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| This Sunday's Gospel
Exegetical notes and homily themes to get you started this weekend: 1/4/2009 – Epiphany 1/18/2009 – Sunday 2 [ROMAN lectionary] 2/1/2009 – Sunday 4 / Epiphany 4 Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem; “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” THE WORD: The story of the astrologers and the star of Bethlehem are unique to Matthew’s Gospel. Note that Matthew does not call them kings nor does he give their names nor reports where they came from -- in fact, Matthew never even specifies the number of magi (because three gifts are presented to the Child, it has been a tradition since the fifth century to picture “three wise men”). In stripping away the romantic layers that have been added to the story, Matthew’s point can be better understood. A great many First Testament ideas and images are presented in this story. The star, for example, is reminiscent of Balaam’s prophecy that “a star shall advance from Jacob” (Numbers 24: 17). Many of the details in Matthew’s story about the child Jesus parallel the story of the child Moses and the Exodus. Matthew’s story also provides a preview of what is to come. First, the reactions of the various parties to the birth of Jesus parallel the effects Jesus’ teaching will have on those who hear it. Herod reacts with anger and hostility to the Jesus of the poor who comes to overturn the powerful and rich. The chief priests and scribes greet the news with haughty indifference toward the Jesus who comes to give new life and meaning to the rituals and laws of the scribes. But the magi -- non-believers in the eyes of Israel -- possess the humility of faith and the openness of mind and heart to seek and welcome the Jesus who will institute the Second Covenant between God and the New Israel. Secondly, the gifts of the astrologers indicate the principal dimensions of Jesus’ mission:
HOMILY POINTS: Epiphany calls is to a new vision of the world that sees beyond the walls and borders we have created and to walk by the light which has dawned for all of humankind, a light by which we are able to recognize all men and women as our brothers and sisters under the loving providence of God, the Father of all. The magi’s following of the star is a journey of faith, a constant search for meaning, for purpose, for the things of God that each one of us experiences in the course of our own lives. What we read and watch and listen to in search of wealth, fame and power are the “stars” we follow. The journey of the magi in Matthew's Gospel puts our own "stargazing" in perspective, calling us to fix our search on the “star” of God’s justice, peace and compassion. January 11 – The Baptism of the Lord [B] Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. THE WORD: Today’s Gospel is the final event of the Epiphany: Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River by John. The fact that Mark begins his Gospel with the baptism of Jesus indicates the importance of this event. In the “renting of the sky,” the Spirit “descending on him like a dove” and the voice heard from the heavens, God “anoints” his Messiah (the word Messiah means "anointed") for the work he is about to do. HOMILY NOTES: In baptism, we claim the name of Christian and embrace all that that holy name means: to live for others rather than for ourselves, in imitation of Christ. Our baptism made each one of us the “servant” of today’s readings: to bring forth in our world the justice, reconciliation and enlightenment of Christ, the “beloved Son” and “favor” of God. In baptism, we embrace that same Spirit that “hovers” over us, guiding us in our journey to God. Liturgically, the Christmas season officially comes to an end with today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Now the same Spirit that “anoints” the Messiah for his mission calls us to be about the work of Christmas in this new year: to seek out and find the lost, to heal the hurting, to feed the hungry, to free the imprisoned, to rebuild families and nations, to bring the peace of God to all peoples everywhere. January 18 – Second Sunday of the Year [B] John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. THE WORD: A new beginning and a sacred invitation mark today’s Gospel. In John’s proclamation of Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” the age of the prophets ends and the era of the Messiah begins. Jesus’ invitation to Andrew to “Come and see” so moves Andrew that he invites his brother Simon Peter to “come and see” for himself. This is the first of three episodes in John’s Gospel in which Andrew introduces someone to Christ: Andrew brings to Jesus the lad with the five barley loaves and a couple of dried fish (John 6: 8-9) and it is Andrew who asks Jesus to meet the Greeks who have requested, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” (John 12: 22) HOMILY POINTS: Throughout human history, despite our rejection of God and obtuseness to his ways, God never ceases to call us back to him, to “come and see.” The challenge of the call to discipleship/prophecy is to discern and respond to that call within our own lives, in the context of our own experiences. To be an authentic disciple of Jesus means to look at the world with a vision of hope, to recognize the dignity of every human being as a son and daughter of God, to joyfully take on the challenge of bringing justice and peace into our own Jerusalems and Nazareths. January 18 – Second Sunday after Epiphany [B] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazararth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” THE WORD: After the beautiful Prologue to his Gospel, the evangelist John recounts a series of brief scenes