Sunday, June 24, 2012

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

"Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God." John was a true servant of our Creator; no more, no less. His work was never about ego, numbers, effectiveness, or any of the other attributes we use to measure lives and ministries today. He simply spoke Truth and did what God asked, no matter the cost. There is beauty and grace in such a life. We may view him as just the opening act for someone bigger, but I doubt Jesus saw him that way. I am quite certain he embraced him as a brother prophet, as kin in the purest sense. Brother John, help us to be as real as you were.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

What interests me most about this selection are not the parables themselves, but the commentary at the end. "Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private." Why did the bishops choose to include this passage in the reading? It is not integral to understanding either of the preceding parables, and they are more than willing to slice and dice other readings to remove extraneous lines. So what is their message? Are we the clueless crowds forever scratching our heads, or the slightly less clueless disciples for whom there is hope? And who exactly is playing the role of Jesus, privately explaining the Truth to the chosen few?

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Amen, I say to you, God has grown weary of our groveling and sniveling. As I have asked before, do we really think that the One who created us is the kind of person who demands a blood sacrifice as the price for forgiveness? Such thoughts cheapen the true sacrifice of our Brother, and allow us to hide from the sacrifice he demands of us as his siblings.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

The Trinity teaches us that God is about relationship. The problem is that corporate religion actually believes it can dissect that relationship and describe its precise nature. God cannot be quantified. Three equals one is a simply beautiful paradox, not a horrifically complicated math problem.