel portion has never been popular among Christians.  From the very earliest times to today, there has been constant dissention, dispute, and lack of charity within the church.  An endless array of excuses for ignoring this teaching of Jesus: defense of truth, error has no rights, people who are evil deserve no respect.  None of these things Jesus ever said, but we find a way to justify ourselves any way we can.

Perhaps the most popular strategy for avoiding this teaching of Jesus is to redefine the term 'brother'.  We come to define it in the narrowest terms possible to include only those who agree with me about absolutely everything, making ourselves the criterion and measuring stick of all truth, the standard of all orthodoxy and piety.  The teaching becomes much easier to bear when it only includes you...

But if we are to take the creation story seriously, then everyone is our brother and sister, for we all have a common parentage and origin, we all share a common humanity.  Every source of division we create Jesus ignores and breaks down.  He reaches out to care for all despite our protestations. The love and mercy of God is for all, not just me and my tribe.  The day we take that fact to heart is the day our world will change for good.

Which to Follow

Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19

Today's Gospel portion fills us with confusion, for here Jesus tells us to obey even the smallest portion of the law and teach others to do so until all is fulfilled.  Yet, Jesus himself does not follow this advice.  He violates the law in performing work on the Sabbath and in not maintaining purity codes.  He defends his disciples when they pluck grain on the Sabbath from those who would see this as a violation of the law as well.  

Moreover, just when is it that all will be fulfilled? Many will say that is at the death and resurrection of Jesus, at which point we are released from obligations to the Law.  Yet, Jesus' disciples did not come to that conclusion until much later.  In addition, we hear others say all is not yet fulfilled until the end of time, using that as a way of compelling us to follow the laws the Church now imposes as the replacement of Israel.  

As in all things, mercy and care for others are the primary law.  That is the law Jesus followed in all things.  That is the example he provided in his life.  So, rather than get mired in unimportant controversies about law and theologies that only seek control over others, it is always more important to live a life of mercy, care, and love for others as Jesus did in his life. 

New Release Trailers

Gospel: Matthew 10: 7-13

When foreign armies entered a town or territory about to be taken by them, the announcement of such an event was not something people looked forward to.  Everyone knew what was likely to come: slavery, exile, looting and loss of possessions, and rape.  The only way to be spared such things was to be disloyal to your people and consort with the coming enemy.  The options were not great ones, and the anticipation of such announcements created dread.

So, when Jesus tells his disciples to announce the coming of God's kingdom, it is to be done entirely differently than these armies of the world do.  Peace would be proclaimed and offered to all.  Those wounded by the occupations of the world would find healing.  Those in bondage from the demons of the world would find liberation.  God's kingdom brings amnesty and pardon, not judgment and condemnation.

In proclaiming the coming of God's kingdom to the world, we are like movie producers releasing trailers that provide glimpses of what God's kingdom in full will be like: a place of peace, of healing, of liberation, of amnesty and forgiveness.  If that is not the trailer we are playing, we are promoting the wrong movie. 

Beatitudes and Commandments

Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12

Every Sunday school class is required to memorize the ten commandments, but never the eight beatitudes.  There is the constant clamor to erect monuments to the ten commandments, to have them displayed in every classroom in the country, but not so with the eight beatitudes.  People have seen how Christians have created loopholes and various work arounds to all the commandments; they have no real meaning. People also see our total neglect of the eight beatitudes that form the real basis of Jesus' teachings.

Whenever a question arises on how to enter the kingdom of God, the first appeal is to the commandments. Yet in every conversation on this matter we find that the commandments are not enough.  Something else is necessary - sell your possessions and give to the poor, show mercy to the man who fell in with robbers, have pity on the poor man Lazarus.  In every instance the necessary thing for salvation is the beatitudes.  

In the upcoming passages that follow the beatitudes, Jesus will take each commandment and see them through the lens of these beatitudes.  It is the beatitudes that are our path to salvation and happiness. That we neglect them in the Christian life is a reflection on our lack of happiness, an indictment on our hypocrisy on the commandments.  May we rediscover the beatitudes and find in them the path to happiness and salvation. 

The Last Kingdom Standing

Gospel: Mark 3: 20-35

Most Christians are unconscious of the Gnosticism they often assert, especially when it comes to the figure of Satan.  Qualities of God are often given also to this creature: omnipresence, omnipotence, and eternality.  Many act as if there are two equally powerful beings in the universe - one good, the other evil - and that we humans are in the midst of this cosmic battlefield between them.  All of this was rejected categorically by early Christianity, yet it persists among us because of our lack of faith in the one God.

