Year A

Jan 12 2025

A Tale of a Healer

The sun shone as she sat stroking a puppy on the step. The others gathered around. They wanted to hear her story again. “Tell us about when the Master came here to Tyre.” The growing Christian community hungered for stories about Jesus.

“The difficulty started when I was four—my arms and legs began to twitch. Sometimes, I blacked out. My mother began to moan, ‘Oh no, the demon wants her!’ My older brother had writhed and died when that same demon had arrived. I was scared.

“One day, my mother saw a group of Jewish men visiting the city. She glimpsed Jesus the healer. She called out to him, ‘Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.’ The men ignored her. She knew that she didn’t belong there. But she really loved me. Her heart ached from the grief that she might lose me, too. ‘Send her away,’ a man grunted. Jesus didn’t. At that moment, my mother said her heart swelled with hope. Maybe? Could the mercy of the God of Israel extend even north of the border?

“Hope and love made my mother persist. She would not give up. She fell to her knees and cried out, ‘Help me, sir!’

She said that she’ll never forget how gently Jesus said, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the puppies.’ She felt the Holy Spirit swell up within her: “Even the little dogs eat the scraps under the table!” Jesus was astonished. His face shone as he looked her in the eye. At that moment I was healed! Until the day she died, she told everyone about God’s mercy toward me. And she seemed to take in every stray puppy in the city.”

Consider/Discuss

Think of a time when you persisted in prayer. What was it that made you keep asking?
How is the mercy of God greater than any of our expectations? Where have you experienced that mercy?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of mercy, be gracious to us. We know that none of us deserve your love. Yet we hope in you. You gather people from all over the world to rejoice in you. In solidarity with the scared and the forlorn, the outcast and the refugee, we praise you for always loving us. Together, bring us to your holy mountain and reconcile this world that you have made.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The final chapters of Isaiah come from the post-exilic period, a time of struggle, in which God’s promises of restoration were slow in coming to fruition. The prophetic exhortation encourages continued hope in God’s salvation and justice. The promises now extend not just to ethnic Israel, but to all who come to God’s “holy mountain” (the temple in Jerusalem) to worship God and to abide by the covenant. This passage is one of several that appear in the post exilic period that refer to God’s larger plan to bring “all peoples” into relationship through Israel. Those who would join themselves to God will also be expected to love, serve, and obey.

Paul has been grappling with the question of Israel’s role within God’s plan, in light of the fact that so many Jews have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah (Romans 9–11). Knowing that God has not rejected the chosen (11:1), he suggests this (temporary) rejection was part of the plan to carry salvation beyond Israel. Those Gentiles who have accepted Christ should not judge Jews who have not, for their own salvation is only possible because they have been “grafted” onto Israel and received the benefits of their covenant relationship with God. Paul’s hope is that Israel has been allowed to disobey so that, like the Gentiles, they too can receive God’s mercy.

While in Gentile territory, Jesus encounters a woman who calls him “Lord” and “Son of David,” terms one would expect only from Jews who recognized him as Messiah. Uncharacteristically, Jesus ignores her. Yet when his disciples ask him to send her away, he doesn’t; he simply says he was not sent to the Gentiles. Perhaps recognizing that this objection does not constitute an outright refusal, the woman persists. Once again Jesus merely offers an objection: what is meant for the children (Israel) should not be given to the dogs (Gentiles). She persists, pointing out that there is enough of his salvific power to go around. This insightful retort wins the day. Jesus rewards her persistence, a sign of her faith.

Jan 12 2025

God to the Rescue!

I had a dream on the feast of the Assumption many years ago. It was one of those dark and scary dreams in which I was running through the streets of a town, dodging evil creatures and malevolent attackers. Suddenly I found myself in an abandoned lot. No trees. No buildings to hide me. No, no, no! I was totally exposed.

Have you ever had a nightmare like that? Or lived through a horror like that? Today’s reading from Revelation starts with a similar terror. A woman wails aloud. A serpent stands ready to devour her child about to be born, a horrifying reptile whose tail can sweep away the stars!

Yet the child is caught up to God. The woman is secured in the radiance of the desert. She and her baby are safe. As we celebrate the Assumption, we read this account because of its parallels. We believe that at the moment of death, however it happened, Mary was not devoured by death, but caught up to God.

Is death like that distress? Is it followed by an abiding sense of tranquility? We do not know. We may think that we grasp God, but in reality, no. The Redeemer is here for us. The Lord is our Rescuer, the one who snatches us from terror and brings us to peace.

