The Mystery to be Pondered

Gospel: Mark 4: 26-34

Life is a great mystery for us to ponder and upon which to reflect. We find ourselves in moments of pause and in awe of certain events in our life.  They cause us to stop and reflect, remembering where we have been, wondering how it is we came to be where we are, and wondering where we will be as we press forward into the future.  

Indeed, our entire life and existence is a mystery to us.  Our very existence and material makeup is the culmination of a long process of hereditary genetics that provide our bodily constitution.  Our education and socialization are both processes given to me by others, and even the very events that I have experienced are not within the realm of my full choosing and ordering.  All of these things provided me the backdrop to my intellectual and spiritual development.  

All of these things are seeds God has scattered in each person's life.  They grow and develop however they may within each human life.  We may not have choice in many of them, but in all of them we have the ability to choose how we respond to them.  Jesus encourages us to see within them an entire realm of faith for us to meditate and reflect on, an array of gifts for which to give thanks, a harvest of great possibility and growth. 

Self Giving, Not Self Interest

Gospel: Mark 4: 21-25

So much of modern Christianity is obsessed with self-interest and egoism.  It consists in the acquisition of merit for oneself on the one hand and the pursuit of power, riches, and influence on the other.  All of this is antithetical to the core of Christianity and the fundamental identity and mission of the Lord Jesus himself.  The Incarnation itself is the self-abasement of God who assumed a lesser identity in order to serve the needs of a fallen humanity.  

That too is our mission as Christians.  It is not at all the mission of the Christian to seek worldly power, riches, and influence as so many do today.  It is to humble ourselves and serve the needs of others just as Jesus himself did.  In today's Gospel portion he tells us the measure with which we measure is what will be measured to us.  When a bishop pleads for mercy for people, and a rabble of alleged Christians condemns the message and so many other people, each will be measured by their own rod and words.

The division we see in Christianity is not liberal and conservative; it is not about pre-Vatican II or Vatican II.  This division has its origin in 1945: were you helping to rescue people from genocide and concentration camps, or were you helping fascists escape justice and flee to other countries?  That is the deep division we have faced ever since.  The measure by which we measure will be measured to us. 

Field Work

Gospel: Mark 4: 1-20

The field of the sower is an image for an individual soul.  Parts of our souls are rocky, others thorny, and still others very shallow.  These are areas where God's word is being resisted, where we are reluctant or even refuse to live mercy and love in the world.  It may be laziness, or it may be that we fail or refuse to love our enemies, the foreigner and stranger, or anyone different from us.  

These are areas of the soul where deep work needs to be done: rock needs to be broken up and removed; thorns and weeds need to be rooted out; soil needs to be deepened and fertilized.  All of this work will be difficult and frustrating, but if we allow God to do this work within us, we will find ourselves more loving, more merciful and compassionate people.  

We can also rejoice and give thanks that there is a portion of our soul where growth is taking place.  That growth can inspire us and give us a sense of hope that more areas of our soul can be fruitful and loving.  Such progress will take time and patience; it will not occur overnight any more than this farm work will.  If we allow God to do this work and cooperate with it, we can be sure that all will be well in the garden of our soul. 

What is God's Will?

Gospel: Mark 3: 31-35

What is the will of God to which Jesus refers?  Countless writers have led many astray by making the will of God a political program of one variety or another.  Still others have led many into scrupulosity with endless minutia offered in its application.  Most people have this false belief now that God has some specific plan for their lives that covers everything from whom they marry to what they will order for dinner tonight at a restaurant.  

Such writers must go down these rabbit holes because they want to avoid what God's will truly is for each one of us.  It is what so few want to do.  It is to show love and mercy to others just as we have received love and mercy from God.  This will of God seeks to have us live for others rather than ourselves.  All those other views of God's will cater to our egos and self-love.  But to live a life of mercy challenges us to our core.  It has us consider all our actions and decisions in this light of mercy and love.  

If someone appeals to our self-interest and ego in talking about God's will, they preach a false Gospel utterly alien to the message of Jesus.  If we are challenged to live mercy and love for others as Jesus lived and taught, then we are on the sure path of following God's will in our lives, a life that is to be lived not for ourselves but for others. 

