Today’s readings ask us to consider to whom we belong. Zechariah speaks of his nation as the best nation and his joy in belonging to it, “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy,” “See, your king shall come to you.” Jesus speaks of “little ones,” vulnerable people who form community, as those to…
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on…
An old adage suggests that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. But Militarists who invented the mirror-image God who laughs at our plans, tell us their plans for us all the time. The plans of Militarists fill today’s readings. The Militarist Solomon asserts, “Lord, You have chosen me king…
“As Jesus was making his way out of the temple area, one of his disciples said, Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings. Jesus responded, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.’” Jesus talks of the tribulation of those days…
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind.” “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues… (People) from every nation… gathered in a large crowd… (and) each…
Midwives ‘stand with’ women who are with child. Midwives guide women in bringing beautiful new life to birth. Elizabeth acts as a midwife to Mary of Nazareth. She guides her young cousin most especially in a spiritual way. One example is by Elizabeth receiving Mary and her baby with great joy. Mary, as any…
Jesus has been telling people terrorized by Empire, David’s and Caesar’s, parables about the Community of God. The Community of God is, among other things, described as a treasure, a fine pearl, a net and thus surprising, joyful, fulfilling. Upon concluding all the parables Jesus says, “Every scribe who has been instructed in the…
“At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.” Jesus is led away from family, friends, even physical sustenance and he is hungry. Yet Jesus has been led by the Spirit to…
When Jesus was passing through Jericho “he looked up” and saw Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had “climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus.” Zacchaeus had to change his point of view in order to see Jesus, to encounter him. He could not do so from his original point of view, it rendered him short-sighted. His short-sighted…