The Old Testament reading includes priests demanding material resources from the people’s labor, “burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar.” Priests burned some of the people’s offerings but stored most for themselves, in the Temple. The Temple operated as an early bank for rulers to withdraw deposits from the people’s labor…
“Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” The first reading from Ecclesiastes warns that the pursuit of things consumes the fool. Lost in the consumption is our soul. Jesus tells a parable of a soul so foolishly consumed, “A rich man, whose land produced a bountiful harvest” ponders, ‘What shall I do?’ ‘I shall…
Feeling humiliated as a piece of property weaves through this Sunday’s readings. The Israelites feel humiliated as slaves in Egypt, owned as property. Unfortunately, these ex-slaves then conquer and humiliate other people as slaves in “the land of Canaan” and own them as property. Jesus highlights the feeling by telling a parable of a…
Jesus has a gift for words and is a highly sought-after teacher. His words, which he gives away freely, attract great crowds as in this Sunday’s Gospel. He is never shown letting the people’s attention spoil him. Nor does he express feelings of entitlement. He never expects others to please him or serve him…
Jesus tells a parable this Sunday about a God who unceasingly forgives others debts, or sins; 70 x 7 times. In Jesus’ new revelation of divinity, an ethic of forgiving love replaces the old deity, Yahweh, and replaces the old ethic of debt slavery. The old deity was invented by War Lords who enslaved…
What is it we who are not blind want to see? Do we want to see the true meaning of life? Do we want to see it as desperately as the man in this Sunday’s Gospel who is born blind wants to see the physical world? When Jesus heals the blind man people react…
When Jesus leaves his trade as a common laborer, he starts traveling as a preacher among mostly poor working people. He has very few things. What he does have he shares with others; his spirituality, his wisdom, his storytelling. Others share their gifts with him; home, hearth, food. Amidst this shared life, a man…
Christ’s Spirit, emphasized on Pentecost, celebrates an ongoing energy shift. It’s the energy shift away from worship – extracted energy, and toward inspiration – enlivening energy. Worship extracts energy by directing our energy outward. We direct our energy to an external unchanging deity and his earthly representatives. We seek in return a reward or…
There’s an old joke, not so old that Jesus heard it, but old nonetheless – You can tell Monopoly is an old game because it’s got a luxury tax and it’s possible for rich people to go to jail. The possibility of either or both happening is greater in the board game than in…
The Advent/Christmas season begins with the Gospel forecasting an apocalyptic event. It uses symbolic language to convey its seriousness: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay.” Jesus describes a climate of distress apparent socially and personally (he’s facing his own suffering…