Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 5, 2025: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed...

If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…
What does it mean to be a person of faith? 

    It can seem so difficult to have faith in God’s promises. The prophet Habakkuk is impatient for God to act on behalf of his community. How long, O Lord? he asks. I cry for help but you do not listen! Habakkuk is frustrated by what he perceives to be God’s abandonment in the face of the Babylonians’ attack on Judah. But God answers with a reminder: the vision still has time; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come. Have faith, in other words – I will not abandon you! Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy contains similar advice: Stir into flame the gift of God that you have – have faith! Timothy’s ministry is a gift from God; he must trust, therefore, that the faith he has received will be enough, and that, if he remains true to the spirit God gave him – a spirit of power and love and self-control – that spirit will win out. Timothy simply has to have faith! 

    For, as Jesus reminds the apostles who ask him to increase their faith, that faith is a free gift from God; it is not theirs to wield or to control but to open to. If they accept the gift God has given them – if they have faith the size of a mustard seed – then that is more than enough. The parable of the unprofitable servant that follows reminds the apostles that they are not to expect God to be grateful because they have followed God’s commands, but rather, they should simply have faith and participate in what God has called them to do, remaining true to it, open to it. Faith makes the impossible possible, though it will rarely fit our expectations. 

    It is from that place of faith and trust in God’s promises that we can, as Psalm 95 calls us to do, sing joyfully to the Lord and come into his presence with thanks! We worship and give praise to God not because God does what we want, but because God does all that God does. God is the Rock of our salvation; he has sustained all people of faith and will continue to do so, so long as we remain open to the gift that we have, a gift of strength, the gift of faith! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 6, 2024. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh...

Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh…

Do you choose to be in relationship with God? 

    In the second creation story in the Book of Genesis, the man recognizes the woman as bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. It is a reference to kinship, to a connectedness so profound as to create true union, in which the two of them become one flesh. The stories of creation are all about relationship: relationship between the man and the woman, relationship between all things created and the Creator, relationship between humankind and all of creation. Relationship is God’s desire and God’s purpose. We see this reflected in Psalm 128, where the Lord blesses humankind all the days of our lives, generation after generation: your children shall be like olive plants around your table, their identity firmly grounded in their relationship with Lord who created them. 

    When, in Mark’s Gospel, the Pharisees challenge Jesus’ understanding of the relationship between man and woman, Jesus cites the Book of Genesis to demonstrate that God’s intent was always that the man and woman should be one: from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female and the two shall become one flesh. In a true marriage, God is the bond between the man and woman, the power that makes them one. But as Jesus is well aware, humankind’s hardness of heart has sometimes allowed for the dissolution of this relationship. The choice is ours: whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. It is up to us to choose relationship, not only in the day to day, but with God over all else. 

    The most extraordinary example of God’s desire for relationship is the Incarnation, when Jesus became fully human and took on flesh, that he might experience death on behalf of all. And, having become fully human, Jesus can take all of creation with him through death to everlasting life. Moreover, Jesus is the origin of all things, for it is he from whom and through whom all things exist, the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us. The union Jesus shares with all humanity through the Incarnation enables him to call us brothers and sisters; he chooses relationship with us. Will we choose relationship with him? 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 8, 2023: What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?

What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?

Are we ready and open to producing good fruits for the Lord? 

   Jesus faced a lot of resistance from the Jewish community of his time. In Matthew’s Gospel, when the chief priests and elders come to challenge Jesus’ teachings, Jesus offers a series of parables. In one, the owner of a vineyard sends his servants to obtain his produce from his tenants, but the tenants wreak violence upon the servants. The owner then sends his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But in fact, the tenants seize the son, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him. The chief priests and elders are forced to see themselves in the role of the tenants, indicted by their own reading of the story, and Jesus makes his point clearly, saying the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. Jesus offers them every opportunity to turn this situation around and repent. Will they? Are they listening? 

