Deep Calls to Deep 28th Sunday Ordinary Time – MINE!!!!
MINE!!! Don’t mess with my stuff!!! Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had […]
28th Sunday Ordinary Time – What do you give the Man Who Has Everything? Nothingness…
“One thing you lack. Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and then follow me.” Are you out of your mind!!!!! Let’s look into LACK. The Greek, hustereo, can be translated, “to want, to be in need, to tarry or lag behind.” LACK: Jesus makes a connection between trusting God totally and our inner poverty, […]
28th Sunday Ordinary Time – Define “Rich”
Well, I’ll take a shot at defining riches. Actually, no. Matthew, Mark, and Luke highlight greed for riches as the issue. May I add: Greed has everything to do with emptiness. At least for me. And riches follow. “Never enough! Never enough! Never enough!” Are all rich people greedy? Are they lonely? Ask them (Ask […]
28th Sunday Ordinary Time – Does Jesus Hate the Rich?
Why is Jesus always making the rich feel guilty? feel bad about themselves? Why is he so down on those who have wealth? Let’s look closer. Mark’s gospel promotes the Two Paths understanding of being human, being Jewish, and following Jesus. There’s the Path to Life. Wisdom. There’s the Path to Death. Folly. Choose Life, […]
27th Sunday Ordinary Time – A Last Question – “Not Good for the man to be alone?”
Creation of Eve by William Blake Actually, the Hebrew can be better translated, “It is not good for humankind (adam) to be isolated, separate, apart.” I found this significant because the gospel was all about divorce. So, I asked the question: What are the conditions for the possibility that two persons could unite in marriage […]
27th Sunday Ordinary Time – Who’s in the Mirror?
In my celibate and humble opinion, here’s the issue with divorces that happen at any and every scale – between a married couple, siblings in a family, within a church congregation, between founders of some corporation, within a country or within a world, and so on – “Whom will I allow me to see? Whom […]
27th Sunday Ordinary Time – Divorce & the Hardness of Hearts
What’s at stake in the gospel of Mark in this encounter with the Pharisees concerning divorce is the hardness of the hearts of the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests and elders AS WELL AS Jesus’ disciples. (sklerokardia) Mark 6:49-52 …but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought […]
26th Sunday Ordinary Time – The EYES have it!
What is it about these “windows to the soul,” these “windows to the world” that should be cast out or be cast into Gehenna? Mark’s gospel puts ophthalmos, “eye,” to use in several key ways. Again, it’s not about sex. Let’s look. The NRSV renders ophthalmos poneros as “envy” or “evil eye.” (The Green Monster within.) Mark 7:20–23 […]
26th Sunday Ordinary Time – To Stumble & To Cut Off
PS: It’s not what we have heard before. It’s not about sex… Yet… I have become more and more convinced of the worth of studying the Greek text of the gospel of Mark (and the other gospels as well). In this 8 minute attempt at something resembling a podcast, I present both results of my study and […]
Who’s the Greatest? (Part the Third) Whose Ways?
Lookee! The August 2017 Eclipse provided a time for “looking up.” Not that God’s ways are totally “up there,” nor are they totally “down here.” They’re simply different from my ways, your ways, our ways. Perhaps these audio reflections will speak to you on your path of discernment. Blessings! –roc,sj
Deep Calls to Deep 