23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

                      B cycle

 

       

The passage in today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah has naturally been taken to point to the work of Jesus. Isaiah foresees the signs of the coming of the Lord.

 

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,

The ears of the deaf be cleared;

Then will the lame leap like a stag,

Then the tongue of the mute will sing.

 

Of course, we know that Jesus did all of these things. He gave sight to the blind man. He told the paralytic to take up his mat and walk. And, in today’s gospel, we see that he cleared the ears of the deaf man, and enabled him to speak for the first time. In this passage we see Jesus in his role of healer. 

 

What was the occupation of Jesus? We know that people referred to him as the carpenter’s son, and we assume that he learned and practiced the trade of Joseph as a young man. We know that his disciples called him a rabbi or teacher, and no matter what your belief, you would have to admit that Jesus was one of the greatest teachers of all time. Yet, in today’s reading we see him as a healer or physician.

 

Mark relates that some people approached Jesus and asked him to heal a man who can neither hear nor speak. Actually, they asked him to lay his hands upon the man, a traditional method used at the time to cure the sick. It might be instructive to pay close attention to what Jesus did.

 

First, he put his fingers into the man’s ears, and then then apparently spit on the man’s tongue. To us, spitting might seem distasteful, but scholars tell us that it was not unusual for Greek and Hebrew physicians to employ spittle in their attempts to heal. Then, Jesus looked up to heaven and groaned, and uttered the command, “ephphatha” which Mark tells us means “be opened.” The result was miraculous. The man immediately began to hear and speak plainly.

 

We can only guess at why Jesus went through this procedure. You would think that he just could have done it with a word or a thought. Maybe, there is a lesson for us all in his way of healing. He seems to act as a conduit or connector between God and the deaf man. He puts his fingers in his ears as if he was putting cables on a dead car battery. Then, he looks to heaven as if to turn on the engine that will charge the battery. The power surges through Him into the man and he comes to life.

 

I am not offering this as a scientific or theological explanation of the healing. No one can really explain a cure like this one. Nevertheless, there is a good analogy here. We are all asked to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We are all asked to be healers. We are all asked to be involved or “hands on’ healers, and not just distant well wishers. We are all asked to be the conduit through which divine grace or power can flow through to those in need of healing.

 

Sometimes those in need around us seem like hard cases beyond repair. But in today’s second reading St. James tells us not to just take the easy cases but to be a means by which God’s grace can reach those in most need. The rich with gold rings and fine clothes do not need our care and attention. We must be just as attentive to the poor in both body and soul. Just as Jesus cured the poor deaf and dumb man, James tells us not to make distinctions of persons.

 

I love the animal stories of James Herriot, the famous British veterinarian, who spent his life caring for thousands of farm and domestic animals in rural Yorkshire. Herriot must have had plenty of ordinary cases but the stories he tells in his books are about those animals most in need of care. He treated them all, the healthy and the weak, with equal care and compassion. He came to realize that each animal had a value no matter the wealth or status of the owner. In his books Herriot used this little poem that obviously meant a lot to him.

 

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small, 

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

 

It would be great if we could follow Herriot’s example in dealing with those we encounter every day in our ordinary lives.

 

###

Reading 1.  Isaiah 35: 4-7a

Reading II. James 2: 1-5

Gospel. Mark 7: 31-37 (Ephphatha—Be Opened)

Talitha Koum

                  13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  B cycle

 

      

Starting last week and continuing on for this week and the weeks to come, we will be going through the gospel of Mark almost word for word. In his teaching Jesus mainly relied on parables as a way to convey his core message.  Even so, many of his hearers were mystified by the parables. However, his actions usually spoke louder than his words although they often also left the onlookers mystified.

 

Last week we saw that he calmed a storm while sailing on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. Although they were experienced fishermen, the disciples were terrified by the raging storm but then were mystified when Jesus rebuked the storm and calmed the waters. They asked themselves “what kind of a man is this?” Being observant Jews they could never imagine that Jesus was anything but a man who had magical powers. However, the disciples could hardly have imagined that the magical powers of Jesus would even extend to life and death. 

 

Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us an insight into the traditional Jewish teaching on death. 

 

God did not make death,

Nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living…

For God formed man to be imperishable;

The image of His own nature he made him.

 

In other words, we were meant to be immortal but somehow sin entered into the world, and death is one of the consequences of sin for both the good and the bad.

