Deep Calls to Deep 7th SUN ORD 2017 – “You’re kidding me, right…?”
OK, buckle up for safety… or what passes for safety in your world. Here’s where the Sermon on the Mount serves as a great Rorschach (Ink Blot) test. Please note your reactions, as I will do. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your […]
6th SUN ORD – “If you are angry with…”
It’s important to be taught by anger in our day and time. There’s so much of it. Let me begin, then, with this proposition – every act of anger serves to protect one from basic vulnerability, to deny one’s status as creature of God by taking the place of God. Yes, I’m claiming that even righteous anger involves avoidance. Let’s […]
5th SUN ORD – “Light in the House”
So far we’ve seen that foolish salt needs to be thrown out (ballo). And right eyes, right hands, stumbling feet (all that leads to sin), and unfruitful trees also need to be thrown out. Jesus’ continuing instruction (between chapters 5 & 7 and throughout) will teach us about both what unhealthy eyes look like and what healthy eyes look like. [Literalists, beware!] […]
5th SUN ORD – “One-Eyed Christians???”
The brief selection from Sunday’s gospel creates a web of relationships within the gospel of Matthew itself and ties together significant bits from the Greek Old Testament. The verb, ballo, “to throw out,” connects to Jesus other teaching about discerning action: Jesus teaches us to take which causes us to sin/be unfruitful/stumble/become foolish and throw it out. So, […]
5th SUN ORD Time – “Salt of the Earth”
What the heck does “salt of the earth” mean? Can salt lose it’s taste? Don’t think so, but it can become insipid. And that’s a tad closer to the meaning than what the NAB gave on Sunday. Too colloquial. Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, […]
Roc Homily – Sermon on the Mount 3
Jim Flaherty, SJ, pastor at the Church of the Gesu, in collaboration with the liturgy team, confirmed our notion that it was truly right and just to show the following video from James Martin, SJ, Editor at Large, America Media. So following the conclusion of my 7 minute (!) homily, here it is. We saw this […]
Roc Homily – Sermon on the Mount situates us. (A) 2017
Perhaps we caught a glimpse of what “Poor” looks like in “Poor in Spirit.” Let’s look at “Spirit” today. The Greek, pneuma, refers to two different realities – the spirit of God and the human spirit. First, the human spirit (which calls out for conversion)… It ain’t pretty. Numbers 5:13f …if a spirit of […]
Roc Homily (a) – 4th SUN ORD (A) 2017
Sermon on the Mount: Who made up the crowd Jesus saw before going up the mountain? Wounded people came to him then drawn by the promise of healing. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame […]
Roc Homily (d) – 3rd SUN Ord Time (A) 2017
I concluded my homily last Sunday with this: “I now fully support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. I believe that all in this country should receive the same insurance as Senators and members of the House of Representatives. So, take away the first and bring on the second.” Here is the audio version […]
Roc Homily (c) – “Silence” and the Call of the Disciples…
Last night, I viewed the movie, “Silence.” It touched me in many ways and led me to reflect on the Call of the Disciples in last Sunday’s gospel. First, a bit of exegesis on the call. Matthew 4:15f “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee […]
Deep Calls to Deep 