Ineffectual Religion

Gospel: Mark 3: 22-30

How often is it the case that we grow comfortable with the demons that possess us and exist within our communities! Whenever someone seeks to deliver us from this possession we protest.  To expel the demon is to expose us for tolerating it and making peace with it for so long.  To expel the demon is to expose our religiosity as the sham that it is.  And so whether the demon exists in our place of worship or in any other part of society we simply let it be.

This was the case in Jesus' ministry.  In every story of exorcism someone is there to offer protest, just as we do in today's Gospel portion.  The opposition against Jesus liberating others is so absurd that they accuse him of doing so by the power of the devil himself.  The opposition has grown so comfortable with their demons that they will seek to do away with the one who expels them, and in so doing consort with evil itself.

What evils do we tolerate in our allegiances to political agendas and regimes? What demons are we willing to excuse and let be in order to maintain our good status with the powers of this world? If we are willing to sacrifice others for the sake of political expedience then we crucify Christ all over again in the person of another.  Today is our day to commit to rejecting evil wherever we find it, to be rid of our demons once and for all.   

A Year of Favor

Gospel: Luke 4: 14-21

Jesus goes to his home town, the synagogue where he grew up worshipping, and he announces his Messianic mission: to provide healing for those with ailments, to liberate those possessed by demons and crushing debts, to provide food to the poor in body and soul.  This is to proclaim Good News; this is the year of favor from the Lord - a great jubilee year where debts are cancelled and the poor are lifted up after being oppressed by the wealthy for so long.  

Jesus then goes about an impoverished land proclaiming this message and providing these very things to all people regardless of gender, religion, race, class, clean or unclean, local or foreigner.  Right away this mission almost gets him killed in his home town, as they reject the idea that God is for all people.  Opposition to this message from the professional religious class will be consistent in Jesus' life, right up to his execution by the imperial state in alliance with religion.  

This mission of Jesus is our mission as well.  We who have been anointed at baptism to be priest, prophet, and king, affirmed in this mission in confirmation, and for some specially dedicated in holy orders - it is our task to offer healing, provide liberation, and nourish others at table without exclusion or discrimination.  It is a ministry to the whole world, one that will bring opposition from the empire and religion itself.  Blessed are you if it is so... 

Signs of Good News

Gospel: Mark 16: 15-18

In an age of cruelty and hate where even religion takes on these characteristics, the Good News must still be proclaimed in every town and village.  God's kingdom has come, God's love and mercy is extended to all people without distinction, and we are heralds of that love through acts of lovingkindness to the poor and marginalized, the weak and vulnerable.  

Indeed, Jesus even stated what the signs of Good News would be: the lame will walk, the blind will see, lepers will be cleansed, people will be delivered from their demons, and the poor will be fed at table.  These are the sermons to be preached and the proclamations to be written: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, care for the immigrant, migrant, and refugee.  

Today we remember the event of Paul's conversion from a person steeped in hatred and persecution to one who preached love as the Master did.  Today it is for us to manifest that conversion in our own lives by rejecting the false religions of hate and oppression and to live a life of love and service to others, especially those most vulnerable in this age of cruelty and hate.   

Good News

Gospel: Mark 3: 13-19

Jesus tells his disciples to go out and preach good news.  What is good news in an age of perpetual cycles of bad news, in an age where news has been weaponized in order to score political points, to dehumanize and dominate others?  People of faith have become immersed in this vortex of negativity and no longer proclaim good news.  So, what is this good news of which Jesus speaks.

It is the fact that the kingdom of God is here in our midst now.  In the person and ministry of Jesus those who are sick and maimed are healed, those in bondage and possession are liberated, and those who are hungry and thirsty are nourished.  The good news is that there are people who carry on this work of Jesus in the world even now - that works of mercy and love to care for the hungry and thirsty, the homeless and naked, the sick and imprisoned, the migrant, immigrant, refugee, and marginalized - that these works continue and are the essence of the Christian life.