 

Anyone who had trouble believing that Jesus could calm a storm at sea will have even more trouble with the two miracles recorded in today’s gospel. In the first case, after Jesus lands on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he is surrounded by crowds who have heard of his reputation. A synagogue official works his way through the crowd and begs Jesus to come to his home and heal his daughter who is “at the point of death.” The official believes that Jesus just has to lay his hands on the child to heal her.

 

Jesus agrees to accompany the man home but on the way they are met by people who inform them that the girl has died and that there is no need to trouble Jesus any further. However, Jesus disregards the news and tells the father, “Do not be afraid, just have faith.” When they arrive at the house, they are met by a crowd of weeping mourners who ridicule Jesus when he tells them that the child “is not dead but asleep.” He puts all the mourners out and then enters the girl’s room with just her father and mother, and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John. Mark was a disciple of Peter and here is his account of what happened.

 

He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means,“Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.

 

Just as at the storm at sea, the onlookers were “utterly astounded.” Not only does Jesus seem to have power over the wind and the waves; he also has power over death, the great enemy of us all. I know that there are some who will say that there must have been a natural cause for the girl’s recovery. Perhaps she was in a coma. But then how could Jesus have known the girl’s condition or been so confident that he could save her? How could he have pressed on even after he was informed that the girl had died? If this was a natural case of healing, how could he have known that merely touching the girl would bring her out of the coma?

 

The answer to these questions might be found in the other cure featured in today’s gospel. 

On the way to the girl’s home a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years came through the crowd surrounding Jesus hoping that if she could only touch his clothes, she might be healed. When she touched his cloak, she was healed immediately without a word from Jesus. He only sensed that power had gone out of him and turned around to ask, “who has touched my clothes”?

 

Even after miracles like these it appears that the crowds and the disciples could not realize who He was. At the most I suspect they thought of him as a great magician. It would take his own resurrection before they finally began to realize where his power came from. 

 

In our time it is easy to think of Jesus as a good man who went about saying good things and doing good deeds. But Mark’s gospel will not let us leave it at that. Why do we underestimate Jesus today? Why do people feel it’s ok to ignore him or even ridicule him as the mourners did before he revived the little girl? Why do modern TV personalities think they can insult and demean someone who never hurt a fly and spent his life for others even to the point of torture and death on a cross?

 

In today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, the disciple is urging the community in Corinth to provide assistance to their fellow Christians who are not so well off. He uses Jesus as an example they should follow.

 

For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,

That though he was rich, for your sake He became poor,

So that by his poverty you might become rich.

 

For those who believe, the power is still coming out of Jesus.

 

###

Reading 1.  Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24

Reading II. 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15

Gospel. Mark 5: 21-43 (Talitha koum) 

Storm at Sea

                   12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  B cycle

 

      

Starting last week and continuing on for this week and the weeks to come, we will be going through the gospel of Mark almost word for word. Last week we saw Jesus as a teacher who used parables as a way to convey his core message even though many of his hearers might have been mystified. Next week, we will see Jesus, not so much as a teacher, but as a healer who can perform marvelous works. This week’s gospel, however, gives us a hint of something more.

 

Today’s first reading from the book of Job provides an introduction. Job’s problems have caused him to have a crisis of faith. A series of disasters have caused him to question the ability of the Lord to help him. Perhaps Job’s easy familiarity with the Lord has caused him to underestimate just what God can do. In today’s passage the biblical author puts these words into the mouth of the Lord concerning the awesome power of the sea and wind.

 

         When I set limits for it

And fastened the bar of its door,

And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,

And here shall your proud waves be stilled.

 

Is it any wonder that the Church used this passage from Job to introduce today’s gospel account of the storm on the Sea of Galilee? After spending a day teaching the crowds about the Kingdom of God, Jesus tells the disciples that he wants to sail to the other side of the large inland sea. It was evening and as they were crossing a violent squall came up. Squall is a mild word since the word Mark uses actually suggests a hurricane. It seems like an eyewitness account. Mark even mentions the cushion that Jesus used to rest his head while sleeping in the stern of the boat.

 

Commentators tell us that these sudden violent storms are not unusual on the Sea of Galilee. Often, they go as soon as they come. So, I suppose it might be easy for some to consider the calming of the storm as a natural rather than a miraculous event. Nevertheless, the disciples were fishermen with years of experience and there is no doubting that they were terrified by the severity of the storm.

