Deep Calls to Deep Feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist – and a Farewell…
Friends, on Sunday I concluded part of my service here at the Church of the Gesu by presiding at the two morning liturgies. At the 7:00 am Mass, I read from my final writing for the Gesu Bulletin – a word of thanks, a word of amends, a word of hope. I share that with […]
Eleventh Sunday Ordinary Time – What a Parable! (2. Essential Questions)
Life can be so simple at times and complicated at other times. What does it look like to walk the path with Jesus trusting that his Word will transform us? Here’s a few thoughts… There are many outside and internal influences that affect us while we follow Christ. One fundamental piece that shapes us has […]
Eleventh Sunday Ordinary Time – What a Parable! (1. Structure)
There is a story beneath the story in this parable, it seems to me. [Reminds me of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story”] Our first attempt to deal with it involves looking at its structure in terms of its relationship to the first “Seed Parable” in chapter four. I believe you will remember “The […]
Tenth Sunday Ordinary Time – Adam & Eve’s Kids…
Jesus was forming a “new family,” a new say of being in kinship with God, self, and others. All based on his teachings. As Immanuel Kant was wont to say, “What are the conditions for the possibility that” this new kinship could work? What conditions need to obtain so that this new way of relating, […]
Tenth Sunday Ordinary Time – Crazy Jesus
So, Jesus’ relatives came to take him away because they thought he was out of his mind. And not only because he was so busy tending to the crowds who had gathered. He and his disciples had no time to eat. And after dusting off the scribes, his mother and family appeared wishing to speak […]
An Anniversary…
Today I celebrate thirty-nine years of priesthood after ordination with the Duke, Buns, Greg, & Lurch. The names have been changed to protect… Months before June 8, 1979, I encountered Michael J. Buckley, SJ on the sidewalks near the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA. He had that look about him that he planned […]
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – On Receiving from the Cup
Receiving from the cup, taking in the Body and Blood of Christ, is a mixed gesture today. Blood signifies both life and death. And who in their right mind wants death? Give me life, indeed! The consecrated wine, the Body and Blood of Christ (though the ministers say, “Blood of Christ”) is Life Himself. The […]
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – What is the Covenant in Blood?
I spend more time this year reflecting on the first reading from last Sunday, from Exodus 24. One fascination I have has to do with my attraction to the symbol of blood and aversion to the reality of blood. Blood equals life. It seems to me now that the sacrificing of bulls, goats, whatever is […]
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – To Whom did Moses speak?
Duh, he spoke to the band of Israelites who fled Egypt with him and under God’s aegis. Well, yes and no. Moses addressed the people of God who didn’t want to hear the voice of God! This is what occurred directly after God proclaimed the Ten Commandments. What an amazing response! It encapsulates everything we […]
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – What Moses read…
Let’s begin this week’s reflections on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ with Moses speaking the ordinances of God to the people in Exodus 24:3-4. What did he tell them? Here’s the lead in: Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people […]
Deep Calls to Deep 