“Magi from the east… seek the newborn king.” “We saw his star at its rising” they tell King Herod. “King Herod was greatly troubled.” He believes Jesus wants his throne and will fight him to keep it. Herod plans to kill the child. From the Gospel we know of the darkness the warmaker King…
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…
In the Old Testament, young Samuel mistakenly believes he is being called by Eli. Eli says “the Lord was calling the youth.” The Lord is calling Samuel for allegiance to a War Lord, King David, and to a warrior nation, Israel. In the Gospel, Andrew believes he is being called by Jesus. Jesus says…
“Jesus took Peter, James, and John” “up a high mountain.” There they saw Jesus, “transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” “And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared.” When we look at Moses and Elijah we see ancient figures bound to the kingdom of Israel. When…
This Sunday’s Old Testament reading concerns Yahweh. Yahweh is the Lord of ‘Hosts’ – which means Lord of ‘Armies.’ Yahweh is a warmaker and is ordering obedience. It is the same obedience ordered by the warmakers who invented Yahweh; warmakers such as Moses. The Gospel reveals Jesus is not a warmaker but a peacemaker.…
Peace is Jesus’ way. It is his gift to everyone: “Peace be with you.” Those who want to learn from Jesus, receive the gift of peace and share it with others. One sign of our doing so is our willingness to be at peace, as Jesus was, with different people. Our differences with people…