April 28, 2009
April 25, 2009
Commentary
3rd Sunday of Easter – B (April 26, 2009)
Luke 24:35-48
Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread
The passage from Luke used for this Sunday follows immediately after the story of the two disciples who encountered Jesus on the way to Emmaus. After they have recognized him, they return immediately to Jerusalem. There, they proclaimed to the community of disciples gathered “what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
Then, it’s the terrified disciples’ turn to encounter Jesus. He “stands in their midst.” He reveals Himself to them in the flesh. And He reminds them of how the entire of Scriptures points to Him.
In this passage, we can see how we, as Jesus disciples, continue to encounter Him in the exact same ways. It is in the community of believers that Jesus continues to be present. He gives Himself, body and blood, to us in the Eucharist. And He reveals Himself to us in Scriptures because He is the Word made flesh. Every time the Church gathers to celebrate the Eucharist, we encounter the same Risen Christ who showed Himself to the disciples after the Resurrection.
And at every Eucharist, the Risen Christ sends us out, just as He sent the first disciples, to preach the forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations. “You are witnesses of these things.”
Luke 24:35-48
Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread
The passage from Luke used for this Sunday follows immediately after the story of the two disciples who encountered Jesus on the way to Emmaus. After they have recognized him, they return immediately to Jerusalem. There, they proclaimed to the community of disciples gathered “what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
Then, it’s the terrified disciples’ turn to encounter Jesus. He “stands in their midst.” He reveals Himself to them in the flesh. And He reminds them of how the entire of Scriptures points to Him.
In this passage, we can see how we, as Jesus disciples, continue to encounter Him in the exact same ways. It is in the community of believers that Jesus continues to be present. He gives Himself, body and blood, to us in the Eucharist. And He reveals Himself to us in Scriptures because He is the Word made flesh. Every time the Church gathers to celebrate the Eucharist, we encounter the same Risen Christ who showed Himself to the disciples after the Resurrection.
And at every Eucharist, the Risen Christ sends us out, just as He sent the first disciples, to preach the forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations. “You are witnesses of these things.”
April 18, 2009
Commentary
2nd Sunday of Easter – B
John 20:19-31
Be Messengers of God’s Peace and Forgiveness
The disciples locked themselves up physically “for fear of the Jews.” To these disciples who are fearful Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
But the physical locking of themselves in a room out of fear highlights the locking of their hearts out of shame of their past failures. They know they have denied and abandoned their friend and teacher. To these disciples who feel ashamed Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
Moreover, Jesus commissions these very disciples, who are fearful and ashamed, to be messengers of his peace and instruments of his forgiveness. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.“
The disciples have received the gift of peace from Jesus; they are now to share it and be messengers of God’s peace.
The disciples have been forgiven; they are now to forgive and be instruments of God’s forgiveness.
John 20:19-31
Be Messengers of God’s Peace and Forgiveness
The disciples locked themselves up physically “for fear of the Jews.” To these disciples who are fearful Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
But the physical locking of themselves in a room out of fear highlights the locking of their hearts out of shame of their past failures. They know they have denied and abandoned their friend and teacher. To these disciples who feel ashamed Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
Moreover, Jesus commissions these very disciples, who are fearful and ashamed, to be messengers of his peace and instruments of his forgiveness. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.“
The disciples have received the gift of peace from Jesus; they are now to share it and be messengers of God’s peace.
The disciples have been forgiven; they are now to forgive and be instruments of God’s forgiveness.
April 15, 2009
April 12, 2009
Easter
Mark 16:1-8God’s Actions Right all Wrongs
In Mark’s report of Jesus’ Resurrection, he specially mentions three imageries that are rich in meaning.
(1) The darkness of the crucifixion (15:33) has been replaced by the light of a new day, “when the sun [has] risen.” God’s light has overcome the darkness of sins and death, of what appears to be a failure by human standards.
(2) The women who go to the tomb wondering who will remove the large stone for them find the stone already rolled back. The women’s obstacle, whether the result of an oversight or their eagerness to care for Jesus, has removed by God’s action.