The world needs this good news and this humble witness now more than ever.  It needs the witness of authentic Christianity that stands as a contrast to the religion of hate and lust for power and wealth that has come to define so much of the Christian church.  Let today be our commitment to live in mercy and love, proclaiming good news with our deeds of good to others.

How the Crowd Responds

Gospel: Mark 3: 7-12

In today's Gospel we find Jesus everywhere pressed by the crowd.  It follows him from place to place, pushing towards him in order to receive healing from their infirmities, liberation from their demons, and nourishment for their hungry bodies and spirits.  And everywhere Jesus goes he does these very things for the people, making accommodation for them as he does in today's passage.  But then, there is another part to be mentioned...

Now that people have been healed, what is their response to that encounter with the Lord? He enjoins them to tell no one, to go and offer thanksgiving, and to go out and provide healing, deliverance, and nourishment for others.  Most people choose to ignore Jesus.  They go off and tell others.  They create media empires and cottage industry "Christian ministries" of witness and testimonial.  They do not provide healing, or liberation, or nourishment for others.  They only provide fame, wealth, and power for themselves.  

The only authentic Christian ministry is to provide healing, liberation, and nourishment for others in humble service, not seeking wealth or power or influence.  It is the ministry of providing mercy and love to the vulnerable and marginalized in society, not one that serves the power of mammon.  Today is a day to reflect on how we respond to God healing, liberating, and nourishing us, how we will follow the Lord Jesus in showing love and mercy to others.  

Which Law to Follow?

Gospel: Mark 3: 1-6

"Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath - to preserve life rather than destroy it?" The Law did in fact prohibit work from being done on the Sabbath day.  But does that include helping a person in need, to heal another human being?  The Pharisees thought so and were prepared to use this healing to level accusations against Jesus and condemn him to death.  They suggest that this man be healed on another day, as if the Pharisees would lift a hand to help him then.

But Jesus always and everywhere interprets the law in the light of love and mercy.  It is always a greater law to love our neighbor and to care for them.  It is even more important than Temple worship itself, as the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches.  In no place does Jesus ever suggest we wait another day to do good for another, that the time is always now to care for other people, to provide mercy, healing, liberation, and nourishment.

A recent imperial decree has been issued stating the government will no longer recognize places of worship as sanctuaries and havens for immigrants, migrants, and refugees seeking assistance.  Sadly, most houses of religion were not helping these vulnerable ones anyway.  But for those of us who are, the challenge to faith has come.  For all places of worship we must decide whether we are a Pharisaical religion, or a way of love and care for others in the example of the Lord Jesus. 

5o Shades of Gray

Gospel: Mark 2: 23-28

Pharisees in every time and place have a singular approach to the law.  For them, it is always crystal clear and admits of no exception, no mercy.  So, in today's Gospel we find them condemning Jesus' disciples for plucking grains to eat on the Sabbath, seeing that as a violation of the law against work on the Sabbath.  So, this law is cited in order to condemn an action which is a fairly common one in agricultural societies regardless of the day of the week.

Jesus always has a different take on the law.  For him, a merciful interpretation is always at work, and so here he cites the example of David and his men who ate the showbread of the Temple in order to avoid starving, showbread that was forbidden them to eat or even touch.  Jesus could also have cited the Jewish law's command to set aside portions of one's crop for the poor and resident alien to avail themselves of whenever they were hungry, even on the Sabbath.  

We always have a choice of approach with respect to the law.  We can be like Pharisees who look for any occasion to condemn another.  Or we can be like Jesus who looks for any occasion to see a moment of grace and mercy, where feeding a hungry person is more important than anything else.  Today is a day to reflect on what kind of religion, what kind of nation we wish to be - and if we wish to be like Jesus then we must be about that work of mercy and love in the world. 

Why Fast?

Gospel: Mark 2: 18-22

The Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples do not fast.  Perhaps a better question is why does anyone fast at all.  Fasting is a practice found in all religious traditions and it is an important discipline.  But the motivation and intention behind the action is more important than the action of fasting itself.  As with many things, there are better and worse reasons for doing something.

