Church of the MediatorWhose Gospel? or Who’s In and Who’s Out? Today’s readings offer a rich variety of topics. The first reading from the Book of Esther is the only time in appears in our lectionary. It’s set during the late exile after Persia has conquered Babylon. This is the only book in the entire Bible that does […]
True Greatness In today’s Gospel Jesus again announces his approaching Passion, and by example begins to teach his disciples the meaning of greatness. On his way to Jerusalem, he reminds them a second time that he is going there to suffer, to die, and to rise on the third day. How can they possibly understand […]
Remember There are events that are forever etched into our memories. Events that simply recalling the event, or the date, takes us back to the moment when we first heard the news. For many of our elders it was the attack on Pearl Harbor, for my generation it was President Kennedy’s assassination, or Neil Armstrong’s […]
Just a Crumb This morning’s Gospel brings us two different healing stories they occur outside of Jesus’ home territory, one of them will affect the course of the Church’s history. Today’s Gospel passage includes two healing stories in Tyre and Decapolis — Gentile territories historically hostile to Jews — illustrating that the reign of God […]
Tradition This morning our attention shifts back to Mark’s Gospel and its push to get into Jesus’ actions and conversations that set him apart from the various Jewish establishments of his day. Author and Jesuit priest Anthony DeMello tells a story about an ashram cat. An ashram is a spiritual retreat center or monastery in […]
Bread for the Journey, Wine for the Soul (Part 4 of 4) This morning we conclude our consideration of John’s “Bread of Life” discourse, yet in reality we are only just beginning. Bishop Dan Edwards, writing in God of Our Silent Tears (Los Angles: Cathedral Center Press, 2013), tells this fable: Once upon a time, […]
The Gift of Eternal Life (Part 3 of 4) In the passage from the Bread Discourse of the Gospel of John (6:25-69), Jesus continues to explain the deeper meaning of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Today’s verses focus on the promise of eternal life and Eucharistic themes, as Jesus declares: “the […]
A Gift for Us (Part 2 of 4) Today’s Gospel reading continues from John’s Bread of Life Discourse (6:25-69), Jesus faces the hostility of the crowds when he declares that he is the bread from heaven who will bring eternal life to all who have faith in him. After all, they know his father Joseph […]
God’s Bread Today’s Gospel is the first of four readings from John’s “Bread Discourse” (6:25-69) in which Jesus explains the deeper significance of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (Jn. 6:1-15) we considered last week. Bread takes on a profound symbolic meaning as Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life” (Jn. […]
I am the Bread of Life (Part 1 of 4) This morning our pattern of Gospel readings shift from Mark’s rather hurried pace to John’s slower, more deliberate telling of the Jesus’ story. Actually, this morning’s Gospel serves as an introduction to Jesus’ “Bread of Life” discourse or teaching. This is the mid-point in John’s […]