In my dream, as I stood so frightened in that open field, peaceable people encircled me, powerful people who loved me and were pleased with me. The horror could not come near. I was safe. I was secure. Brightness surrounded me. Now when I think of Mary and the communion of saints, I swell with courage. I feel that I have been surrounded by them.

No matter what, we are safe. We dwell secure. All will be well.

Consider/Discuss

When you were younger, was there a place where you dwelt secure or a person with whom you were thoroughly “at home”? Where do you find safety now?
What is it like to feel alone and in terror? How is that different from being surrounded by love? Think of times when the Lord has been your Rescuer.

Living and Praying with the Word

Holy Spirit, you are the divine tie who binds us with those who are in heaven. Illumine our hearts to see that we are not alone, that those who have gone before us are cheering us onward toward peace and everlasting life. Be with us in moments of earthly terror and fear. Rather than seeing things from our earthly perspective, grant us knowledge to see things from a heavenly viewpoint, that ultimately, when this is over, all will be well. Snatch us up, carry us away to you!

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

After the seventh trumpet has blown, signaling God’s triumph over diabolic powers, the temple opens and the ark of the covenant is revealed. This scene of divine victory immediately shifts to an image of Israel giving birth to the Messiah. The child is saved from Satan, the huge red dragon attempting to destroy him. One sees here a reference to the attempt of the powers of hell to destroy Jesus through his death on the cross, only to be foiled when he is raised from the dead and ascends to heaven. The woman, who now represents the persecuted church, is protected by God just as Israel was protected in the wilderness after the Exodus.

Some Christians in Corinth apparently denied the resurrection of the dead, to which Paul responded that if there is no resurrection, then obviously Christ was not raised from the dead, making their faith in him pointless. They are still in their sins, have no hope beyond this life, and those who have already “fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” But Christ was raised from the dead, and his resurrection was not just for him but for all who have received life in and through him. At his second coming, those who are “in Christ” will be resurrected, too. Christ alone will be sovereign, the only authority, and all powers will be subject to him, including and especially the power of death.

Mary expresses prophetically in her Magnificat the meaning of the coming of the Messiah. True to character, God has shown mercy not just to her, but to all who have remained faithful and waited in hope for the longed-for salvation, making good on the ancient promises. The fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation, however, will not be good news for everyone. Those who do not fear God, the proud and the rich, those who are satisfied with a world just the way it is, in which some have and others do not—for these, the coming of the Messiah will be a time of judgment on them and on their way of life.

Jan 12 2025

“Come!”

In the Gospel, the disciples battle a headwind. The sea is rough. Their boat struggles. In the first reading, Elijah has clashed with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and has run from their death threats. Now he experiences an earthquake and crushing rocks and violent wind. What a lot of trouble in both stories! Do you ever feel pandemonium swirling around you?

In the turbulence, Elijah hears a “silent sound.” He knows the whisper of his God and comes to meet God at the entrance of the cave. From the surface of the stormy sea, Jesus says one word to Peter: “Come.” Peter recognizes the call of his Master. He steps out of the boat.

“Come!” Often, we think about what that means to us. But what does this vibrant beckoning say about the reality of who our God is? The Almighty has the raw power to rock mountains. The Son has the authority to still violent seas. The Spirit hovers over creation. Yet at the core of that Triune sovereignty is the resounding call: “Come!”

We hear “Come!” in the call of the disciples. We hear it in “Let all who thirst, come!” We hear it in “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ ” Jesus reveals to us how deeply we are desired: “Come to me.” Augustine says that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. How much more restless is God’s heart for us?

God’s “Come!” enfolds our entire being. We are wanted. That same divine command triggered the process of our birth—we are desired on earth. A heavenly “Come!” will set the process of our death in motion: we are sought after in heaven. No matter what, the chaos will not win. We have nothing to fear. Radiant delight surrounds us at all times.

Consider/Discuss

The eternal “Come!” can be so quiet that we have to tune our spiritual senses to perceive it, for in the bedlam of life, we may miss it. What of the chaos can we “turn down” in order to hear more carefully the still small voice of our Beloved?
Peter steps out of the boat after he recognizes the call of Jesus, the Master. The rest of the disciples do not. Which of the characters in the story do you identify with? Would you stay in the boat? Would you step out onto the water? Why or why not?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, you summon us in prayer, “Come to me!” You beckon us when we are heavily laden. You call to us when we are afraid. You want to give us your peace. At the same time, you know that we push back. You even know why, when we do not. Lord, strengthen our spiritual powers so that we grow more sensitive to hearing you. You are restless for us. Open our hands and help us come to you.