Made for the occasion
Third Sunday of Ordinary Time – Jan 26, 2025 “Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion” (Neh 8:4). When Ezra read to the people from the book of the law, he did … Read More
Break forth in our midst
Second Sunday of Ordinary Time – Jan 19, 2025 What would have happened at the banquet if Mary had not paid attention to the kitchen staff and spoken up when she saw their urgent need? It was her intervention and … Read More
Wherever hope is dimmed
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 17, 2024 We come almost full circle since we began the Year of Mark, and today’s Gospel should sound familiar. The verses that follow this pericope were proclaimed on the First Sunday of … Read More
Giving your all
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 10, 2024 Many landmarks and much of the infrastructure we take for granted were built by persons enslaved and exploited by unjust systems. I think of the White House, of rail and roadways … Read More
Breaking the cycle
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 3, 2024 On this Sunday before Election Day in the United States, the Lectionary gives us a blessing in disguise. Today’s pericope of the greatest commandment is so familiar that we might miss … Read More
Following with joy
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 27, 2024 At the edge of Jerusalem, after misunderstandings, disappointments, and misguided requests by Jesus’s followers and would-be disciples, we finally find a worthy companion for Christ on the road to the cross. … Read More
More than a metaphor
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 20, 2024 In Mark’s Gospel, the language about the cross and what it requires is violent and unambiguous. Jesus will suffer greatly and be rejected, killed, and handed over. He will give up … Read More
Doing the impossible
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 13, 2024 Does Jesus want us to sell everything we have to inherit eternal life? Or is this another hyperbole to get our attention? Recall that in the first Christian community, “no one … Read More
God gives us one another
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 6, 2024 Hopefully no one in their homily last week advocated for self-harm or mutilation as an actual response to human weakness. We do not interpret Scripture literally or use it to invoke … Read More
Boundless mercy
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 29, 2024 To really understand today’s Gospel and Jesus’s over-the-top rant, read the verses of Numbers 11 that lead up to today’s first reading pericope. Moses was fed up. He had had enough … Read More