Month: July 2018

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Why Mass?

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Note: In Year B, we follow Mark’s Gospel for the most part. However, just as we reach the point where Mark will give us the account of Jesus’ feeding the multitudes with a few loaves of bread and fish, the Church switches to John’s version of that feeding. For the next five Sundays, our Gospel is drawn from John 6. Since John isn’t part of the regular Ordinary Time cycle, the Church slips his Gospel in at other times, mainly Lent and Easter. Here, it’s to give us a chance to hear from John’s theology of the Eucharist and to ponder it over the next few weeks. To help you get an overall picture, try reading all of John, chapter 6, in one sitting. It will give you a good overview and will help you situate each Sunday’s Gospel reading in its context.  Continue reading “Why Mass?”

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The Shepherds of Israel

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

2002 was an extraordinarily painful year for anyone involved in pastoral ministry in the Catholic Church in the United States. Early that year, the Boston Globe ran a series of articles describing a number of priests in that archdiocese who were accused of sexual abuse of children and teenagers – and describing how archdiocesan officials responded, or failed to respond, to the accusations.  Even though stories of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors had been appearing here and there since the 1980’s, the Globe’s reports seemed like a bursting of a dam. Finally, it seemed, someone was listening to these stories of betrayal and violation and believing them. Soon, nearly every diocese was dealing with people who were accusing some of their priests of sexually abusing them when they were younger, and accusing bishops of knowing about this abuse but trying to conceal it or to simply move the accused priest to a different parish.  It was difficult to know what hurt more: the realization that such abuse had actually happened (along with the tremendous pain it caused to the abused and their families), or the ways in which bishops tried to deny or cover up these situations.   Continue reading “The Shepherds of Israel”

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Prophets

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

When will they ever learn?         When will they ever learn?                           – Pete Seeger

Have you ever been in a boat or canoe that you needed to move  through the water by your own power alone?

If so, you may know that you can power a boat in two ways. One is by paddling – the usual way if you’re in a canoe. You sit facing the direction in which you are going. You paddle, first on one side, then on the other, and move forward in that way. You steer yourself based on what is ahead of you. Continue reading “Prophets”

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A Thorn In The Flesh?

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

“A thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.” – 2 Corinthians 12:7

In this Sunday’s second reading, Paul presents us with this well-known image of the “thorn in the flesh”. Anyone who has handled roses or similar plants can get a feel for the image. A thorn in one’s skin is painful and not always easy to dislodge. It is an unwelcome nuisance. At times, people use the image of a “thorn in the flesh” to refer to someone they find difficult to deal with or tolerate; someone who offers them a severe test of their patience. Is this what Paul means when he writes this to the Corinthians, though?  Continue reading “A Thorn In The Flesh?”