Deep Calls to Deep Roc Homily Prequel – Twenty-First Sunday Ordinary Time 2016
I didn’t work in any word-study this time… So, let me add this curious discovery concerning “enter through the narrow door…” The NRSV translates the Greek, stenos, as narrow in only two instances. Otherwise, it uses “distress.” Funky, right? Here are the sources: **********Numbers 22:26f (NRSV) — 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead, and stood […]
Roc Homily – Twentieth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016-Troisieme
one more thing… When fire comes upon the earth, what might conversion look like? Here’s what I perceive: More and more, I have grown in appreciation of the story of St. Francis and the leper (and for Pope Francis with the poor). They found Christ in those whom otherwise were despised. Seems to me that […]
Roc Homily – Twentieth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016-Part Deux
“I have come not for peace but for division…” No, not long division, but “two against three & three against two and the whole famdam’ly against each other…” It seems to me: that though this passage concerns followers of Jesus in opposition to others, my burden of idealism tells me I don’t know very many […]
Roc Homily – Twentieth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016
“I have come to cast fire on the earth…” The passage in Acts 2 serves as the backdrop for understanding this gospel passage – “tongues of fire divided.” It seems to me that the fire of the Spirit purified the disciples (as gold in the fire) and created a union between them, a oneness not […]
Roc Homily – Seventeenth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016
“This gospel is not about prayer in general…” The Lord’s Prayer seems to be “designed” for disciples who seek a path of purification and mission. Asking and seeking and knocking have to do with persistence in asking for the Holy Spirit whose purifying fire made the disciples ready for mission. That’s why we “dare to […]
Prequel to Roc Homily – Seventeenth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016
This is a wholly new way of looking at the Lord’s Prayer for me. See whether it works for you. Consider the placement of this prayer in Matthew’s gospel (6:5-15). It’s set right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, the inaugural address Jesus made to his disciples in which he laid out his […]
Here’s a Thought #1
Light a fire! In the USofA, the three political parties are in full campaign mode attempting to fire up their particular bases and keep them lit up through the November election and into the future. Catholic leadership uses the image of lighting a fire in the hearts of believers to get us excited about God, […]
Prequel to Roc Homily – Sixteenth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016
In my homily for the 16th Sunday Ordinary Time, I proposed that the Martha & Mary passage works as a critique of a life driven by anxiety, worry, & distraction in whatever line of work. May I humbly suggest that it is not primarily about hospitality. The passage concerns the pattern many of us have of […]
Roc Homily – Fifteenth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016
Is it possible that Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan could have contributed to the ire of scribes & Pharisees? Could this parable have led to his death? I follow N.T. Wright’s study of the Pharisees that details how Jesus’ letting go of observance of purity codes could have done just that. Let me know […]
More thoughts on Evangelization #2… 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 gospel = Matthew 9:34-38 …Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he […]
Deep Calls to Deep 