Author: The Anchorite

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Noise and Silence

Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time: Mark 7:31-37

Whenever we approach any passage in Scripture, it is good to ask ourselves, “Where do I see myself here? How does it speak to me? How does it speak to us?” This is just as true for accounts of Jesus healing someone. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. If we are not physically deaf – or hearing-impaired in any way – it may be tempting to see this simply as a moment when Jesus is compassionate to someone else in need. But what is my need here? What is yours? How are you and I deaf? What impedes our speech? How do we need healing now?  Continue reading “Noise and Silence”

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GPS

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Have you ever seen one of the old silent movies – or heard stories about people who saw them? You know, the ones where the villain would appear, dressed in black and playing with his mustache, and the audience – as well-trained as Pavlov’s dogs – would immediately hiss and boo? Whenever the Pharisees are mentioned in the Gospels, we almost instinctively begin to hiss and boo – inwardly, at least. We tend to see them as the villains in the story of Jesus (black clothing and mustache optional).  Continue reading “GPS”

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Salt, Light, and a City Set on a Hill

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) – Matthew 5:13-16

As we continue to hear from the Sermon on the Mount, we once again hear familiar images coming from the mouth of Jesus: “salt of the earth”, “light of the world”, “city set on a hill”. Even people who aren’t members of any church will recognize these images. But what do they mean for us? How are we salt, or light, or a city on a hill?

Jesus says, “You (plural) are salt; you (plural) are light; you (plural) are that city”. So, who is this “you”? It is all those who follow Jesus: his disciples, his Body, his Church. All believers, together. And who are we as believers? We are the people, first of all, whom Jesus has just described in the Beatitudes, which came just before this passage.  Continue reading “Salt, Light, and a City Set on a Hill”

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Prisoners of the Past

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time: Mark 6:1-6

When we begin our lives in this world, many things are simply givens. We didn’t choose them, nor did we have even the chance to do so. They simply come with the ‘package’ that is you or me. We are born with certain physical traits thanks to our DNA – this skin tone, this height, our mother’s eyes, our father’s nose. We may be born with a weakness for chocolate or dancing or football. Then there are the circumstances of our birth and childhood: this family with these challenges, this location, this social class, these opportunities (and not those).  Continue reading “Prisoners of the Past”

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Buying and Dying

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Matthew 5:3-12

Do I have a price? Or, can I (or you) be bought?

What I mean is this: is there any thing I want so much that I would betray some fundamental value in order to get it? We are all faced with this dilemma. We all feel the pressure to do this. It might have happened when we were children, when we had the chance to join one of the “right” groups in school – if we were willing to betray or ignore someone who had been a true friend to us. It might be the pressure we feel (at any age) with a group of people who begin to share malicious gossip about someone else. It may be a situation where we could advance at work by cheating or stabbing someone else in the back. Or, it might be the desire to blend in and not stand out from the crowd that keeps us from saying something that we know should be said.  Continue reading “Buying and Dying”