As the question to Jesus implies, the Pharisees and many others fast in order to make their religiosity known to others.  The practice is seen as some sort of badge of virility and asceticism that proves a person tough.  This is not at all a worthy motivation for fasting.  Others will fast because they want to atone for their sins, and this is a much better reason for fasting, provided the person does not think that fasting itself curries God's forgiveness.  

When fasting is wedded to love and care for others, then a pure fast exists.  When we come to recognize that we have way too much of the world's goods and that others have too little of it, we come to fast in order to give to others without the food and resources we have in order to balance the scales.  This is the way to fast, the way to feed 5000 and many more, the way to show God's love in the world without words or ostentation.

A Choice Vintage

Gospel: John 2: 1-12

Everyone of us can imagine a wedding where a terrible faux pas has taken place or something has gone terribly wrong.  It causes stress and it leads inevitably to conflicts among the wedding party, families, and guests.  So just imagine being at this wedding in Cana of Galilee and the wine runs out.  No greater calamity could befall a wedding feast than for the open bar to run out of libations.  And yet that is what happens.  

In providing wine for the wedding, Jesus prevents a great deal of embarrassment and conflict for everyone.  What is more, this wine is better wine than what had been served previously, and its amount is so vast it will definitely never run out.  Additionally, this wine is provided for everyone without discrimination.  It is not a reserve vintage for a select few.  The very best in provided for and made accessible to everyone.

If we have received the very best from God, it is for us to share our very best with others in the world as well.  It is for us to make this abundance of God accessible to everyone.  We must not exclude anyone or seek to prevent others from having access to this rich bounty.  The fruits of the earth - the bounty of creation and the abundant grace of God is for everyone.   

The Place of Reconciliation

Gospel: Mark 2: 13-17

Whenever we have a falling out with a loved one, very often the place of reconciliation and forgiveness is at table over a meal.  It may be a lunch or dinner date, or coffee and a snack at home.  But the meal and the table become the place where we sort out our differences, seek forgiveness, and seek to restore our relationship with the person we love.  

In today's Gospel we find the very same dynamic at work in the ministry of Jesus.  We find him here and in many other instances having meals with notorious sinners, the very worst of Jesus' time: tax collectors and prostitutes and many others.  It is abundantly clear that table fellowship with the Lord requires no preconditions, and it is not a reward for our behavior.  The table is a place of encounter where we look to restore and renew our relationship with the Lord and one another.

In this Gospel scene we also have those who would seek to be bouncers and screeners at the table of the Lord.  Jesus rebukes them all, just as he does to us in our own time.  No one is turned away from the Lord's table by the one whose table it is, and nor should we ever dare to deter another person from an encounter with the Lord.   

The Secret to Eternal Life

Gospel: Matthew 19: 16-26

Everyone on earth is always looking for eternal youth and to cheat death.  Many find it in diets, gym memberships, spas and wrinkle creams, and the like.  Most people do not persist in these habits, and even if they did no one cheats death.  So, the quest is on for life eternal in the spiritual realm, and it is here that we find this young man approaching Jesus looking for the secret to attaining this goal.  At first, the man is encouraged: he's kept all the commandments, but there must be something more.

And there is - give away your stuff, give to the poor, and follow Jesus.  In following Jesus you will live a life totally dedicated to helping the poor: you will heal those suffering afflictions; you will deliver them from demons and what possesses them; you will nourish others at table fellowship.  That young man, and most of us along with him, drop this diet and gym membership as well.  We want the eternal life, but we don't want to do what it takes to get there.  So, we create alternative Christian practices that are not what Jesus actually did on earth.

So, today is a day for deep introspection: are we willing to give to the poor, to live a life of simplicity and follow Jesus in his ministry of healing, liberating, and feeding others? What might this look like in our own individual and communal lives?  

What If...

Gospel: Mark 1: 35-40

Once again we see Jesus heal someone, this time a leper, and proceed to tell them to say nothing to anyone about it.  Now, of course like all the others the man goes about telling everyone, but we might well wonder what it would actually look like if people obeyed Jesus and they did tell no one.  How might Christianity be different without all the hype and hyperbole?  

