Isaiah tells us of the distance between “the Lord” and the people. Those who are obedient should “call on the Lord while he is near.” To those who are disobedient and thus far from the Lord, he says, “Turn to the Lord for mercy… as high as the heavens are above the earth, so…
Today’s Old Testament reading focuses on the Chosen people to whom the Lord God Yahweh says, “I have appointed you watchman for the house of Israel.” “If I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall…
“Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to…
The Pharisees and Sadducees have been testing Jesus about who he is. Later, “Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ Jesus is letting rulers know who he is, a person of integrity. He is letting the people know through the communities he’s building that they too are…
A “Canaanite woman” “called out to Jesus, ‘Have pity on me,’” “My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to…
Today’s Psalmist calls upon his Lord Yahweh who is a warmaker to save the land of Israel, “Restore us, O Lord, our savior.” In the Gospel, Peter sees his peacemaker teacher in a boat on the water and calls upon him, “Have me to come to you.” Jesus does, “Come” he says, and so…
“When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds… followed him on foot.” “When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples…
Like last Sunday, several instances of Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God are again squeezed into today’s Gospel selection. Again, the teaching itself is squeezed out – that the Kingdom of God, better translated as the Community of God, is happening in the here and now in our peaceful social transformation of the…
Several instances of Jesus’ most important teaching, the “Kingdom of God,” rarely addressed in Protestant sermons or Catholic curriculum, are squeezed together in today’s Gospel selection. The effect is to squeeze out Jesus’ actual teaching on it – that the Kingdom of God, better translated as the Community of God, is happening in the…