Ordinary Time

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

One of the challenges facing a society in which prophets communicate God’s will is knowing who is a real prophet—and who is not. Just because someone claims to speak for God does not mean that person is authentic. Moses was, of course, the first of the prophets, and here he acknowledges the need for someone to speak to Israel, but also sees the problem of knowing to whom one can listen. The importance of the role of prophet and the seriousness of pretending to be one (or even mistakenly thinking one is a prophet) is highlighted by the punishment of death prescribed. It is no small thing to mislead God’s people or to presume to speak for God without authority!

Paul continues to advise the Corinthians how to conduct themselves as the present world passes away, through marriage, the heart of the social structure. Given that the world is “passing away,” should people get married? Paul’s advice: if you are now married, stay married. But if you are not married, do not marry (unless, of course, it will prevent you from sinning; see 7:36). Marriage is not bad in itself, but it does impose restrictions on husband and wife, who cannot devote themselves entirely to God; they are both “anxious about the things of the world.” Paul would like them to be able to focus entirely on “the Lord without distraction.”

The story of the exorcism of the demon is framed by reference to Jesus’ teaching. The people are already “astonished” at his teaching, or rather that he teaches “as one having authority.” There is something different about the source of his teaching, which comes from him and not from someone else. This authority is then confirmed by the exorcism. Once again, the crowds express amazement and refer to his “new teaching with authority.” We see here the close connection between Jesus’ words and his actions, both of which point to the power and good news of the kingdom of God, which Jesus has come to announce in word and to inaugurate in deed.

Jan 24 2025

Repent!

“Repent!”

Jesus begins his ministry with that word: “Repent!” It’s a good word. The closer we come to the living God, the more we realize how far we are from being the saints that we could be. Continual conversion is spiritually healthy.

But the word itself evokes mixed emotions within me. On the other side of the window, the room was crowded. A man rhythmically pushed on the boy’s chest. A woman prepared the paddles. Another watched the monitor to see if the flat line would bump up.

The emergency room doctor had filled me in, as I was there in the role of chaplain. Nineteen years old; arrived unresponsive; mother and aunt are here.

From our side of the window, his mother watched and wept. “It started a few days ago. He was just sick. We don’t have insurance. He’s young. He’s healthy. We thought he’d get better. Then today his eyes started to roll back in his head. We didn’t know what to do. Oh, oh, oh . . .”

Her sister started to shake with anger. “This is all your fault! If you had repented, if you had raised him right, if you had brought him to church, God would not be punishing you like this. You reap what you sow. Repent!”

With my arm around her shoulder, I felt the mother shrink inward. Her jaw tightened. Her pale face grew even paler. The sister carried on and on. I finally asked her to step into the hallway and be still.

An hour later, the ER doctor caught my eye through the window and slowly shook her head. The nurses left. All activity in the room had ceased.

That night, a mother lost her son. She may also have lost her sister and whatever faith in a loving God she might have had. That same night, I went home and held my own nineteen-year-old son.

Consider/Discuss

What images or stories come into your mind when you hear the word “Repent!”
Conversion of heart is a daily challenge. We never know what life will bring. How can we not take those around us for granted? How can we be a bit more merciful in our judgments today?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of the living, you call us to repentance so that we can live a healthier and more abundant life. Forgive us when we drive you away. Forgive us when we drive others away from you. We are weak. We do not see how we hurt people. This day, open our eyes to see where and how you want us to repent. Help us show greater mercy in our interactions with others.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

Nineveh was a capital of the Assyrian Empire, which oppressed and devastated the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, destroying the latter completely in 722 B.C. A tale showing any sympathy for Nineveh was clearly going to challenge its original hearers, who would likely have been more sympathetic to Jonah’s reluctance to offer repentance than with God’s intention to forgive. Jonah famously complains about God’s forgiveness (4:1–3), forgetting that he himself had received forgiveness from God after running away to evade his prophetic duty. As such Jonah represents the human tendency to revel in God’s forgiveness for ourselves while implicitly or explicitly setting limits on it for others.

Paul assures the Corinthians that the world as they know it is “passing away.” The human world and its various relationships, values, and assumptions is being transformed in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Corinthians cannot go on acting as if things are pretty much the same as they were before they heard the gospel. Nothing is the same, Paul insists. The advent of Christ, both into the world and into the life of each believer, is earth-shattering, turning everything upside down. To fail to see this is to fail to grasp the meaning of one’s own baptism and of God’s purposes being effected through Christ.