Fortunately, we have one lone example in the Gospels who actually did as Jesus commanded - Peter's mother-in-law.  Recall that she was healed by Jesus in yesterday's Gospel portion, and what was her response to this healing?  She merely arose from her bed and went about serving others.  She did not utter a single word; she merely went about living a life of service to others in her community.

If we are looking to be authentic disciples in the world, we will not find them in media conglomerates or cottage industries that are all about self-promotion.  We will instead find them in more humble environs - in soup kitchens, nursing homes, hospitals, prisons, and other places where they are quietly caring for others.  We who ourselves have been healed, liberated, and fed are now to do likewise for others in quiet humility like Peter's mother-in-law. 

In Search Of...

Gospel: Mark 1: 29-39

"Everyone is looking for you!"  Peter says to Jesus.  And indeed we are.  Like the crowd in today's Gospel we are all in need of healing from our ailments; we are all seeking deliverance from what possesses us; we are all yearning for nourishment and companionship at table.  These are the things Jesus provided during his life on earth, and when we search for these things we, consciously or not, seek the presence of the One who provided them in his lifetime.  

We might be surprised when we actually discover the presence of the Lord in our own lives.  We think we are going to encounter a bearded man clad in sandals and tunic, but in reality the presence of Jesus in our lives is the same person in this Gospel portion - it is Peter's mother-in-law: one who has experienced the healing, deliverance, and nourishment of the Lord in her life and who then sets about to provide these things for others in her life.

If we are about finding the Lord in esoteric and abstract ways it is because we fail to find people who are about this work of the Lord, and we in turn fail to become the Lord's presence on earth in providing these deeds of healing, liberation, and feeding.  Today our task is to be like Peter's mother-in-law - to be the presence of the Lord on earth, to be the instrument of healing, delivering, nourishment, and fellowship that is the work of a disciple.

Religious Paralysis

Gospel: Mark 1: 14-21

As in today's passage, throughout the Gospels we find people in need of healing, liberation, and feeding in a religious house of worship.  Today it is a man possessed by a demon; in other places it is a person in need of healing, and in still others a poor widow in the Temple.  In each of these scenes the congregation is not surprised by the presence of those in need, nor are they able or willing to help the person in need.  In each case Jesus seeks to provide that need.

How often is it the case in houses of worship today! We see many people in these various needs right among us.  In many cases we have not equipped ourselves to help others as our focus is on other things.  In other cases we are just not willing to help.  We make excuses as to why we cannot or will not, or we merely ignore the presence of those in need.  But Jesus in these scenes reminds us that the primary role of religion is to heal, liberate, and feed - and that communal worship has no meaning if we do not do these things.

Today is a day for us to reflect on the needs we see in our communities and how we might come together to heal, liberate, and feed people in our midst.  It is a day for acknowledging that we are able and willing to help others who have these needs - that nothing else is more important than this work that Jesus himself undertook as his primary task in the world.   

Following the Lead

Gospel: Mark 1: 14-20

Jesus continues the ministry of John after his arrest, proclaiming the same message of the coming of God's kingdom and our preparation for it.  But instead of remaining in the desert by the Jordan River, Jesus takes this message to the towns of Galilee, attracting followers along the way.  In addition, Jesus performs works of healing, of liberating people from their demons, and nourishing them at table fellowship.  The message and the healings are given to all without distinction or discrimination.  

What is more, Jesus invites other people to partake of this ministry.  He invites others to announce this message of the coming of God's kingdom and our need for repentance.  He invites others to perform the works of healing, liberating, and nourishing in the world.  This invitation too is given to all without distinction.  Today we find four men invited to the work; at other times we will find a Samaritan woman, Mary Magdalene, and others perform this work.  

The work of Jesus is to provide love and mercy to all people without distinction or discrimination.  It is to invite others to that same work as well.  As we have been healed, liberated, and fed, so too must we provide these things to others in thanksgiving and in response to the love that God has shown us in our lives.   

The Baptism of...