 

It is hard for many people to accept the miracles recorded in Scripture. Some would rather explain them away as purely natural events. Many prefer to regard Jesus as a wonderful teacher and healer and see no need for miracles. For others, the miracles strain belief and often cause them to lose their faith. They prefer to place their faith in science and reason. 

 

It might help to put miracles like the storm at sea in context. Most of chapter 4 of Mark’s gospel is concerned with parables like the Sower and the Seed, or the one about the mustard seed that we heard last week. People, even the apostles, did not understand the parables. Nevertheless, Jesus said He would only speak in parables. Apparently, words would not be enough. It would take His whole life, death and resurrection before people could really understand Him and His mission.

 

It is obvious that even the Apostles in the boat did not understand what had happened. After the storm has been quelled, they ask themselves, “Who, then, is this that even the wind and sea obey him?” 

 

Throughout the gospels we will see that even those closest to Jesus found it hard to understand that He was anything more than a teacher or healer. Even after the Resurrection, they did not fully understand.

 

Today’s second reading from St. Paul indicates that even the early Christian converts at Corinth did not fully understand. He tells them and us that we are no longer in the flesh. By flesh he means our old way of living only for ourselves. Our old life has died with Christ but now we have a new life with Him, now and forever. What a miracle!

 

If only we could understand.

 

###

Reading 1.  Job 38:1, 8-11

Reading II. 2 Corinthians 5: 14-17

Gospel. Mark 4: 35-41 (Why are you terrified?)

Talitha Koum

                       13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                   

 

Starting last week and continuing on for this week and the weeks to come, we will be going through the gospel of Mark almost word for word. In his teaching Jesus mainly relied on parables as a way to convey his core message.  Even so, many of his hearers were mystified by the parables. However, his actions usually spoke louder than his words although they often also left the onlookers mystified.

 

Last week we saw that he calmed a storm while sailing on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. Although they were experienced fishermen, the disciples were terrified by the raging storm but then were mystified when Jesus rebuked the storm and calmed the waters. They asked themselves “what kind of a man is this?” Being observant Jews they could never imagine that Jesus was anything but a man who had magical powers. However, the disciples could hardly have imagined that the magical powers of Jesus would even extend to life and death. 

 

Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us an insight into the traditional Jewish teaching on death. 

 

God did not make death,

Nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living…

For God formed man to be imperishable;

The image of His own nature he made him.

 

In other words, we were meant to be immortal but somehow sin entered into the world, and death is one of the consequences of sin for both the good and the bad.

 

Anyone who had trouble believing that Jesus could calm a storm at sea will have even more trouble with the two miracles recorded in today’s gospel. In the first case, after Jesus lands on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he is surrounded by crowds who have heard of his reputation. A synagogue official works his way through the crowd and begs Jesus to come to his home and heal his daughter who is “at the point of death.” The official believes that Jesus just has to lay his hands on the child to heal her.

 

Jesus agrees to accompany the man home but on the way they are met by people who inform them that the girl has died and that there is no need to trouble Jesus any further. However, Jesus disregards the news and tells the father, “Do not be afraid, just have faith.” When they arrive at the house, they are met by a crowd of weeping mourners who ridicule Jesus when he tells them that the child “is not dead but asleep.” He puts all the mourners out and then enters the girl’s room with just her father and mother, and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John. Mark was a disciple of Peter and here is his account of what happened.

He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means,

“Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.

 

Just as at the storm at sea, the onlookers were “utterly astounded.” Not only does Jesus seem to have power over the wind and the waves; he also has power over death, the great enemy of us all. I know that there are some who will say that there must have been a natural cause for the girl’s recovery. Perhaps she was in a coma. But then how could Jesus have known the girl’s condition or been so confident that he could save her? How could he have pressed on even after he was informed that the girl had died? If this was a natural case of healing, how could he have known that merely touching the girl would bring her out of the coma?

 

The answer to these questions might be found in the other cure featured in today’s gospel. 

On the way to the girl’s home a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years came through the crowd surrounding Jesus hoping that if she could only touch his clothes, she might be healed. When she touched his cloak, she was healed immediately without a word from Jesus. He only sensed that power had gone out of him and turned around to ask, “who has touched my clothes”?

 

Even after miracles like these it appears that the crowds and the disciples could not realize who He was. At the most I suspect they thought of him as a great magician. It would take his own resurrection before they finally began to realize where his power came from. 