   In that moment, the chief priests and elders would no doubt have been recognizing echos from the song of Isaiah, which was itself an indictment of the people of Isaiah’s time. Faced with a vineyard that yields only wild grapes, its owner decides to let it be trampled! God has cared for God’s people, planting the choicest vines, vines that showed promise; the wild grapes that come forth are like those who reject relationship, relying solely upon themselves. Isaiah, too, called the people to repent. Did they? Were they listening? Are they truly open to God? Could they really promise, as Psalm 80 does, that if the Lord protects what his right hand has planted, they will no more withdraw from him? 

   When we face the unknown, we can become fearful, anxious. But, as Paul reminds the Philippians, they have only to make their requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, and God will sustain them. We have but to go to that place where we are in Christ, focusing on all that is true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and gracious, opening ourselves to God, and we will find strength in being one in Christ, and thus able to produce good fruits. Unlike the chief priests and elders, unlike the people of Isaiah’s time, we must be ready, open, so that God can act in and through, offering us that peace that surpasses all understanding, that we might share that peace with our world. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 2, 2022: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed...

If you have faith the size of a mustard seed… 

Is your faith enough? 

    The prophet Habakkuk is disturbed by all he experiences: How long, o Lord, must I cry for help, and you do not intervene? The people of Judah know that the Babylonian invasion is imminent; Habakkuk speaks of destruction and violence, strife and clamorous discord. The general sentiment is one of frustration at God’s ostensible abandonment of Judah. But God’s response to Habakkuk is clearly meant to reassure: God’s plan will not disappoint, even if the people have to wait for it. They may have to lose everything and be sent into exile, but they will return, and should be patient with the Lord; they should trust God, for the just one, because of his faith, shall live. They must, as Psalm 95 exhorts, harden not their hearts, but should bow down in worship and praise God, not because God does what they want, but because ultimately, God is and will continue to be the Rock of their salvation who has sustained them and will continue to sustain them through all. 

    Even with Jesus physically present with them, the apostles in Luke’s Gospel need to ask him, Increase our faith. Faith is always a free gift from God; it is not theirs to wield or control, but to open themselves to, to accept. Unlike the unprofitable servants of which Jesus speaks, we must not expect God to be grateful that we have followed his commands; rather, we should participate in all God has called us to do, open to his will, and true to his call. For faith is not about how much we can control our existence; faith is trust in the Lord who controls it – even when we don’t understand what he is going to do. 

   Timothy knew such frustration firsthand. He has been given the gift of God through the imposition of Paul’s hands, and is now leader of the Christian community at Ephesus. But his role is called into question because he is young. Paul exhorts Timothy to take the faith he has received and trust it will be enough to allow him to bear his share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. If it is God’s love that drives us, we cannot fail; if we hold to his spirit of love, our faith will be stirred into flame as Timothy’s was. Such faith, though it be merely the size of a mustard seed, makes the impossible possible, and that faith, a free gift from God, is enough, always. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 3, 2021: The two shall become one flesh...

The two shall become one flesh…

Our relationship with God and with other is grounded in union!

   From the very beginning, God has intended for all of creation to be in union, a union created not by humankind but by God. In the second creation story of the Book of Genesis, God creates man out of mud, but then states: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him. God recognizes that man is not complete until woman is created and man can be other than self-focused; God creates the two to have one identity, adamah. The man recognizes that the woman is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; the woman thus has the same strength (bone) and the same vulnerability (flesh) as the man. They are equal and connected to one another, and, together, can be in union with God the Creator who has created their bond. Psalm 128 describes how that union grows with the birth of children: the man and woman are blessed by progeny, and hope to see their children’s children; in the family unit, there is also union.

   Although God has always sought union with God’s people, it is through Jesus that we gain full access to God. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus becomes one with us – a little lower than the angels – so that he might call us brothers and sisters. Unless Jesus becomes human, he cannot enter into death to conquer death, so as to bring many children to glory. God becomes one with us to reverse man’s original choice of knowledge over God; the incarnation of Jesus is a celebration of that connection, for all have one origin. In his conversations with the Pharisees in Mark's Gospel, Jesus stresses the centrality of union, reminding them that, while Moses wrote a law to deal with divorce because of the hardness of the human heart, God’s plan was always union: the two shall be one flesh, he says, citing Genesis. Jesus includes children in this union: Let the children come to me, he says, expanding the notion of kinship even to the most vulnerable.

