Reflections for Ordinary Time

Last week we were focused on our individual, personal response to Jesus’ call. This week our attention shifts to the external impact of this call – what does it mean for us and the people around us, the people we come into contact with? We are very used to the idea that Jesus’ message included […]

Our readings this week point out how following Jesus requires a certain strength of character. Yes his call is a gift, but it still takes an effort to respond (as it did also for Elisha – 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21), and to stay with it. One challenge for us in thinking about this is that

I sit here in Europe with a war starting not so far away, hard though it is to believe. Yes, it’s the other side of the continent, but less than the distance from San Fransisco to New York, in a country that doesn’t seem so different, with people who don’t seem very different. Wars are

Jesus says: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you”. (Lk 6:27-38) And just to be sure he repeats it: “love your enemies and do good to them”. Then he finishes up with “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” From ridiculous to impossible! Let’s start with the impossible and work back

“Blessed are the poor”. So that’s OK then… The poor may be having a tough time right now, but they’ll be OK at some point in the future, actually in another life. (Lk 6:17, 20-26) This view of Jesus’ teaching, which pushes the impact into the future is a profound distortion. The distortion arises because

Three very different people. Three very different encounters with the divine.  We can perhaps relate most easily to Peter, since he met a man, Jesus (Lk 5:1-11). He agreed to help him out with a trip on his boat. A meeting well within our normal scope of experience. But then again it wasn’t. Peter had

Corinth is a major industrial city in Greece, with a canal that splits northern and southern Greece and joins the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. It has one of the largest oil refining industrial complexes in Europe. It was important in Gospel times, and has a history going back at least 700 years before that. There is a fascinating

The Judaism of Jesus’ time existed in two very different forms. There was the Judaism of Jerusalem with the temple, the sacrifices, and all the surrounding paraphernalia of markets, money changers, pilgrim hostels, etc. And there was the Judaism of the synagogue, often tiny buildings in remote places where the reading of scripture was a

We spoke last week of how the Baptism of the Lord was a “second Epiphany” in Luke’s telling. This week we have… a third Epiphany!? All the gospels, as we noted, include the story of Jesus’ baptism. But John presents it as opportunity for John the Baptist to testify to the significance of Jesus (Jn

Last week we were in a familiar world of poor people and rich people, all with our individual struggles and decisions. This week it seems like we’ve moved to a different planet – there are vague “tribulations” and strange cosmic events. (Mk 13:24-32) When we listen to the words of Jesus we are doing so