Thirty-first Sunday - 2024

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"  Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,  with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." Mk. 12

From a letter attributed to Barnabas The Way of Light Consider now the way of light; any man who is bent on reaching his appointed goal must be very careful in all he does. Now these are the directions that have been given to us for this journey: love your Creator; reverence your Maker; give glory to him who redeemed you when you were dead; be single-minded but rich in spiritual treasure; avoid those who travel down death’s highway; hate whatever is displeasing to God; detest all hypocritical pretense; do not abandon God’s commandments. Do not put on airs, but be modest in whatever you do; claim no credit for yourself. Plot no evil against your neighbor, and do not give pride an entrance into your heart. Love your neighbor more than your own life. Do not kill an unborn child through abortion, nor destroy it after birth. Do not refrain from chastising son or daughter, but bring them up from childhood in the fear of the Lord. Do not set your heart on what belongs to your neighbor and do not give in to greed. Do not associate with the arrogant but cultivate those who are humble and virtuous. Accept as a blessing whatever comes your way in the knowledge that nothing ever happens without God’s concurrence. Avoid duplicity in thought or in word, for such deception is a deadly snare. Share with your neighbor whatever you have, and do not say of anything, this is mine. If you both share an imperishable treasure, how much more must you share what is perishable. Do not be hasty in speech; the mouth is a deadly snare. For your soul’s good, make every effort to live chastely. Do not hold out your hand for what you can get, only to withdraw it when it comes to giving. Cherish as the apple of your eye anyone who speaks to you of the word of the Lord. Night and day you will bear in mind the hour of judgment; every day you will seek out the company of God’s faithful, either by preaching the word, earnestly exhorting them, ever considering how you can save souls by your eloquence, or else by working with your hands to make reparation for your past sins. Never hesitate to give, and when you do give, never grumble; then you will know the one who will repay you. Preserve the traditions you have received, adding nothing and taking nothing away. The evildoer will ever be hateful to you. Be fair in your judgments. Never stir up dissension, but act as peacemaker and reconcile the quarrelsome. Confess your sins, and do not begin to pray with a guilty conscience. Such then is the way of light.

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We are all familiar with the physical condition of blindness. Today we have many medical treatments that in some cases are able to restore full vision or at least help a patient gain partial sight which enables them to have self independence.  We can hardly imagine the hardship and suffering blindness brought upon persons so afflicted in Jesus time. To end up a beggar on the street, like the man in today's gospel, was not uncommon.  It is also not uncommon to use the term blindness in a metaphorical sense. You often hear people say, "... what, are you blind, don't you see ..." Today our technological-scientific world has been turn upside down by a little microscopic virus. Thousands of lives have been lost and everyone's life has been altered in various ways. Of all the lessons the pandemic taught us there is one we must not fail to see - it is that we do not rule - we are not the masters of God's creation. We can alter and manipulate things but to change the original design of creation is not ours do. With increasing frequency in our society today we see the role of religion being marinized or abandoned altogether. Yes there are prophets warning us that we are mismanaging this creation we have taken control over; assigning to it a design and purpose of our own making. They warn us of dyer consequence if we are unwilling to see the evidence before our eyes.  "... what, are you blind, don't you see ..." The blind man in today's gospel is quite aware of his condition. Spiritual blindness is much more difficult to comprehend. Spiritual blindness is most often the last thing sufferers attribute to their troubled life. How ironic it is that a man with physical blindness is the one teaching us today about the need for healing of spiritual blindness.  The blind man in today's gospel did not find Jesus on his own. He may have heard about him but in fact it was Jesus who found him. There are evangelist today who know well Jesus the spiritual healer, often because they themselves were healed. The spiritually blind hear this testimony but dismiss it.  People of  a true living faith are today's evangelist. Their lives of peacefulness and confident trust pointing to Jesus as the source are well known to the spiritually blind. The hope is that there will come a time when their blindness becomes clear to them, and with it the day when Jesus comes bye asking " what is it you want me to do for you?" And they will say . . . .  ". . . let me see again ..."