Gospel: Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

Today too much focus will be placed on some apologetic as to why Jesus was baptized.  Instead, let us reflect on our own baptism and what is means for us in our lives.  For, at our own baptism we too heard the words of the Father spoken in today's Gospel: "This is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased." The ritual did not make us so any more than it did for Jesus.  The ritual is an outward manifestation of how God sees each of us as a beloved son and daughter.

Once we come out of the waters of baptism, the task now is to follow the Lord Jesus in his work in the world.  We too are to carry out the words of Isaiah - to bring good news to the poor, to bring sight to the blind, to free those in prison, and to proclaim a jubilee.  It is now our task to bring healing, liberation, and nourishment to everyone we encounter through works of mercy.  

So today let us reflect and discern how we are to live out our baptism call to perform these deeds of love and mercy in the world.  Each day we can reflect on who in our midst is in need of such care, or what particular ministry of service can we perform in our community in caring for the poor and marginalized, the sick and imprisoned, the outcast and stranger.  For today we have received healing, deliverance, and food from God.  It is now for us to do likewise to others in response to that love. 

A Cameo Role

Gospel: John 3: 22-30

"He must increase; I must decrease." John the Baptist provides the description of the role of disciple in one simple phrase.  Throughout the Gospels we find Jesus attempting to tell others in other ways of this role: tell no one, just offer thanks and be merciful to others.  He who wishes to be first must be last and serve the needs of others.  The role of the disciple is to introduce someone to the Lord, and then exit off stage without uttering a word.  

Sounds simple, right? And yet how often do we find people claiming to be disciples who do not know their role on stage! How many "evangelists", "apologists", and prelates love the spotlight and media attention!  They will claim it is all for Jesus, not for their cottage industry or media empire.  But is it? The role of a disciple on stage is not a speaking role.  It is a doing role, and it is a cameo appearance.

Today is a day to reflect on our discipleship as individuals and as communities of faith.  Are we about self-promotion and seeking the limelight? Or are we about the work of Jesus - saying nothing, just following his example in healing, liberating, and nourishing others, introducing people to the Lord and getting out of the way so that they may have their own relationship with God as we do?    

Do Good, Avoid Crowds

Gospel: Luke 5: 12-16

Jesus goes about from town to town doing good to all he encounters.  He heals the sick and lame as in today's reading; he expels demons; he feeds and nourishes people at table.  Whenever he does good to another, he tells them not to tell anyone.  Instead, just give thanks to God and go to live a life of thanksgiving doing good to others.  And, since people do not follow that command, Jesus has to continually avoid the crowds who would make him king.  He goes to be alone with God.

It is odd that much of what passes for Christianity is the exact opposite of what Jesus commands and models in his behavior.  Instead of counseling others to live in gratitude and care for others, they are told to tell everyone and create a big crowd.  Instead of avoiding the crowds to be alone with God, people seek out the crowds and the push to be made king, to hold worldly power and influence.  We gain the world, but lose our soul...

Today is a day to reflect on what model we seek to follow in the way of religion.  We can follow the way of Jesus - the life of simple gratitude and service to others.  Or we can follow the road more often travelled - the way of the noisy crowd that is never satisfied, the way of worldly power and influence.  One way leads to an empty tomb and resurrection, the other to the rubble of a destroyed Jerusalem.  

Fulfilling the Role

Gospel: Luke 4: 14-22

In today's Gospel portion, Jesus announces the authentic role of religion in the world.  Its role is to heal others of their infirmities, to deliver people from what possesses them and binds them, and to feed others in mind, body, and spirit.  Jesus makes this announcement in his home synagogue, and then he sets about to carry out this mission of religion in his public ministry, going about from town to town healing people, delivering people from their demons, and nourishing people at table.  

Very often religion becomes something that is itself that binds people and holds them back from an authentic encounter with God and others.  It becomes more about being pushed into pre-packaged programs and Bible studies designed only to benefit the cottage industries and egos that produce them.  Rather than nourishing and eating with others, the table becomes an exclusive club by reservation only and only a few benefit.

How often do we find people in possession in houses of religion in the Gospels - in our own communities! How often is Jesus opposed in these same houses in the Gospels and in our own communities! Today is a day to reflect on the authentic role of religion and how we in our own lives are going to live out that mission to heal, liberate, and feed others.   