 

In our time it is easy to think of Jesus as a good man who went about saying good things and doing good deeds. But Mark’s gospel will not let us leave it at that. Why do we underestimate Jesus today? Why do people feel it’s ok to ignore him or even ridicule him as the mourners did before he revived the little girl? Why do modern TV personalities think they can insult and demean someone who never hurt a fly and spent his life for others even to the point of torture and death on a cross?

 

In today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, the disciple is urging the community in Corinth to provide assistance to their fellow Christians who are not so well off. He uses Jesus as an example they should follow.

 

For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,

That though he was rich, for your sake He became poor,

So that by his poverty you might become rich.

 

For those who believe, the power is still coming out of Jesus.

 

 ###

B Cycle:

Reading 1.  Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24

Reading II. 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15

Gospel. Mark 5: 21-43 (Talitha koum)

Tabitha Koum

                                    13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                         

           

Starting last week and continuing on for this week and the weeks to come, we will be going through the gospel of Mark almost word for word. In his teaching Jesus mainly relied on parables as a way to convey his core message.  Even so, many of his hearers were mystified by the parables. However, his actions usually spoke louder than his words although they often also left the onlookers mystified.

Last week we saw that he calmed a storm while sailing on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. Although they were experienced fishermen, the disciples were terrified by the raging storm but then were mystified when Jesus rebuked the storm and calmed the waters. They asked themselves “what kind of a man is this?” Being observant Jews they could never imagine that Jesus was anything but a man who had magical powers. However, the disciples could hardly have imagined that the magical powers of Jesus would even extend to life and death.

Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us an insight into the traditional Jewish teaching on death.

God did not make death,

Nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living…

For God formed man to be imperishable;

The image of His own nature he made him.

In other words, we were meant to be immortal but somehow sin entered into the world, and death is one of the consequences of sin for both the good and the bad.

Anyone who had trouble believing that Jesus could calm a storm at sea will have even more trouble with the two miracles recorded in today’s gospel. In the first case, after Jesus lands on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he is surrounded by crowds who have heard of his reputation. A synagogue official works his way through the crowd and begs Jesus to come to his home and heal his daughter who is “at the point of death.” The official believes that Jesus just has to lay his hands on the child to heal her.

Jesus agrees to accompany the man home but on the way they are met by people who inform them that the girl has died and that there is no need to trouble Jesus any further. However, Jesus disregards the news and tells the father, “Do not be afraid, just have faith.” When they arrive at the house, they are met by a crowd of weeping mourners who ridicule Jesus when he tells them that the child “is not dead but asleep.” He puts all the mourners out and then enters the girl’s room with just her father and mother, and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John. Mark was a disciple of Peter and here is his account of what happened.

He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means,

“Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.

Just as at the storm at sea, the onlookers were “utterly astounded.” Not only does Jesus seem to have power over the wind and the waves; he also has power over death, the great enemy of us all. I know that there are some who will say that there must have been a natural cause for the girl’s recovery. Perhaps she was in a coma. But then how could Jesus have known the girl’s condition or been so confident that he could save her? How could he have pressed on even after he was informed that the girl had died? If this was a natural case of healing, how could he have known that merely touching the girl would bring her out of the coma?

The answer to these questions might be found in the other cure featured in today’s gospel.

On the way to the girl’s home a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years came through the crowd surrounding Jesus hoping that if she could only touch his clothes, she might be healed. When she touched his cloak, she was healed immediately without a word from Jesus. He only sensed that power had gone out of him and turned around to ask, “who has touched my clothes”?

Even after miracles like these it appears that the crowds and the disciples could not realize who He was. At the most I suspect they thought of him as a great magician. It would take his own resurrection before they finally began to realize where his power came from.

In our time it is easy to think of Jesus as a good man who went about saying good things and doing good deeds. But Mark’s gospel will not let us leave it at that. Why do we underestimate Jesus today? Why do people feel it’s ok to ignore him or even ridicule him as the mourners did before he revived the little girl? Why do modern TV personalities think they can insult and demean someone who never hurt a fly and spent his life for others even to the point of torture and death on a cross?

In today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, the disciple is urging the community in Corinth to provide assistance to their fellow Christians who are not so well off. He uses Jesus as an example they should follow.

For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,

That though he was rich, for your sake He became poor,

So that by his poverty you might become rich.

For those who believe, the power is still coming out of Jesus.

###

Reading 1.  Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24

Reading II. 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15

Gospel. Mark 5: 21-43 (Talitha koum)