God indeed has entered our history, and nothing can stop God from achieving his loving plan. Nothing at all. – the force of nature, human errors and weakness, the evil of sins, and death itself. God has overcome all in the resurrection of His only Son.
The first two imageries then set the tone for the third detail.
(3) When Jesus was arrested in the garden, among his followers there was a young man who ran off for his life. He did so naked (14:52). Now, sitting on the right side of Jesus’ empty tomb, there is “a young man clothed in a white robe.”
The nakedness of the first young man in the garden can be seen as a symbol for the failure of the disciples, who abandoned Jesus out of fear. The appearance of the second young man sitting in the tomb affirms us that “as God has transformed the death of Jesus by raising him from the dead, discipleship may be reestablished” by God’s action[1]. And we know that God has been, and continues to right our wrongs throughout history. And we know and believe that God has been, and continues to do so in my life.
--------------------------------
[1] Moloney, Francis J., The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 345-346.
[1] Moloney, Francis J., The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 345-346.
April 3, 2009
Commentary
Palm Sunday – B
Mark 14:1 - 15:47
It’s Love That Does It.
There are two meals in the Passion narrative according to Mark.
During the first meal when Jesus is a guest at the house of Simon the leper (14:3-9), a woman comes in and anoints Jesus with a jar of “costly genuine spikenard”. St. Mark makes sure to point out the value of the perfume. It is worth “more than three hundred days' wages.” That’s almost a whole year, 6 days a week, of labor.
According to William Barclay, “It was the custom to pour a few drops of perfume on a guest.”[1] Yet, the woman just breaks the alabaster jar and pours the entire contents on Jesus’ head. 300 days’ wages worth of genuine spikenard, all at once! That kind of generosity, even to the point of recklessness, is only possible when it’s love that does it.
The woman breaks the alabaster jar, an act to indicate that Jesus is special to her. Also according to Barclay, there was a custom of breaking the glass used by a distinguished guest “so that it would never again be touched by the hand of any lesser person.”[2]
With the details from the first meal, St. Mark prepares us to appreciate the action of Jesus in the second meal (14:22-25). Here, Jesus gives the generous gift of his own body and blood to the disciples, the gift that comes from his broken body on the cross.
Peter, James, and John fall asleep while Jesus is in agony... The disciples all leave him and flee... And Peter denies him.
We are anything but distinguished guests. Yet, Jesus breaks his own body to give us the costly perfume of eternal life. It’s eternity, not just 300 days.
What a genuine gift! It is love that does it.
------------------------------------------------
[1] The Gospel of Mark, Revised edition. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1975; p. 326.
[2] Ibid.
Mark 14:1 - 15:47
It’s Love That Does It.
There are two meals in the Passion narrative according to Mark.
During the first meal when Jesus is a guest at the house of Simon the leper (14:3-9), a woman comes in and anoints Jesus with a jar of “costly genuine spikenard”. St. Mark makes sure to point out the value of the perfume. It is worth “more than three hundred days' wages.” That’s almost a whole year, 6 days a week, of labor.
According to William Barclay, “It was the custom to pour a few drops of perfume on a guest.”[1] Yet, the woman just breaks the alabaster jar and pours the entire contents on Jesus’ head. 300 days’ wages worth of genuine spikenard, all at once! That kind of generosity, even to the point of recklessness, is only possible when it’s love that does it.
The woman breaks the alabaster jar, an act to indicate that Jesus is special to her. Also according to Barclay, there was a custom of breaking the glass used by a distinguished guest “so that it would never again be touched by the hand of any lesser person.”[2]
With the details from the first meal, St. Mark prepares us to appreciate the action of Jesus in the second meal (14:22-25). Here, Jesus gives the generous gift of his own body and blood to the disciples, the gift that comes from his broken body on the cross.
Peter, James, and John fall asleep while Jesus is in agony... The disciples all leave him and flee... And Peter denies him.
We are anything but distinguished guests. Yet, Jesus breaks his own body to give us the costly perfume of eternal life. It’s eternity, not just 300 days.
What a genuine gift! It is love that does it.
------------------------------------------------
[1] The Gospel of Mark, Revised edition. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1975; p. 326.
[2] Ibid.
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