In today’s Gospel reading (Mk 5:21-43) we have more stories about faith. Last week it was the disciples on the boat in the storm. Today there are two very different stories. And Mark chooses not to put them one after another, but one inside the other, as it were. He starts the story of Jairus, […]
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Read More »
“Why are you terrified?” Reading the story of the apostles in the boat during the storm, with Jesus fast asleep (I guess he was really tired!), I found myself wondering – what were they terrified about? (Mk 4:35-41) The obvious answer is the storm. But while I’m sure they would have been, Jesus has already calmed
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Mark often describes Jesus explaining “the kingdom of God” in parables. Rather than be direct, Jesus uses analogies to try to get through to people who were not on his wavelength (Mk 4:26-34). We may also have a problem getting on Jesus’ wavelength, but for different reasons than his original audience. We’re very familiar with
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Read More »
Easter finished two weeks ago. Eventually we do have to come down the mountain, back to “ordinary” time. And what do we find when we get here? Ordinary life, with its ordinary challenges – relationships between men and women, relationships within families. Our first reading (Gn 3:9-15) tells the famous (or infamous) story of how
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“This is my body, this is my blood”. We are used to thinking about this extraordinary statement from the perspective of a meal. That was the context in which Jesus spoke these words. John in his gospel elaborates the idea of eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus in a way that we
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Read More »