Author: The Anchorite

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The Bridegroom at the Well

Third Sunday of Lent (A): John 4:5-42

I’ve always enjoyed word play. Puns, crosswords, cryptograms, Scrabble –  just about any game involving words. Psychologists tell us that people on the autism spectrum tend to like word play even more than people in general. Puns and word games come standard with us Aspies, so to speak!

But we’re not alone. The Bible is filled with examples of puns and word play. Very often, the naming of a person or place involves a play on words. Adam, on seeing Eve: “This one shall be called ‘woman’, for from ‘her man’ this one has been taken”. In Hebrew, ‘woman’ and ‘her man’ sound almost the same. Jesus, to Simon: “You are ‘Peter’, and upon ‘this rock’ I will build my church.”  Again, ‘Peter’ and ‘this rock’ sound almost the same in the original. John, writing out of a rich Biblical tradition, will also use plays on words as a means to draw out deeper meanings. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “You must be born ‘again’.” In Greek, the word translated as ‘again’ can also mean ‘from above’, depending on context. Nicodemus objects, understanding the word in its usual, literal ‘again’ meaning. Jesus then explains further, using the meaning ‘from above’. The Biblical authors used puns and word play not merely because they may have enjoyed it. It served a purpose. It is a reminder that they are writing about realities that cannot be adequately expressed in words. To show this, the Biblical authors used word play to show the reader that there is always more to life, and to God, than we might assume at first glance. Word play is an invitation to “come and see”, to go deeper.   Continue reading “The Bridegroom at the Well”

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Look Down

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent: Luke 16:19-31

I’ve done no wrong!
Sweet Jesus hear my prayer!
Look down, look down,
Sweet Jesus doesn’t care.

– from Work Song, Les Misérables

The musical Les Misérables, like the novel that inspired it, offers us an unfiltered picture of the life of the poor in nineteenth century France. The line “Look down” appears again in Les Miz as the title of a later, similar song sung by the poor of Paris. That line can have different meanings, depending on its context. It provides us with a good way to begin to explore the parable which Jesus tells the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading. Continue reading “Look Down”

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Integrity

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent: Matthew 23:1-12

Long before I was ordained, I remember being at a particular Mass where the priest preached rather strongly against a certain sin. After Mass, as people were leaving the church, one man said to the priest, “You really told them, didn’t you, Father?” The priest replied, “I meant that for you, too!” Stunned and speechless, the man walked out.

When we read or hear Jesus’ strong words about the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading, we, too, might be tempted to say, “You really told them, didn’t you, Lord?”  We easily forget that the Gospels are not only about events that happened during the life of Jesus. They are also about the life that each one of us is called to live today as followers of Jesus. As such, the sins of the Pharisees mean very little to us today. However, the stories of Jesus that were included in the Gospels were chosen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, precisely because they had a great deal to say to Christian life. Unless we can see that we, too, can be like these Pharisees, we have missed the point.  Continue reading “Integrity”

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Seeing, Listening and Believing

Second Sunday of Lent (A): Matthew 17:1-9

The Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Lent has traditionally been the account of the Transfiguration. It is fascinating to read commentaries written by Biblical scholars on this Gospel reading. Some scholars from some faith traditions twist themselves in exegetical knots trying to relate a story that no one can take literally (so they say) to the experience of contemporary Christians. If one can’t prove it scientifically, or relate to it experientially, what does one do with it (so they ask)? These same scholars also struggle with the Resurrection of Jesus, for the same reasons. And not only some Biblical scholars. Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for the New York Times, writes here of a conversation he had with Rev. Timothy Keller over whether he (Kristof) is really a Christian. One of Kristof’s stumbling points was a belief in the Resurrection of Jesus.  He would have similar objections to the account of the Transfiguration, no doubt.

The difficulty here lies, at least in part, in how we think of science and faith. Our culture usually views people of faith as far too credulous, believing in things that cannot be proven – whereas, our culture sees itself as based on science and firmly founded on fact.  Continue reading “Seeing, Listening and Believing”

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Our Father

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent: Matthew 6:7-15

“I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” – Edward Everett to Abraham Lincoln, on the occasion of the Gettysburg Address, 1863

In the Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday, Jesus tells us how we ought to approach almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Lent began with this because, in the experience of the Church, Lent is the time par excellence when we go back to these fundamentals and renew our commitment to them. In fact, today’s Gospel, where Jesus teaches us the Our Father in Matthew’s Gospel, actually comes right after his words on almsgiving and prayer, and precedes his words on fasting. The Our Father, then, is offered to us as one of the fundamentals of Christian life. It is a prayer taught us by Jesus himself. But it also teaches us how to pray and how to live our Christian life in general. Many of the saints of the Church, such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, viewed the Our Father as a very dense summary of the whole of Christian faith. Contemporary authors, like Scott Hahn and Tom Wright, write of the Our Father in the same way.  Continue reading “Our Father”