In today's Gospel portion Jesus dismisses this prevailing Gnosticism.  Satan's kingdom cannot last, for it is not a kingdom built upon unity but one built upon dissention.  Only the kingdom of God will persist and last forever because it is built upon the authentic unity of love, love that is God in God's very essence, love that is shown to the world in the person of Jesus.  This love, this power of God, is far greater than Satan's realm and any other kingdom on this earth.

It is unfortunate that Christians really do not believe this, or that we act as if we do not.  We find ourselves clinging to the strong men of this world, to political ideologies, and to these false ideas about the figure of Satan.  If we really believed in the one God, in the love that is God and that forms the only lasting kingdom we would live entirely different lives as individuals and as communities.   

Which Temple?

Gospel: Mark 12: 38-44

The clergy love places of honor with the rich and powerful.  They wear distinctive clothing in order to be recognized, in order to find an honored place in such company.  To maximize time in the limelight they recite long prayers of empty substance.  They lead the parade of rich to offer large sums into the Temple treasury so that a building made of stone can endure throughout time.  Plaques of honor can and are made for wealthy donors to such places as temples.

Meanwhile, a poor widow comes to the Temple to offer a mere pittance.  The Temple ought to be supporting her, but it is not.  The rich who give to the Temple in order to receive honor should be supporting her, but they are not.  The Temple they do support is now no more; meanwhile, we continue to have widows, refugees, migrants, and the poor among us.  The temples of their bodies go neglected while we move onto other building projects we claim are for God's glory.

Religion pure and undefiled before God is the care of widows and orphans, the care of refugees and migrants and the poor.  True worship is the care of the man caught by robbers.  It is mercy God desires, not sacrifice and long prayers.  The Christian life is to imitate Jesus who spent his time in the care of others without distinction, who wore no religious finery, sat at no place of honor, and who served rather than be served.   

Tracing Our Lineage

Gospel: Mark 12: 35-38

Ancestry and lineage were important for ancient people.  By it people could connect themselves to great people of the past, connect themselves to a tradition that was ancient and stood the test of time.  It also gave a person a sense of importance and gravitas for themselves before others.  But as we have seen, people with noble ancestries are often themselves not very noble people.  Sometimes a tradition needs to change because what it practiced and justified is just plain wrong.  

What makes for greatness is not an ancestry and lineage but rather the way in which we live our life.  To be a person who is loving and compassionate, one who extends mercy and care to others - this is the great person.  To do such deeds does not require a notable family tree.  It requires virtue that we ourselves cultivate by our actions and habits, by accepting the grace God extends to us in living such a life.  

To live a life of loving service and mercy to others is the only authentic way of showing lineage to the Lord Jesus - not through some family tree or succession line.  To live as the Lord Jesus lived is our way of being in relation to him, to be his mother, sister, brother.  It is the only way of being an authentic disciple and follower of the Lord Jesus.   

A More Important Question

Gospel: Mark 12: 28-44

Here at the very end of Jesus' public ministry we get an important question and Jesus' response to it.  What is the most important law in all the 613 laws of Israel? His response is to love God and love neighbor.  We might well wonder why this question was not addressed earlier and this teaching brought forth at the very beginning of Jesus; ministry instead of here at the end.  The answer is that this question had indeed been answered many times in many ways by Jesus.

Jesus did not teach primarily by words and decrees.  He taught by example.  How are we to love God? Show mercy and compassion to other people.  Who are we to love? Everyone, friend and enemy, women and men, foreigner and countryman.  Jesus cared for all who came to him; he refused no one help.  Even when the disciples and others actively sought to prevent others from encountering Jesus, he overruled them every time and cared for whoever came to him.  

Our interpretation of the command of love is always to narrow its scope as the disciples do.  Our call and challenge is to continually resist that urge to narrow the scope of love and instead to live the example of Jesus by caring for all people without exception, to continually find a way for people to access God and the healing and nourishment they need in their lives.

Unimportant Questions

Gospel: Mark 12: 18-27

Life is filled with questions of relative or even no importance at all.  Does it really matter where we go out for dinner? Is a blue ink pen better than black? We fret over a million such issues in life, only to realize later on how unimportant the question really was.  Something similar is at work in today's Gospel portion, and behind it we come to realize why we do get so hung up over unimportant matters.  

First, let us note that this requirement in the Law of Moses regarding the marrying of a brother's widow is a precept that has not been practiced in some time. Its importance has died away.  Yet for some reason it occupied the minds of people in Jesus' day.  Does it really matter whose wife she is in heaven? This question only matters if we are still preoccupied with our own self-interest, possessions, and power - and carry those with us into the afterlife.  

