Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Mark 3: 7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing, 
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, 
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, 
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, 
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him 
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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If you compare the beginning and end of Jesus’ public ministry, it would seem we are talking about two different people.

In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry. He’s caused such excitement that “crowds” are following him, literally thousands of people – so many that Jesus has to get into a boat in order to not be crushed to death.

But three years from now, he’ll be abandoned by nearly everyone, even his closest friends.

What happened? Why was there such a dramatic decline in numbers?

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Those who sought Jesus early in his ministry were often looking for a transaction. They discovered that the sick, the paralyzed, and the possessed could be healed if they touched him. So, people pressed in on him out of desperation.

But as he moves further into his ministry – and begins teaching the crowds – Jesus urges them to go deeper, to think about who he is and what he’s saying.

He tries pushing them from a transactional to a transformative relationship, where they seek Jesus not because of what he can do for them, but for who he is.

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The same dynamic happens in our spiritual lives. 

Initially, we might be drawn to God out of what he can do for us. “Lord, I need this or that.”

But as we move deeper, the Spirit pushes us into a transformative relationship, where we seek Jesus because we love him. We want to be with him. There’s nowhere else we’d rather be.

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So, where am I in my relationship with the Lord? Is my devotion based upon immediate results or is it driven by love?

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“You will find me,” says the Lord, “when you seek me with all of your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

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Image credits: (1) Wisdom Hunters (2) America Magazine (3) The Salvation Garden

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1 Samuel 17: 32-51:

David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”

Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi
and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag.
With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.

With his shield bearer marching before him,
the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.
The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”
Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
and said to him, “Come here to me,
and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field.”
David answered him:
“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;
I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will leave your corpse
and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field;
thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
All this multitude, too,
shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.
For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”

The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters,
while David ran quickly toward the battle line 
in the direction of the Philistine.
David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone,
hurled it with the sling,
and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
The stone embedded itself in his brow,
and he fell prostrate on the ground.
Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone;
he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.
Then David ran and stood over him;
with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath
he dispatched him and cut off his head.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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One of the most renowned sculptures in history is Michelangelo’s David, because of his pose, his towering frame, and his strikingly realistic features.

What I find interesting about the statue is the fact that Michelangelo captures David before he slays Goliath. Most depictions show him after the battle has been won.

Why would Michelangelo do this? Why show David before the battle begins?

To remind us what it means to have faith. David’s confident stare and his tall, relaxed pose show us the faith he’s placed in God.

As we hear in our first reading today, David is young and inexperienced. Goliath, on the other hand, is a revered warrior. But David knows that God is on his side, and therefore the victory will be his.

Before any bystander can blink, Goliath is dealt a lethal blow, and falls the ground.

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Do I have Goliath in my life? Something that seems threatening, taller, or stronger than me?

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May we have the faith of David, who never backed down. Knowing God is on our side, we can face Goliath head on – and win.

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Image credits: (1) LetterPile (2) Michelangelo’s David, Academia (3) Fighting From A Position of Victory, Richard Aronson

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Gospel: Mark 2: 23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Throughout the Gospels, there’s only one group of people whom Jesus cannot stomach. Surprisingly, perhaps, it isn’t tax collectors, prostitutes, or sinners.

He loved and forgave them.

The ones whom Jesus cannot tolerate are the hardened religious leaders of his day, who pressed the Jews into following hundreds of man-made laws, including a law which forbade people from eating grain on the Sabbath, as we hear in today’s Gospel.

What good is it to follow a series of rules if doing so does not lead to spiritual growth?

This is why Jesus says elsewhere, the authorities are like “whitewashed tombs,” presentable on the outside, but defiled within.

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Catholics are similar to the extent that we try following a series of rules. We attend Mass on Sundays. We say our prayers. We avoid eating meat on Fridays in Lent.

But if following these rules does not lead to inner growth, then what good are they?

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This is proof of real religion: serving God in our neighbor.

As Saint John tells us, “Whoever does not love a brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

Think of a neighbor. Find a way to love them today.

That, more than going through the motions, will be pleasing to God.

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Image credits: (1) Potomac Baptist Church (2) Wheat Field With Reaper and Sun, Van Gogh (3) Unsplash