that serve as an introduction to his ”Book of Signs.” In the course of four days, Jesus organizes his ministry in a series of encounters with John the Baptist (day one and two), Andrew and Simon (day three), and, in today’s reading, Philip and Nathanael (day four). Each of these encounters provides a testimonial to the divinity of this Jesus: Lamb of God, Messiah, Son of God, King of Israel. The evangelist seeks to impress this Christology in the minds of his readers as he begins his narrative. In today’s pericope, Philip, who has been called by Jesus, approaches Nathanael. Nathanael provides a bit of vinegar to the story with his caustic remark, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael’s gibe (probably reflecting the rivalry typical between towns and regions) might also be included by John as a preview of the later rejection of Jesus by the Jewish establishment because of his origins. Nathanael also serves as the model of the “true Israelite,” part of the “remnant” who have faithfully awaited the fulfillment of God’s reign in the coming of the Messiah and now see that hope fulfilled in Jesus. (Some scholars believe that Nathanael continued in Jesus’ company as one of the Twelve. They suggest, though there is no conclusive evidence, that Nathanael is the apostle identified as “Bartholomew” in several New Testament lists of the apostles because Bartholomew’s name follows that of Philip.) HOMILY POINTS: God can be found in the most unexpected of places. God is present in the poverty of our Bethlehems, in the emptiness of our Nazareths, in the turmoil of our Bethsaidas. Whatever Nathanael-like skepticism, biases and judgments we possess are shattered in Christ who comes to proclaim God’s reign of justice and peace. Often to our surprise, God seeks us out from the isolation of our fig trees and invites to come and realize a life transformed in his Christ. January 25 – Third Sunday of the Year [B] /Third Sunday after Epiphany [B] Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news about God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” THE WORD: The day of the Messiah has dawned; but newness demands change: a “turning away” (the original meaning of the word repentance) from business as usual and a complete trust in the life and love of God. Simon and Andrew's “abandoning” of their nets and James' and John's "abandoning" of their father in today's Gospel illustrate the total trust and commitment Jesus demands of those who would be his disciples. HOMILY POINTS: Jesus began his ministry by calling simple fishermen to be his most trusted friends. Although the Twelve were hardly scholars or men wise in the ways of the world, Jesus saw beyond their gruff simplicity to call forth from them faith, sincerity and integrity. As Mark’s Gospel unfolds each Sunday this year, the first disciples will misunderstand Jesus (if not miss the point entirely), desert him and even deny and betray him. But Jesus entrusts to them, for all of humankind, the proclamation of his Gospel. We, too, are called by Christ to be his “fishers,” to help one another discover the love of God in our midst. To be a disciple of Jesus means abandoning the world’s values to embrace the Gospel’s demanding call to conversion. The Gospel is about possibilities: Christ came to show us how it is possible to love life to the fullest, if we dare to make forgiveness, reconciliation and selfless charity the center of our lives. To respond to that small voice of the Spirit within us is the challenge of discipleship: to seek forgiveness when the rest of the world demands vengeance; to see Christ in the faces of those who have been “written off” by society; to work for justice when there’s nothing in it for us; to embrace the role of servant when the conventional wisdom dictates “me first.” February 1 – Fourth Sunday of the Year [B] / Fourth Sunday after Epiphany [B] The people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes: “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” THE WORD: For the poor Jews of Jesus’ time, the scribes were the voices of authority, the final arbiters of the Law in which God had revealed himself. Their interpretation of the Law was considered absolute. “Demons” are encountered several times in Mark’s Gospel. Anything that the people of Jesus’ time could not understand or explain, such as disease, mental illness or bizarre or criminal behavior, were considered the physical manifestations of the evil one -- “demons” or “unclean spirits.” Both demons and scribes are silenced in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ casting out the unclean spirit from the man possessed silences the voices of the demons that plague humanity. In his compassionate outreach to the poor and sick, Jesus “silences” the scribes by redefining the community’s understanding of authority: whereas the “authority” of the scribes’ words is based solely on their perceived status and learnedness, the authority of Jesus is born of compassion, peace and justice. The casting out of the demons and his curing of the sick who come to him are but manifestations of the power and grace of his words. Note that the people of the Bible viewed miracles differently than we do. While we, in our high technology, scientific approach to the world, dismiss miracles as some kind of disruption or “overriding” of the laws of nature, the contemporaries of Jesus saw miracles as signs of God's immediate activity in his creation. While we ask, How could this happen?, they asked, Who is responsible? Their answer was always the same: the God of all creation. Those who witnessed Jesus' healings, then, saw them as God directly touching their lives. HOMILY POINTS: Authority comes not from power to enforce