   All relationships come from God; we are not complete without one another – men, women, and children – and we are certainly not complete without God. Ultimately, we will know perfect union with God in heaven. Until then, let us celebrate the union God invites us to here on earth, a union in God’s love and mercy.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 4, 2020: Then the God of peace will be with you...

Then the God of peace will be with you…

What does it take to maintain relationship with God?

  The people of Judah had a great deal of difficulty maintaining a strong and faithful relationship with God.  The prophet Isaiah likens this relationship to that of a vineyard owner with his vineyard.  The vineyard owner does all he can so that the vineyard will prosper:  he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines… God has also taken care of God’s people, sending blessings upon them.  But when times are good, Isaiah says, the people of Judah, God’s cherished plant, are incapable of keeping covenant with God, yielding only injustice and poor judgment -- wild grapes, in Isaiah’s terms.  Psalm 80 echoes this story, and goes on to ask God to restore God’s people, giving them back the prosperity they once enjoyed.  Protect what your right hand has planted, the psalmist says, then we will no more withdraw from you.  Even here, however, fidelity is promised only if God fulfills the psalmist’s request.

  Jesus accuses the chief priests and elders of the people of similar malfeasance in Matthew’s Gospel in his recounting of the parable of the tenants.  Likening the priests and elders to the tenants who fail to give the produce they owe to the landowner’s servants and even go so far as to kill the landowner’s son, Jesus illustrates how the Jewish leadership has failed to help the people to produce good fruit.  Rather than recognizing the need to cultivate relationship with God through love instead of laws, the priests and elders reject God’s son, promoting their own vision of God’s Kingdom rather than the vision Jesus has come to bring.  If the Kingdom of God is to produce good fruit, Jesus suggests, concerted effort – and radical transformation – will be necessary.  Paul tells the Philippians that such effort involves prayer, petition and thanksgiving – all of which direct us to God.  It is through opening ourselves to God, making an effort at relationship, and then trusting in that relationship, that we can rest assured that the God of peace will be with us.  Prayer, petition and thanksgiving all point to whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious:  all that is excellent comes from persistent attention to the only relationship that truly sustains, our relationship with the God who brought us into existence.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 7, 2018: It is not good for the man to be alone...

 It is not good for the man to be alone… 

What relationships are the most important to you? 

   In the Song of Songs, the human soul’s relationship to God is likened to a marriage, an eternal bond between the divine and the human that is as intimate as the relationship between husband and wife.  Earlier still, the Book of Genesis describes an existence in which, as God says, it is not good for the man to be alone.  From the beginning, we are born to be in relationship with other; our ties of kinship are based paradoxically on the strength (bone) and vulnerability (flesh) that underpins every human relationship, and yet thanks to them, we can become one.  The notion of family is thus born, a notion given expression in Psalm 128 where a man’s wife shall be like a fruitful vine; his children like olive plants, growing strong through community, through connection, through kinship.

   When, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is challenged on the lax divorce laws of his time, his concern is for the bonds created by God:  what God has joined together, no human being must separate.  Our relationships – with other, with God – are predicated upon our attempt to try to recognize God’s love at work in our lives and to live it.  We, like the children Jesus calls to himself, are utterly dependent upon God; we need to look to God to effect the bonds of relationship we rely upon in our everyday lives.  The bond established between the first man and woman reflects our relationship with God; it is foundational in our understanding of how much God loves us.  That love is given expression in the Letter to the Hebrews, which reminds us that God loved the world so very much that God sent his Son who for a little while was made lower than the angels –  human, in other words.  Jesus, for whom and through whom all things exist, the one through whom God made all of creation, is the natural choice to be the one through whom all will be restored to relationship with the Father. 

   God’s love for all God has created is so great that nothing is more important than to reach out in love to that creation.  Salvation is the ultimate bond, the ultimate connection, the ultimate fruit of that relationship which has its first mirror in the bond of Genesis, so that the two of them may become one flesh.  We are not meant to be alone; we are meant to live in relationship, in community, in kinship with the God who made us, and the community God creates for us. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordle.net