Ordinary Time

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Ezekiel pronounces an oracle of salvation employing a fable about a cedar tree. The tender shoot is destined to be planted on the heights of Israel, the very place from which the Davidic dynasty ruled. The words of the Lord describe a reversal performed by God. The twig that was once insignificant and vulnerable will be exalted on a high and lofty mountain. The messianic character of this image is obvious. The divine force of these prophetic words is underscored in the very last verse: The Lord has spoken it, and it is done. The transformation of the tender shoot is but another wonder performed by the sovereign Lord.

Paul instructs the Corinthians on how to live in a time when, though committed to the Lord, they do not see the Lord face to face. This sermon draws a clear distinction between this life and the next. It emphasizes the need to live by faith now, because we cannot live by sight alone. During this life believers are at home in the body, but away from the Lord. In the next life, they will be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Paul ends his exhortation with a sobering thought. At the end of this life, all will stand before Christ to be judged according to whether or not they did in fact live lives of faith after his example.

Jesus’ first saying characterizes the reign of God as a seed that takes root, grows, and produces its plant in some secret place within the earth. The seed itself may be quite inconsequential, but deep within itself it possesses great potential. The amazing qualities of a seed are the focus of the parable that follows. The passage ends with a summary statement about Jesus’ teaching in parables. They forced his hearers to stretch their imaginations and to make connections that they might not ordinarily make. The presumption was that those who followed Jesus were always willing or able to do this.

Jan 29 2025

The Real Agenda—Forgiveness of Sins

When Jesus came preaching, teaching, healing, and exorcising, the response was amazement and wonder. He was a “crowd magnet,” as we see in today’s Gospel. When Jesus showed up, it was standing room only. What would be the next miracle? So when the paralytic came down, there might even have been a little “ho-hum” in the air. “Didn’t he do something along these lines that night outside Simon’s mother-in-law’s house?”

But healing the body and casting out demons were only the first steps in the new creation God had in mind. The next step went to the heart of the matter— salvation. “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Alarms went off, at least in the heads of some of the legal experts present. “Did he just say? . . . No, not possible . . . Only God can . . . .” But Jesus, who really could hear people thinking, had no trouble saying it again: “That you may know the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins on earth . . . ” then he turned to the paralytic: “Get up and go.” And the man got up and went.

All the other things Jesus had been doing were acceptable, except when he did them on a Sabbath, for this was crossing a clearly defined line in the law of Moses. Forgiving sin? Only God could do that. Yes, that was the point. And still is. So don’t let past actions—even God’s, much less yours—lock you in or keep God out. God remains at work in Jesus offering forgiveness, reconciliation, atonement to all who realize they need it.

Consider/Discuss

How do you feel when you hear Jesus say, “Your sins are forgiven”?
Do you trust God to do new things? For you? In you? Through you?
Do you accept that God has put the Spirit in our hearts “as a first installment” of God’s desire for total communion?

Responding to the Word

Creator God, in giving us Jesus, you began the final move of a new creation in us and in the world. We thank you for offering through your Son the gift of forgiveness for our sins. May we accept this gift of grace and work to bring others to know its healing power. Amen.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

Israel’s faith was based on the liberating events of the past. So Isaiah’s words, “Remember not . . . consider not,” must have been unsettling. The prophet was probably calling the people away from inordinate dependence on the past, a dependence that prevented them from seeing the astonishing new thing that God was accomplishing before their very eyes. Faithful reverence for tradition is one thing, but insistent absorption in it is quite another. While the new way that stretched out before them was truly astounding, most amazing was the transformation that took place within them. Though sinners, the merciful God wiped away their guilt, and once forgiven, they were recreated.

Paul is forced to defend the merit of his apostolic ministry. He does so by basing his defense on the trustworthiness of God. He argues strenuously that his ministry never demonstrated such inconsistency. He offers three examples of God’s faithfulness. First, Christ is the center of his preaching. Since there is no inconsistency in Christ, there is no inconsistency in his preaching. Second, all of God’s past promises have been fulfilled in Christ. And third, those baptized have been sealed with the Spirit of God. This presentation of God’s plan serves as an argument in defense of Paul’s ministry.

Jesus’ forgiveness of the man who came to him to be healed sets up the conflict between Jesus and the scribes who were present in the witnessing crowd. While they are correct in believing that only God can forgive, they are blind in not recognizing the power of divine forgiveness active in the person of Jesus. Knowing what the incredulous scribes are thinking, Jesus challenges their silent condemnation of him. He points out that forgiving sin is more difficult than healing, so the healing is merely an external sign of internal transformation. The man is sent home forgiven and healed; the crowds are astounded and give glory to God. Only the scribes remain unbelieving.

Jan 29 2025

Bringing Outsiders In

These first days of Jesus’ ministry present him preaching, teaching, and healing to bring people to know that God is near. His message and his deeds bring people back to full life in the community. By casting out demons and curing the sick he restores to full humanity those suffering from possession and illness. Today we find Jesus confronting a condition that must have been even more excruciating—leprosy.

To be a leper was to be cut off from others in all ways. You were cast out of the community, isolated, doomed to live in deserted places, no longer part of the human family, unable to participate in any social events, and considered unfit to worship God. It was assumed that if you had leprosy, you had sinned in some way. Your life was summed up in the words the Law of Moses told you to cry out whenever anyone came near, “Unclean, unclean!”

For Jesus to touch a leper meant that in the eyes of others he also became unclean and unfit to associate and worship with others. Even so, when a leper asked for healing, Jesus was unequivocal in his reply: “I do will it. Be made clean.” It is easy to hear in his response the authority of the Son of God, set on giving glory to his Father. Yet Jesus, ever respectful of the law, sent the man to the priest, as commanded in the book of Leviticus. In Jesus, pity took precedence over the law, but did not abolish it.

Consider/Discuss

Have you ever been or seen anyone cut off from a family, a group, or even the community?
When St Paul says, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ,” how does that speak to your life in terms of Jesus’ healing the leper in the Gospel?

Responding to the Word

Jesus, you came to bring us into deeper communion with the Father and one another. Give us the courage to reach out, as you did, to those in need of our compassion and help. Let us not be afraid of the opinions of others when we see that good can be done. Amen.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

Leprosy included a wide variety of chronic skin diseases. Those with skin ailments were deemed unclean and were banished from the community. The real tragedy of leprosy was less the physical discomfort than the social estrangement and the religious alienation that resulted. Probably because such social and religious alienation was so severe, it was believed that the condition was brought on by some kind of sin. When the conditions that made a person unclean no longer held, it was necessary for the person to undergo some rite of purification before being readmitted into the community. This explains why a priest was involved.

Paul argues that the gospel is demanding enough; people do not need to be burdened with obligations that are extraneous to its message. He insists that neither food laws nor the assertion of one’s freedom should be the governing principle in the lives of Christians. The glory of God and sensitivity to others should be the driving force. “Avoid giving offense” is the policy he advocates. The passage ends with a final admonition: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Paul indeed adapted himself to the needs of others, and he did this after the example of Christ. The Corinthians are exhorted to follow Paul, who followed Christ.

The man in the Gospel story was suffering from the kind of skin ailment referred to in the first reading. Despite his condition, he boldly approached Jesus and begged to be made clean. Jesus was moved with pity. He knew that if he touched an unclean man he would become ritually unclean as well. However, his touch actually healed the man and restored him to the state of ritual purity. Jesus then sent him off to the priest for verification of the healing. Once again, the news of his marvelous power causes him to choose the seclusion of solitary places rather than the press of the crowd and their misunderstanding of his mission.