As living and sacred words, the scriptures live anew for us in every given moment and phase of our lives. To read the words from Maccabees this morning is to experience from our own perspective the problem of faithfulness and syncretism. What our immigrant grandparents so valued and longed to enter into, the “melting pot” of American culture, is for us who attempt to hold to a gospel faith an increasing experience of inner and outer conflict. In practice we sacrifice on a daily basis our lives to the cultural values of competition, consumption, and commerce, while relegating our relationship…[read more]
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of…[read more]
In Wisdom is a spirit / intelligent, holy, unique, / Manifold, subtle, agile, / clear, unstained, certain, / Never harmful, loving the good, keen, / unhampered, beneficent, kindly, / Firm, secure, tranquil, / all-powerful, all-seeing, / And pervading all spirits, / though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle. Wisdom 7: 22-3 Asked by the…[read more]
In his response to the Samaritan who is the one of ten to return to thank Jesus for healing him, Jesus commends him for his faith. He also, somewhat strangely, says to him that his faith has made him well. What, then, of the other 9 who were also healed?…[read more]
So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’ Luke 17:10 There is a strange paradox in the gospel. On the one hand, we hear of how God cares for us as for the birds of…[read more]
For wisdom is a kindly spirit, / yet she does not acquit blasphemous lips; Because God is the witness of the inmost self / and the sure observer of the heart / and the listener to the tongue. Wisdom 1:6 He said to his disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the…[read more]
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into…[read more]
For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:7-9 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and…[read more]
Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have…[read more]
In today’s familiar parable of “The Great Feast,” Jesus tells of a master who invites many of his friends and acquaintances to a great feast, but they are all too busy, for one reason or another, to accept his invitation. So, in a rage, he tells his servant to go out and to invite those on the street, the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.” What so enrages the master is that those he wanted to come to the feast he was offering were all too busy for him. It is the disregarded, the outcasts, the poor…[read more]
As living and sacred words, the scriptures live anew for us in every given moment and phase of our lives. To read the words from Maccabees this morning is to experience from our own perspective the problem of faithfulness and syncretism. What our immigrant grandparents so valued and longed to enter into, the “melting pot” of American culture, is for us who attempt to hold to a gospel faith an increasing experience of inner and outer conflict. In practice we sacrifice on a daily basis our lives to the cultural values of competition, consumption, and commerce, while relegating our relationship…[read more]
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