but from the ability to inspire. The ‘unclean spirit’ that Jesus casts out of the poor man in today’s Gospel serves as a symbol of the voice of evil that sometimes speaks within us -- the voice of revenge, self- centeredness, self-righteousness, greed, anger. We can be “possessed” by “demons” who discourage us and plague us with fear when we consider the unpopular position that we know is right and just; or the “demon” of rationalization that falsely justifies actions -- or inactions -- we know in our heart of hearts is contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. The compassionate Jesus of the today’s Gospel speaks to those "unclean spirits" as well, offering us the grace and courage to cast them out of our minds and hearts forever. February 8 – Fifth Sunday of the Year [B] / Fifth Sunday after Epiphany [B] Rising very early before dawn, Jesus left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. THE WORD: Throughout his Gospel, Mark portrays Jesus as somewhat uncomfortable with his growing renown as a miracle worker. He clearly values time away from the crows to be alone to pray -- even though that time is cut short by the needs of those around him. Jesus works miracles not out of any need of his own for the adulation of the masses but out of an extraordinary sense of compassion, a deep love for his brothers and sisters, especially those in crisis or pain. The miracles he works are not to solicit acclaim for himself but to awaken faith and trust in the Word of God, to restore in humankind God's vision of a world united as brothers and sisters under his providence ("that is what I have come to do"). Jesus’ compassion for those who come to him breaks down stereotypes and defenses that divide, segregate and marginalize people; his ministry is not to restore bodies to health but to restore spirits to wholeness. HOMILY POINTS: The word Gospel means “good news.” It is a story that ends not in death but life; it is centered not in humiliating sorrow but in liberating joy; it does not demand blind adherence to laws and rituals but invites us to welcome the Spirit of compassion and love into our lives. The Gospel of Jesus is about the re-creation and transformation that are possible through reconciliation, justice, mercy and community. Like Jesus’ rising before dawn and going to a deserted place, we too need that “deserted,” “out of the way” place to re-connect with God, to rediscover God’s presence in our life, to find within ourselves again a sense of gratitude for the blessings of that presence. Jesus does not perform miracles to dazzle the crowds and glory in their acclaim but to awaken his hearers’ faith and trust in the word of God, to restore all of humanity to God's vision of one world in which all men and women love and respect one another as brothers and sisters under the Father's loving providence. February 15 – Sixth Sunday of the Year [B] / Sixth Sunday after Epiphany [B] A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” THE WORD: The cleansing of the leper is a climactic moment in Mark’s Gospel. By just touching the leper Jesus challenges one of the strictest proscriptions in Jewish society (today’s first reading provides the context for understanding the social and religious revulsion of lepers). The leper is a one of the heroic characters of Mark’s Gospel (along with such figures as the poor widow who gives her only penny to the temple and the blind Bartimaeus). The leper places his entire trust in Jesus. For him, there is no doubt: this Jesus is the Messiah of hope, the Lord of life. His request for healing is more than a cry for help -- it is a profession of faith: “You can make me clean.” Jesus’ curing of the leper shocked those who witnessed it. Jesus did not drive the leper away, as would be the norm (the leper, according to the Mosaic Law, had no right to even address Jesus); instead, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. Jesus did not see an unclean leper but a human soul in desperate need. Consider what Jesus does after healing the leper. He sends the cleansed leper to show himself to the priest “and offer for your cure what Moses prescribed.” This leper’s healing is a message for the Jewish establishment, represented by the priest: that the Messiah has come and is present among you. HOMILY POINTS: We often reduce others to “lepers”—those we fear, those who don’t “fit” our image of sophistication and culture, those whose religion or race or class or culture threaten our own. We exile these lepers to the margins of society outside our gates; we reduce these lepers to simple stereotypes and demeaning labels; we reject these lepers as too “unclean” to e part of our lives and our world. The Christ who healed lepers comes to perform a much greater miracle – to heal us of our debilitating sense of self that fails to realize the sacred dignity of those we demean as “lepers.