“Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unhealthy spirit… Jesus rebuked him and said, ‘Come out of him!’ The unhealthy spirit… came out of him. All were…
John the Baptist, who will not agree to Herod’s lies and speaks out against the wealthy ruler’s corruption, has “been arrested.” Jesus goes beyond John’s practices and starts gathering a new “Community.” It will help people to have greater common knowledge, especially about how rulers operate by lying about and corrupting common knowledge. Aristotle…
A young Samuel in today’s Old Testament reading believes he is being called and responds, “Here I am.” Andrew in today’s Gospel believes he is being called and responds by following Jesus who lives in and keeps growing a community. It is natural to consider our lives and our life’s calling in individual terms…
Mary and Joseph “took Jesus up to Jerusalem.” “Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.” “When the parents brought in the child Jesus,” Simeon “took him into his arms and blessed God.” “There was also a prophetess, Anna.” She too “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child.” “The…
Mary is recorded in the Gospel as the mother of Jesus. Is she the mother of other children? The Gospel according to Matthew records persons inquiring about Jesus and saying, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” Are not…
Mary grew up in an extended family. She would have been accustomed to women being pregnant and having children. Women would have had their babies in the home. There was a great intimacy around a girl’s experience of pregnancy. Modern women might experience it as a time of little privacy but Mary would likely…
That Mary would be taken as a wife was an unquestioned expectation. It was a decision-making process that began long before her consciousness of it. Mary was part of an extended family all living together in attached dwellings. Mary’s whole family would have been involved in the considerations of who would be an appropriate…
Mary of Nazareth was a young brown skinned peasant girl. She was a hard worker with strong callused hands. Mary was an artisan, a homemaker. She made the clothing she wore from homespun wool or linen, heavy wool for the winter, light wool, linen, for the summer. She wove the clothing herself, sowed it…
As he frequently does, Jesus is speaking “to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables,” telling of a banquet prepared in great abundance. “Everything is ready” and the invitation is sent out to all, “Come to the feast.” Feasts, like the one in the Gospel of a coming wedding, highlight sharing.…
Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” “And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink… will surely be received.” Are we wise enough to receive people – their goodness, their humor and…