Again this week Jesus gathers his first disciples, this time actively seeking followers to help him in his mission of proclaiming repentance and announcing the gospel. His message is simple: now is the time in which God’s promises are being fulfilled, when God’s sovereign rule is being manifested and its effects felt in the world. Jesus has come to announce this good news, and he needs people to help him. Whereas in John’s Gospel last week the disciples seek Jesus to “abide” with him, here the disciples have an active role in gathering up the “catch” of God’s kingdom. In both cases, though, the ideal response of the call of the disciples is the same: immediate acceptance of the call, leaving behind everything to follow Jesus.

Jan 24 2025

Team Building

A writer lay in bed at 5:52 a.m. She knew that her rooster-alarm would crow to tell her to get up and write at 6:00 a.m. She relaxed back on her pillow . . . eight more minutes . . . Then she felt an internal tug, a beckoning, a call: “Rise up, we have things to do.” She was startled: “We have things to do?”

Raised in an American individualistic society, she had often thought of “call” as something that she was told to do, something from afar, to which she was simply expected to respond in obedience. That call, that “Rise up, we have things to do,” implied that the divine Coach was a team builder and she a beloved member of the team. She got up with renewed energy and began to write . . .

Notice the team building in today’s call of the apostles. John the Baptist is standing in a group of three. Jesus walks by. Two follow him and they become a group of three. Andrew goes and gets his brother Peter and with Jesus, they become three again. It is a dance of threes, a gentle and quiet camaraderie of coming and going—one points out, two follow; another points out, his brother joins in. It almost feels Trinitarian, like the dance of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, coming and going, gently and forever loving and drawing in.

That tug, that call, is not just for a select few who are called to be apostles or prophets or saints or clergy. That awakening is for each of us as well. We arise to join in the dance of the Trinity, no matter what path we walk along in life. Like young Samuel, we call out in the night, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!”

Consider/Discuss

When we ponder our call, what is our underlying perception? Is that call something that the divine Someone from afar imposes upon us as a task to be done? Is that call like taking the hand of a dance partner and joining in an already swirling dance? What difference does it make how we perceive that beckoning?
Each morning, the tug of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, beckons us to rise up one more time. What, God, are we going to do together today in this wild and wonderful life?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of Trinity, you tug at me to join in with what you are doing. You call me to link my life with yours in the dance of your being. Wherever we go together, whatever we do, shine through my eyes, touch through my hands, and speak through my mouth. Teach me to glorify you better through this earthly body, so that it is both transformed and transforming. Most of all, I thank you for letting me be a beloved member of your team. Thank you, thank you!

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

The first reading introduces the prophet Samuel as a youth who is not yet familiar with the God for whom he would eventually speak so eloquently. Samuel has come to the temple at Shiloh because he was dedicated to the Lord by his mother, Hannah (1 Samuel 1:9–28). God’s difficulty in getting Samuel’s attention, and the boy’s comical confusion about the source of the voice, point to an important feature of most call narratives of prophets, namely, that the prophetic figure has not sought out the role. This is a key attribute of authentic prophets, who are indeed called and not self-proclaimed. In all cases, though, God is persistent, exemplifying both divine patience and divine determination.

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds his audience of the implications of their baptism into Christ. They have not grasped that they are different people now and must act accordingly. A case in point is the ongoing sexual immorality of many members of the church. Paul has informed them that they are each a temple of the Spirit (3:16). In the Spirit they are all “joined to the Lord,” which means that their bodies are “members of Christ,” part of Christ’s “body.” Consequently their bodies are not theirs to do with as they please. As temples of God and members of Christ’s body, they are hosting (so to speak) his Spirit. Christians’ bodies are not our own, but the Lord’s.

Whereas in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) Jesus calls his disciples, in John it is the disciples who seek out Jesus and “follow” him, literally and metaphorically. Their response to his question about whom they seek (“Where are you staying?”) seems at first beside the point, but it’s not. The verb translated here as “stay” appears elsewhere in John as “dwell” or “remain,” referring to the mutual, abiding relationship of the Father, Jesus, the Spirit, and believers (14:10, 17; 15:4, 6). Jesus does not tell them where he “stays,” but invites them to see for themselves, and they “remain” with him, which is the point of discipleship for this evangelist.