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that “the biggest disease of today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody. The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity, the terrible indifference toward one’s neighbor who lives at the roadside assaulted by exploitation, corruption, poverty and disease.” Jesus works his wonders not to solicit acclaim for himself but to awaken faith in God’s providence, to restore God’s vision of a world where humanity is united as brothers and sisters in the love of God. Jesus calls us who would be his disciples to let our own “miracles” of charity and mercy, of forgiveness and justice, be “proof” of our committed discipleship to the Gospel and our trust in the God who is the real worker of wonders in our midst. February 22 – Seventh Sunday of the Year [B] Unable to get near Jesus, the four men opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. THE WORD: Today’s Gospel reading is the first of six episodes in Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus and his teachings become the center of controversy. The popular Wonder-worker becomes a threat to the leadership and stature of the Pharisees and scribes. The paralyzed man becomes -- both literally and figuratively -- the center of the first controversy. Jesus again makes the point that he comes not to heal bodies but to heal spirits, to restore the relationship between God and humankind, to mend the brokenness and estrangement afflicting the people of God. The physical miracles worked by Jesus validate his Gospel of compassion and love and prefigures the great Easter miracle of God’s reign to come—Jesus, before healing the paralyzed man, first extends to him God’s forgiveness. The legalistic, tradition-bound scribes and Pharisees protest that only God can forgive sins. Exactly, Jesus says --and to emphasize the sacred mandate he has received, Jesus orders the paralytic to “pick up your mat and walk.” The four friends who help the paralyzed man meet Jesus are among the unknown saints of the Gospel. Consider how much they loved and cared for their friend: fighting through the crowds, maneuvering him up the outside stairs of the house and, removing the thatch and mud covering the roof, lowering him on his mat into the midst of Jesus and the gathering. Their task demanded considerable planning, skill and coordination. Jesus himself praises their effort on their friend's behalf as a profound profession of faith in him as the Messiah. HOMILY POINTS: Feeling better physically is easy but unsatisfying; Christ the divine physician comes to heal the brokenness of the soul and spirit, to treat the illness of our own sin and self-centeredness, to mend torn relationships that disable from becoming fully alive, fully human as God has made us to be. To be able to “pick up our mats” and walk is one thing — but God has called us to live in the light of his compassion and grace, regardless of our physical and mental abilities or limitations. We can become so caught up with our own ambitions and interests that our lives become paralyzed: we become closed to the joy of giving, we find ourselves removed from the love of family and friends, we are finally “entombed” by the pressures of deadlines and bottom lines entomb us. Christ the Reconciler reveals to us a compassionate God who enables us to break the strangulation of sin and to wake from the paralysis that deadens us to the love and joy of God's presence. Like the efforts of the paralyzed man’s friends, our acts of selfless kindness and committed justice are acts of faith in the Risen Christ. In carrying the mats of the helpless, in reaching out to the outcast and the forgotten, in seeking to tear down the walls (rooftops?) that separate families and friends, we bring them to the Jesus of compassion. The “roofers” of today’s Gospel teach us the meaning of friendship, friendship centered in Christ: Good friends do not get stuck in self-interest and status but find joy in lifting up one another; good friends are the first to pick up one another’s mats and carry one another when they are wounded and broken; good friends readily roofer all that they have and whatever they have – and good friends accept those gifts from one another joyfully and gratefully. “Roofer” friendship is centered in what the writer Antoine De Saint-Exupery defined as “real love” – love where nothing is expected in return. February 22 – Last Sunday after Epiphany [B] Jesus was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. THE WORD: Today's Gospel is Mark’s account of the transfiguration of Jesus. In the event witnessed by Peter, James and John on the mountain, the promise of the first covenant (Moses the great law giver and Elijah the great prophet) converges with the fulfillment of the new covenant (Jesus the Messiah). Throughout Israel's history, God revealed his presence to Israel in the form of a cloud (for example, the column of cloud that led the Israelites in the desert during the Exodus -- Exodus 15). On the mountain of the transfiguration, God again speaks in the form of a cloud, claiming the transfigured Jesus as his own Son. Returning down the mountain, Jesus urges the three not to tell of what they had seen, realizing that their vision would confirm the popular misconception of an all powerful, avenging Messiah. The mission of Jesus the Messiah means the cross and resurrection, concepts Peter and the others still do not grasp. HOMILY POINTS: What the disciples saw in Jesus on the mountain was the divinity -- the very life and love of God -- that dwelled within him. That love of God lives within each one of us, as well, calling us beyond our own needs, wants and interests. Love that calls us beyond ourselves is transforming. In the transforming love of Christ the Messiah-Servant, we can “transfigure” despair into hope, sadness into joy, anguish into healing, estrangement into community. The Jesus of the Gospel comes with a heavy price: the glorious Christ of the Transfiguration will soon become the Crucified Christ of Good Friday. Accepting the God of blessing is easy, but when that God becomes the God of suffering who asks us to give readily and humbly to others and to forgive one another without limit or condition, then we begin to insulate ourselves from the relationship God invites us to embrace. In risking the pain and demands of loving one another as Christ has loved us, the divinity we recognize in the Jesus of the Transfiguration becomes for us the eternal life of the Jesus of Easter.
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