The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Advent begins with John the Baptist. John is something of a fiery character. He makes the public aware of the injustice of rulers. John calls rulers a “brood of vipers.” The rulers are aware of his challenge and plan to extinguish him. That is how Militarism operates.…
Jesus is encouraging those who want to learn from him to stay awake to a coming meaningful event. It is the coming of the Son of Man. It is a highly misunderstood and misinterpreted event. The coming of the Son of Man refers to Resurrection. Like Jesus’ coming at birth, soon celebrated in the…
The setting is Golgotha. It is the place of skulls. Jesus is breathing his last. He is hanging on a cross. On either side is a criminal. They too, are gasping for breath. One criminal speaks to Jesus. His words reveal knowledge. He knows Jesus in this life. He hopes to know Jesus in…
In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus speaks apocalyptically, saying of the Temple, “there will not be left a stone upon another stone.” He speaks of people who will start “wars and insurrections” and that “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” Though his apocalyptic language may sound similar to current doomsdayers, to label…
This Sunday’s readings are each marked by grave diggers. In the Old Testament, the Maccabees family is having their grave dug by foreign rulers. The rulers reject their way of life and will kill them for it; “seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king.” In…
Among the people, Jesus is growing in stature. He is experienced as a man of integrity, honest and caring. When word spreads through Jericho that he “intends to pass through the town,” a particular man in it, Zacchaeus, “seeks to see who Jesus is.” Zacchaeus is a tax collector. Tax collectors are used by…
Jesus tells a parable of a Pharisee, “convinced of his own righteousness who despised everyone else.” He is a man who believes he is unlike other commoners. He is supreme, without sin. The Pharisee is helping maintain an entire system of supremacists who force lesser men to be obedient to them. The system includes…
Jesus is here to change the world. Are we? Do we think he or we should be up to something less? Change is powered by prayer. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells of a widow who will not be wearied by an unjust judge. Be persistent, “pray always.” we can be in communion with…
In this Sunday’s Gospel we meet ten human beings who have no place in the family of life; they are out of touch, physically. They are kept separate from their human family; isolated, lonely. They bear a skin disease and are judged sinners. Their bodies bear marks that have them in despair over ever…
Faith is generally understood as believing in a Supreme Being. Often attached to that belief is another belief, that because of our faith, that Supreme Being will do something for us. The prophet Habakkuk, in this Sunday’s first reading, has such faith and believes his Lord will do something for him, “O Lord, ……