But Jesus makes clear that such things are of no importance in the reign of God.  All our perseveration over our self-interest, possessions, and power have no meaning in a place where we are to be like angels, possessing no body and hence no material needs or wants.  By setting aside our self-interest, possessions, and power now we can make ready for life in God's kingdom. By ignoring unimportant questions we can make more time for that which is important - a life of mercy and loving service to others. 

Whose Image?

Gospel: Mark 12: 13-17

Two rival political camps join forces in an attempt to trap Jesus with a clever dilemma.  Prefacing the dilemma with false praise of Jesus, they ask, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" The indifference of Jesus to the question is striking.  This question that sparks such emotion in every age hardly vexes Jesus at all.  The answer he provides satisfies no one except those who seek the wisdom Jesus provides.

In asking about the image on the coin, Jesus gets to the root of the issue.  It is a graven image for Jews given the emperor's claim to divinity.  It is a divinity for Herodians who follow the empire in all things.  For Jesus it is just a coin that belongs to someone else.  Since it is Caesar's image on the money, let him have it if that is what is important to him.

But you - you and every human being created by God - you have stamped upon you God's image and likeness.  That belongs to God.  Give God your entire life and being by loving others and preserving that dignity and image of God in the way you treat other people.  That economy is far more important than that of money and the concerns of politics that are but endless traps where the dignity of people is not respected - where money is a greater good than people.   

Natural Consequences

Gospel: Mark 12: 1-12

The parable of the tenant farmers is not so much a prophecy as it is a lesson on natural consequences.  The parable itself notes the many times in the history of Israel where this pattern of rejecting messengers from God led to ruin for the people.  It did not take a seer to recognize this same pattern taking place in the drama surrounding Jesus' own impending death that will result from collusion between religious leaders and worldly power.  

What is striking about the parable is the utter indifference Jesus has to all these political machinations against him and in this general dynamic that repeats itself again and again in human history.  There is no attempt at involving oneself in politics or relying on the strong man to save oneself from this dynamic.  Religion comes to its own ruin whenever it does so, and the stark decline in religion of our own time is warning for us that once again this pattern has once again emerged.

How often do we put Jesus to death in the person of other people! The person on death row; the immigrant and refugee we continually malign and shun; the poor we neglect and abuse; the ones different than we are.  How often does religion seek refuge in political power, in the strong man who uses religion for his own power.  How often does all this lead again to religion's decline! The way of Jesus is so different from our own.  The authentic disciple seeks that path, for it alone is the path to glory.  

Follow Him

 

Gospel: Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

The disciples want to prepare for the Passover Feast and come to Jesus looking for instructions.  He tells them to find a man carrying a water jar and to follow him.  This seems like a curious but insignificant detail.  We might even wonder how it is that such a person could even be recognized in a city as large as Jerusalem.  We moderns are unaware of how significant this man is in the story.

It would be unheard of for a man to carry a water jar.  This would be the work of women.  Even a male slave would not carry a water jar.  So, it would be rather easy to spot a man carrying a water jar in public.  That this man does so represents the ultimate act of humble service.  How likely it is that this very water jar would be used by Jesus in the washing of feet, another act of ultimate humble service for others.

It is in this context that we find the Eucharistic celebration.  The Eucharist is in itself a statement of belief, a creed if you will.  In receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord we accept the mission of humble service that was the mission of Jesus, embodied by this man carrying a water jar to the place of the new Passover, but in this Passover we pass over into humble service of others from a life of self-interest and self-promotion.  To receive the Body and Blood of the Lord is to receive this mission and this identity. 

By What Standard?

Gospel: Mark 11: 27-33

The religious leaders of Jesus' time are in a dilemma regarding the question Jesus asks them about the baptism of John.  Their problem has to do with the fact that they are using public opinion to determine their answer.  Either way they answer, these religious leaders are faced with some group of people who will be upset by their answer.  So, they adopt a position of agnosticism on the question so as to avoid offending anyone.  In all this posturing there is the neglect of the question itself, the truth of the matter.

Very often religious leaders of all ages adopt this posture of considering the opinions of the public to the neglect of the actual truth claims at hand.  When one is entirely dependent on the donations of others for one's livelihood and comfort, this consideration sadly comes to outweigh all others.  It was this same criterion that the religious leaders of Jesus' time used in bringing him to trial and advocating for his execution at the hands of the Romans.  

Today's Gospel portion has us reflect on our own motives in discernment, deliberation, and decision.  What factors do we consider when we have to make important decisions in our life? Are we primarily moved by the opinions and good standing we desire with others, or are matters of truth primary? Jesus would no longer engage with these religious leaders when their motives became apparent, for how could he who is truth itself converse with those who do not regard truth in deliberations?