A New Understanding

Gospel: Mark 6: 45-52

After feeding the multitude, Jesus crosses the lake and goes up the mountain to be alone with God.  He intends to take us to a higher level of understanding about the events of the feeding.  Meanwhile, the disciples are not with him.  They are literally and figuratively out at sea, i.e. they fail to understand the deeper meaning behind the events of the last day.  The disciples, then as now, will continually fail to understand the deeper meaning of Jesus and their own lives.  

Jesus comes to heal those who are ill and lame.  He comes to deliver those held bound by demons of all sort.  He comes to feed and nourish and to eat with us at table.  This is the authentic work of God in the world.  The disciples have been accustomed to a god who imposes his will on the world through law and conquest, through violence and coercion, through threat and intimidation.  Jesus offers a different vision of God, a God of love, a parental God who provides nurturing and care for the household of faith.  

Jesus comes down the mountain to be with the disciples lost at sea.  He has to tell them not to be afraid, for his presence frightens them.  But the presence of God is not to instill fear but love.  God's presence is to calm and assure and console.  Authentic religion is about the latter and not the former.  When we seek God in the world, let this discernment guide us to places and people who are bearers of this light. 

Feed Them Yourselves

Gospel: Mark 6: 34-44

Mark's version of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes focuses on the conversation between Jesus and his disciples.  The disciples notice the people are hungry and without food, and they inform Jesus of this situation.  He tells them to feed the people, at which point the disciples object: the cost is just too high.  We care for the poor and hungry, but not that much.  We care enough to tell you about it, but that's as far as it goes...

How similar we are to these disciples!  We will talk a lot about care for the poor, but when asked to do something about it we will take part in a canned food drive or donate old clothes to a thrift store.  But we are not willing to radically change our lifestyle.  We like our big home, our closets full of clothes, pantries full of food, the suburban lifestyle.  And when we make decisions on public monies, we prefer to spend it on sports stadiums instead of the poor.  We care enough to complain about the problem, but not enough to do anything substantial about the problem.

Perhaps the real miracle of this story would have been the disciples actually doing something meaningful to help the poor and hungry.  Perhaps that is the miracle we might some day hope to see in our world - not asking for baby Jesus magic, but disciples who actually will live as Jesus does and care for others in concrete, meaningful ways that make a genuine difference in the world and in people's lives.

Restoring Order

Gospel: Matthew 4: 12-17, 23-25

After John the Baptist is imprisoned, Jesus takes up the ministry of John by proclaiming the same message: Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.  But Jesus does not wait for people to show up for baptism at the Jordan River.  Instead, he goes from town to town healing people of their infirmities, delivering those possessed by demons, and sharing meals with people of all kinds.  There are no preconditions set for being healed, no qualifications of worthiness enforced to eat with Jesus.  

In the religious understanding of many in Jesus' time - and ours - the dynamic is continually reversed.  People have to perform deed after deed in order to prove one's worthiness.  Innumerable sacrifices were offered, endless prayers recited, and purifications undertaken in order to somehow curry God's favor, to fulfill some idea of preconditions to be met prior to a relationship with God.  But Jesus has put this idea away once and for all.

What Jesus has done is restored the order of creation.  God created the world as a free gift in the hopes of eliciting a response of love from humanity.  In the redemption of the world  - in its re-creation - Jesus restores that order.  He heals us and eats with us in the hopes that we will respond in love.  Today is a day to reflect on the fact that God has created us, healed us, delivered us, and nourished us hoping for our response in love - a response that has us heal, deliver, and nourish others as it was done for us. 

Manifesting the Mystery

Gospel: Matthew 2: 1-12

The mini-season of Epiphany has us remember three distinct manifestations of the Divine mystery in the world.  Each of these manifestations brings with them an epiphany, an awareness and a realization for our own lives. Today we reflect on the visit of the Magi to the manger at Bethlehem - astrologers from a foreign country who find their way to the presence of the Lord in our world.  What can this mean for us today?