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Twenty-nineth Sunday - 2024

It seems so long ago that parishioners were able to receive Communion from the chalice as well as the Host. Thank God we are once again able to to receive Communion at all. Communion from the Host is to fully receive communion but the privilege of taking both the Host and Chalice further enhances our grasp of Jesus' words describing what we are doing when we take Communion. The following is a post from the Twenty-ninth Sunday 2018 where Jesus uses the word cup or chalice to guide us to understand what is that we are doing when we come forward to take Holy Communion. Mark 10:25-35: In many parishes today, people coming forward to receive Holy Communion are given the option of receiving also from the Cup. Imagine that after receiving the host you move to the station where the minister of the Eucharist is and they present to you this chalice, pictured above, for communion. What would you do? Jesus' words to his disciples and to us in today's gospel: "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?" The disciples are excited about the Kingdom of which Jesus is speaking, (all be it they likely thought he was describing an earthly kingdom. These lowly men could imagine themselves occupying seats of power and glory. Here, Jesus begins to correct their misconception with: "You do not know what you are asking." Glory awaits true, but the way to that glory is the Cross - a concept quite foreign to their thinking. "Can you drink this cup?" To be a true follower of Christ, a true Christians, means you choose to live by a whole new set of values, values that will set you at odds with the values of this world in which you now live. To remain true to your commitment to Christ you must often make sacrifices, to detach yourself from the pursuit of the life of pleasure that so marks this age we live in. Sometimes these sacrifices will be greatly challenging. How easy it is for us to come forward and take communion and return to a comfortable pew. But will I come forward, as I leave the church, and take on the tough choices I must face if I am to be true to the way of holiness which my baptism in Christ expects of me?

Twenty-eighth Sunday - 2024

In Jesus time, the most common way a person would seek out higher learning would be to find someone who had gained much knowledge, so that they might learn from them, person to person, to be their student. They would then be known as a disciples. The Greek and Latin origins of the word disciple means: a pupil of a teacher, apprentice to a master craftsman, a learner, a student. But to be a disciple meant they had to uproot themselves and go and attach themselves to their teacher, and remain with him wherever he went. Today's gospel, taken from chapter 10:17, of Marks gospel, we have the story of a young man who comes to Jesus with some questions about inheriting eternal life. Jesus directs him to the Commandments, but he wants to know if there is more he should know. It tells us that, "Jesus looked at him and loved him". Jesus could see that he had an open mind, seeking to learn, fertile ground to receive the first seeds of the gospel. So Jesus invites him to become his disciple. But there is a problem. His mind may be open, but his heart is divided. He is rich, with many possessions. To become a disciple of Jesus, he would have to leave behind all his possession and follow Jesus where every he went. His head may have been ready but his heart wasn't. The gospels tell us that often there would be large numbers of people who would gather to hear Jesus teaching. But not all were actual disciples. They may be the sick seeking healing, or others looking for miraculous signs. At one point it lists the number of actual disciples at seventy-two. Later, in chapter 6: of John's gospel, when Jesus speaks of eating his body and drinking his blood, it tells us that many of the then disciples could not accept what he was saying, and so quit being disciples and left Jesus. One who is serious about the PRACTICE OF FAITH must recognize that it is not an on again, off again, when I have time and interest, matter. It is a matter of discipleship - of BONDING with Jesus and becoming his student. The PRACTICE OF FAITH is school where one goes to learn, to be with the Master, learning the mysteries of the spiritual life and how to apply them to one's daily life. "Jesus looked at him and loved him". In the end it all comes down to love.  You did not choose me, but I chose you … No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. Jo.15:15 Everyone is called to live by the Commandments of God so that they may inherit eternal life. But it would appear that God has placed in the hearts of some a desire for something more personal - not only to know, but to "know why", - because you are loved personally. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13: