The Good Word

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Mark has us at the end of Jesus journey fateful journey to Jerusalem nbsp The last story Mark chooses to tell is a story about the cure of a blind man nbsp In itself the cure is one more testimony to the immense power of Jesus a power which Peter had earlier claimed

The Gospel reading for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mark 10 46-52 gains much of its strength from its location in the Gospel of Mark In the central portion of Mark Jesus three times predicts his passion with similar responses from his Apostles In 8 31-33 after identifying Jesus as th

The prophet Jeremiah preached so far as we can hear from the book bearing his name mostly harsh threatening and accusatory words urgently necessary in his day nbsp There are a few chapters of hope promise and joy as sampled in the first reading today nbsp The prophet exults to announce th

The first reading for the Solemnity of All Saints on November 1st is from Revelation 7 2-4 9-14 I thought that it might be worthwhile over the next two weeks to take a look at Revelation in particular and at apocalyptic thought in general For if it is true that biblical literacy in general is wa

The second reading for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Hebrews 4 14-16 continues directly from last week s second reading and confirms the point I made last week that the fact that Jesus Christ knows our innermost thoughts and all of our deeds is a warning to amend our ways surely but

An overarching point of Hebrews chapter four is that we are destined for a sabbath rest so then a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God for those who enter God s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his Hebrews 4 9-10 NRSV This is a heavenly image especially for a wo

The second reading for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time raises a couple of questions even prior to an examination of content One is the reading itself as presented in the lectionary which omits what seems to be a crucial phrase from verse 9 Two is how the reading fits in the context of the Old Tes

This Sunday rsquo s readings all work to deepen for us a common conundrum paradox or challenge relationality mdash how any of us is related with everything else The extraordinary reading from Genesis situates the original human as ldquo alone rdquo until it has named the animals and been config

nbsp Sunday s Gospel falls under the shadow of the second prediction of Jesus death and resurrection nbsp By writing in this way Mark nbsp wants the disciple of Jesus to look upon hardships and trials – the cross of the disciple – as things which should be understood to nbsp imitate both Jesus

The second reading for the 26th nbsp Sunday in Ordinary Time is another no-holds-barred passage from James 5 1-6 Come now you rich weep and wail over your impending miseries Your wealth has rotted away your clothes have become moth-eaten your gold and silver have corroded and that corrosion wil