Crooked Lines

Readings

“If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”

“He took the child by the hand” . . .”

It is the miracle within the miracle.  On his way to see to the daughter of Jairus, Jesus heals the woman with the hemorrhage.  On the surface, there are numerous differences between these two encounters.  One is a mere child, the other, an adult woman.  One suffers a long-term chronic illness, while the other approaches death.  One approaches Jesus herself, while the other needs someone to intercede for her.  Other differences probably could be listed.

Continue reading →

Readings

“ … and no one was strong enough to subdue him.”

The detail in this story about the Gerasene demoniac does much to clarify the difficulty of setting the man free.  He broke chains, shattered shackles, and simply could not be restrained.  He was driven not by one demon, but by many – Legion was their name.  Even the swine could not bear to be inhabited by them, rushing into the sea to their deaths instead.

Continue reading →

Readings

This week’s bulletin article is available here.

The homily for the Sunday is available in audio format.

Readings

“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket
or under a bed,and not to be placed on a lampstand?”

Is there any true light that is not Christ?

Christ tells us that we are the light of the world.  And light is meant to be visible, to shine brightly, to banish the darkness.  We are called to let our light shine brightly before men and women, that they might not dwell in darkness, but rather that they might dwell in light.

Continue reading →

Readings

“For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.”

One of the changes that we have experienced with our new translation of the Roman Missal is in the words of institution in the Eucharistic Prayer.  Where we use to say that the Blood of Christ was poured out for all, now we say that this life-saving gift is shed for many.  Our Gospel today sheds light on the truth behind that change.

Continue reading →

Today, we have been asked by our Bishops to celebrate a mass for the protection of human dignity, either the Mass for Peace and Justice, or the Mass of Thanksgiving for the Gift of Human Life.  This is of course driven by the anniversary yesterday of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion on demand in our nation.  It did this by making absolute a right to privacy discovered in the “penumbra” of the rights enumerated in the Constitution, while at the same time denying personhood to the unborn child.  So we find ourselves with a legal system in which the corporation is treated as a person, but the unborn baby is not.

While the focus is of course on the dignity and sanctity of unborn life, the church always speaks of life issues in terms of the dignity of all human life, rooted in the fact of being created in the image and likeness of God.  We must beware the exceptions:  If this or that life is not sacred (the enemy, the guilty, the dying, the handicapped, etc.) then perhaps that life (the unborn child) is not sacred either.

Continue reading →

Readings

Peter, James, Andrew, John, Bartholomew, and all the others.  The names are so familiar.  There were crowds of disciples (followers), but only twelve apostles (those who are sent).  Our Gospel today focuses on that action of Jesus which set apart a small group of those nameless disciples, and gave them a special role.

He called them by name.  He gave them authority.  He invited them to share in his mission of bringing salvation to the world.  All of this was done by Jesus, at his initiative, in accord with the way God works.  He always speaks first.

Continue reading →

Readings

“Saul was very angry and resentful of the song . . . “

Saul and David returned in triumph.  Yet the taste of that victory soon turned bitter in Saul’s mouth.  The people were praising David more than Saul.  He became angry.  He became resentful.  Jealousy rose up in his heart.  His pride has been wounded, his position and prestige were threatened.    At the root of all this was certainly fear, fear that he would lose something he had, or fear that he would not get something he was convinced he needed.  Anger, resentment, jealousy and pride were stirred together in Saul’s heart, such that he decided that David must die.

Continue reading →