Deep Calls to Deep 14th Sunday Ordinary Time – Seeking & Finding
I was quite surprised to weigh the value of the verb, “to find,” heurisko. It draws so many themes in Matthew together into a network that adds insight to this passage from Sunday’s gospel. Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle & humble in […]
3rd of Easter – Emmaus & Heartburn (1)
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Whaaaa…? Christ’s gift of heartburn? What does the Greek, kaio, “to burn,” signify? Two things, the presence of God and purification. Check it out: Exodus 3:2 There the […]
Easter Week – Remembering Triduum backwards 4
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Why was he put to death? Why do we humans, you and I, put others on the cross? Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) pictured Jesus immersed in and among wounded human beings. Like us, though we may look better in the mirror. John’s Passion Narrative, the ending of “The Book […]
Easter Week – Remembering Triduum backwards 3
Easter Vigil: Our baptismal immersion. Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we […]
Easter Week – Remembering Triduum backwards… 1
Easter Sunday: In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius had the retreatant repeat this or that contemplation in order to deepen the experience of knowing, loving, and serving Jesus Christ. In a similar way, those baptized, confirmed, and who shared in the Eucharist for the first time at the Easter Vigil now seek to […]
Good Friday – The Myth of Redemptive Violence, an exploration…
I just read about this in a blog this morning: Jesus died to appease the wrath of God. It humiliates, shames, and inflicts suffering on its victims. I certainly have heard of that before. But the reference to it as the “Myth of Redemptive Violence” is new. It means to believe that violence will solve […]
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 […]
Roc Homily (d) – 2nd Sunday Ordinary Time (A) 2017
A few folks asked, “What’s all this about paying a debt?” Here’s a shot at it before launching into John Calvin… Theologians throughout the ages have grappled with “Why did this happen? Why did Jesus die? What does it mean he died for our sins?” This piece from Isaiah, read on Good Friday, seems to […]
Prepared to celebrate…
Merry Christmas to you, family and friends! Preparations continue at the Church of the Gesu to walk into the night to find Jesus, born in the place where no one wants to go. I sure don’t! It’s too painful. The stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem is the world. Who wants to seek the tiny light […]
Wrapping Up Advent
This year, Advent taught me about the betwixt and between that characterizes my life always. You? It’s the already, but not yet. Ugh. Who wants to face that? On the one hand… I am impatient that I am incomplete still. My desire to be whole, my demand to be complete is robust even though I try […]
Deep Calls to Deep 