A reflection for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. The readings are Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46; Psalm 32; Corinthians 10:31–11:1 and Mark 1:40-45.
“If you want, you can make me clean” says the man. “I do want” Jesus says to the man. “I do.” I’ve always found that short exchange to be very moving. This year I have noticed in particular how in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus heals people. He heals a lot of people – so far he’s already expelled a demon from a man in the synagogue and healed Simon’s mother-in-law – and we’re still in chapter one! Most moving is that he heals people by touching them. It’s good to be reminded of these stories, to read them and hear them because they are our story.
Jesus was walking down the street one day, when he heard a blind man cry out his name. So Jesus came out from the crowd and he asked the man, “Why do you shout so loud?” And the blind man said, “Oh Lord, I want to see” and Jesus touched his eyes and set him free.
Once he was teaching in the synagogue when a man shouted, “you are the son of God! Have you come here to have us destroyed?” “Be silent. Leave him,” Jesus said in a loud voice. And immediately the demon left the man and all were amazed even demons obeyed his commands.
A reflection for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, year B. The readings are Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-38 and Mark 1:7-11.
The Church tells us that today marks the end of the Christmas season and today we see a very different image of Jesus that we’ve been seeing the last couple of weeks: The baby is replaced by a very grown man. The supporting characters of the young married couple looking for a place in the Inn are replaced by the a character who lives in the desert and wears clothing made of camel’s skin. The flying angels are replaced by the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove and instead of hearing choirs singing Gloria, we hear the voice of God the Father.
I’ve said this before: I find it a bit confusing – is today the end of the Christmas season, or the beginning of Ordinary Time? In my parish, all the Christmas decorations have been taken down. Isn’t it true that the Christmas season is the time when we get to listen to all the stories about when Jesus was a child? But Jesus was baptized as an adult! And the Presentation at the Temple, which happened when Jesus was very much a baby – 8 days old – does not happen for another three weeks, on February 2nd. Why is that not part of the Christmas season? I was told today that the Vatican leaves all their Christmas decorations up until February 2nd. In fact, that’s what it used to be. I’ve been told by some who remember before Vatican II that the Christmas season used to end on February 2nd.
Read more…
It’s Christmas and all our worries- the food, the dinner guests, our families, the presents- seem to be multiplied. Jesus’ birth is supposed to bring us peace, but instead, during this time of the year, it seems that what we have least of is peace.
And we go to Christmas Eve Mass looking for a little bit of peace. We hope to listen in the Gospel that beautiful Christmas story that we all love with the starry night, the angels, the shepherds and the little lambs (or at least we assume that there are lambs if there are shepherds). But instead of that story, we have to listen to a long list of names: the geneology of Jesus! (Matthew 1:1-25) All these unpronounceable names. Names like Jeconiah, Zerubabbel and Rehoboam. Forty-two names. What does that have to do with Christmas?
Read more…
A reflection for the 2nd Sunday in Advent, Year B. The readings are Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11, Psalm 85, 2 Peter 3:8-14 and Mark 1:1-8.
Do you know the Lord’s Prayer in Latin? Pater noster (our Father), qui es in caelis (who art in Heaven), sanctificetur nomen tuum (hallowed be thy name). Now this is the line I want to share with you: Adveniat regnum tuum. It means, “Thy Kingdom come,” or “may your Kingdom come.” The verb “to come” is “Adveniat” in Latin. Adveniat. Sounds familiar? That’s where we get the word “Advent.” It means “to come”, “coming”. That’s what we pray every time we say the Lord’s Prayer: We are praying for the Advent of our Lord: the Second Coming.
And what do we do when we’re expecting someone who’s coming? I don’t know about you, but we clean the house. In fact, we only clean when someone is coming. Actually, we periodically invite people over, just to force us to clean – otherwise we would never clean! And we don’t just clean, but we also de-clutter. We take all the stuff off the table; we sort it; get rid of the stuff we should have gotten rid of weeks ago and the other stuff gets put away somewhere where no one can see it. That’s what we do at Advent: we clean; we de-clutter; we take out the trash. That’s why Advent is a penitential season. That’s why we wear purple. But it’s different than Lent. Lent is penitential in a sacrificial way: We focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Advent is penitential in an “anticipation” kind of way. We are preparing with anticipation for a special guest.
Read more…