The Magi were not members of the chosen People.  They were not conversant with the Jewish scriptures or tradition.  Yet, through their own culture and understanding, they are guided by that knowledge to discover the mystery of the Lord in our world.  Upon discovering it, they do not say anything at all.  They simply offer their gifts and their own presence to the scene, honoring the mystery with their silence.  Then, they too will be led by God through dreams just as Joseph had, and they are led back home safely.  

God's mystery is made known to us in all sorts of ways and to all sorts of people.  God speaks to other people in their tradition just as in ours.  In all these ways of the mystery coming to be discovered, it leads us to the same place, and it invites the same response from us: to honor the mystery with our presence and silence, to offer our humble gifts to the service of God and others.  Today we are invited to reflect on how God is manifest in our lives, and how we will respond with our gifts and service to others.   

Where Are You Staying?

Gospel: John 1: 35-42

The latest fad in church world is the topic of discipleship, and just like its predecessors "renewal" and "evangelization" those promoting it will tell you that it consists of their pre-packaged programs that are all about theology, catechesis, and liturgical rubric.  And like these previous efforts it will fail because it asks the wrong question and looks for the answers in all the wrong places.  

In today's Gospel portion, people approach Jesus and ask, "Where are you staying?"  And his response to them is "Come and see." The rest of the Gospel is all about following Jesus to see where he stays.  And we find that it is among the poor and lame, blind and possessed, deaf and outcast, deformed and marginalized.  We will find him eating with sinners whether they be prostitutes, tax collectors, or Pharisees.  We will find him healing, liberating, and nourishing all of these.

The question of discipleship is not about theology or catechisms or liturgy.  It is about whether we are willing to follow the Lord when he invites us to come and see where he is staying, whether we will take up this work of being among the poor and sick, foreigner and demoniac, sinner and outcast.  To be a disciple is to take up the work of healing, liberating, and nourishing.  How is God calling us to do that work in our world today? 

Mistaken Identity

Gospel: John 1: 29-34

Each of the Gospels take great pains to distinguish in various ways the roles of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah.  People were so enamored of John that they thought him the Messiah or a figure more important than Jesus himself.  This issue was apparently acute during the time in which John wrote his Gospel, as he spends the entire first chapter engaged with this issue.  

It is an issue that continually repeats itself in every time and place within the Christian community.  A host of larger than life figures present themselves as Messiah figures - the strong man in politics, the charismatic religious leader - and people will follow them with a zeal greater than that for Jesus in their lives.  They will object that such is not the case, though the ardor with which their apologetic for such figures says otherwise.  How often are behaviors and beliefs that run contrary to that of Jesus are defended as Christian when in fact they are not?

This week's readings are a continual reminder for us as to who the Messiah truly is, and who our only model and guide are in life.  The Gospels are a continual reminder that Jesus alone is our Lord and redeemer, and that an authentic guide to Jesus is one like John the Baptist who repeatedly points to Jesus alone and not to himself or any other.  Today is a day to resolve to look to Jesus alone as the light of the world.

A Resolution

Gospel: Luke 2: 16-21

What is said about Mary is said about the Church and all her members.  In today's Gospel we find a phrase that will be repeated again of Mary in the Gospel: "Mary treasured all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Here we have the model of true discipleship.  It is for us a model of being Church, a model of engaging in liturgy, and a model in doing theology, and a model of being a disciple.  

Mary has received the mystery; she has borne it in her being; and she brings it forth into the world  in humility to the poor and to outsiders.  She has witnessed all sorts of things, and she treasures them and ponders them in her heart.  She does not engage others in polemic, nor engage in apologetic or ostentatious liturgical display.  Mary simply treasures them and ponders them.  She honors the mystery with her silence and her presence.  

What Mary has modeled in her life so we must do.  We too have received the mystery and have been invited to bear it and bring it forth into the world to the poor and to outsiders.  We are to encounter all sorts of marvelous things, and to treasure them and ponder them, honoring them with our presence and our silence.  We do not honor the mystery with empire, apologetic, media conglomerates or cottage industries.  We honor it as Mary did.  Let this imitation of her be our New Year's resolution.