In the play, The Man of La Mancha, Aldonza asks Sancho Panza why he follows Don Quixote. “What do you get out of it?” If you listen to certain preachers you can get the idea that what we get out of following Jesus is good health, big incomes and happy families. That is certainly not what… Read More »

You can imagine the apostles scratching their heads and talking among themselves at the parables of Jesus. “Like a mustard seed? Like yeast?” But they had to ask Jesus directly about the “weeds and the wheat” because that parable went to the heart of the basic human dilemma: why if God is good is there… Read More »

When Jesus spoke in parables his usual pattern is to let us figure it out. How is the kingdom of God like a mustard seed? like leaven? It is fascinating that the prophet Jeremiah performed a parabolic action using as the image his dirty underdrawers! All of which says that the signs of God’s presence… Read More »

This year the Church uses the Gospel of Mark as the source for our readings. But since Mark is the shortest Gospel we supplement it with passages taken from Saint John’s Gospel. For the next five weeks we will go through the sixth chapter of Saint John verse by verse. The chapter begins with the… Read More »

Jerusalem had been saved by God from the invader during the time of Isaiah. They were counting on the same thing a century or so later when Jeremiah was the prophet. He warned them. Put not your trust in the deceitful words: “This is the temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The… Read More »

During the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah the Chosen People were at low ebb. The northern kingdom of Israel had been destroyed and the southern kingdom of Judah was threatened, soon to be taken into exile. It seems counter-intuitive that it was at this moment the prophet announced the universal triumph of God. “All nations will… Read More »

This summer the scripture lessons have been taken from the Old Testament prophets. We’ve heard from Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah. This week we start to read from Jeremiah. Coincidentally, (providentially?) in the gospel for today Jesus quotes from Isaiah describing how the prophet will be received. “They look but do not see and hear… Read More »

Today is the feast of Saint James. His most famous shrine is in northwestern Spain at Santiago de Compostela. When you walk the camino, in each of the little towns you pass there is a statue of Saint James — most often portrayed on horseback with a sword in his hand as the “matamoros,” the… Read More »

According to Jewish law you are a Jew if you have a Jewish mother. It is a matter of biology. When Jesus says, “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother,” he lets us know that his followers will not be determined by race or ethnicity but on… Read More »

No one is quite sure who the prophet Micah was. Like many of the prophets he chastised Israel for its abandonment of God’s ways while at the same time offering consolation that God would redeem them once they reformed. Also, like many of the prophets, he warned the Chosen People not to rely on ritual… Read More »