Year A

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

In this salvation oracle to the post-exilic community, the identity of the royal figure is unstated, but he fulfills the expectations of many prophets of the ideal Davidic king. Donkeys were regularly associated with royal figures in the ancient Near East and the fact that he arrives on a donkey rather than on a horse, with all the military connotations of that animal, suggests this “just savior” will be humble and peaceful. He ends warfare in both the former kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) and in Jerusalem. The mention of Israel, destroyed centuries before the oracle was probably uttered, points toward the divine will to bring all of God’s people, currently scattered around the world, back to the land.

Paul continues his exploration of how the death of Christ has released those in bondage to sin. He now introduces the idea of flesh versus spirit. Flesh refers to that aspect of the human person that opposes God, that remains under the thumb of sin and inclined toward it. For the baptized, this “flesh” constitutes the “old self,” which is opposed to the spirit, that aspect of the human person that is not under the reign of sin but under the reign of the Spirit of God in Christ. He reminds the Romans that those in whom the Spirit dwells are no longer under the bondage of sin and therefore are not “debtors to the flesh.”

Jesus has just proclaimed that Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum will face judgment for not repenting after witnessing his mighty deeds; they have not recognized who Jesus is and what he is about. They represent “the wise and the learned,” whose sophistication prevents them from accepting Jesus and his message. Only the “little ones,” capable of “childlike” faith, are able to see that Jesus does the work of the Father and reveals him. Those willing to take on the yoke of discipleship will discover it to be a source of refreshment, not only because of the subject matter (God), but also because their teacher (who reveals God) is gentle and kind to those who wish to learn from him.

Jan 12 2025

A Season of Generosity

It might seem to be a funny time to be talking about death. Right now, much of the northern temperate region is in full flower: roses are blooming, peach trees are setting fruit, and rivers are flowing. Thinking about death belongs to those dark and gloomy days in mid-January when it is so dreary.

But Jesus talks about losing our lives. And it is June: bright, happy, generous June. How are we to make sense of that paradox? Losing life, when we are surrounded by so much life?

Perhaps, though, life is made up of small deaths. To die to self, to make ourselves do what we don’t really want to do, actually seems easier in June. It is an almost playfully die-to-self time, time to take the hand of a child and go look at the grasshoppers when you know that the guests are about to pull into the driveway and the dishes are not washed; time to call an elderly friend when it will use up an hour of your life; time to say yes to an adult son or daughter even when it may cost a lot.

June is the time to strive for the greater, the more expansive, the honorable. The way that we choose to live is the way that we will die—with our hands wide open or with our fists tightly closed. Jesus’ call to generosity, to give ourselves away, can blossom because of the buoyancy breaking all around us. How can we not be more conscientious today when the bees are working so hard to make honey? Give a cup of water to a little one? Certainly. Take up the cross, Jesus? Surely. Die to sin, St. Paul? Indubitably. It is June. Lord, your glory and your grace are here. We can do that!

Consider/Discuss

God’s bounty is all around us. What can we do today to be more generous?
When was the last time that you looked at the grasshoppers? The clouds? The birds in a tree? Take a moment and do something “unimportant” with someone you love.

Living and Praying with the Word

Creator God, sometimes we forget how buoyant your salvation is. Grace us today with time to savor all that you have given us. Sometimes we walk on by something that is so beautiful. Thank you for the stars. Thank you for babies’ toenails. Thank you for the smile on my friend’s face. Thank you, most of all, for being our lavish God.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The stories of Elisha are filled with examples of God saving people in distress. Through the young prophet God purifies water for one city; fills all the empty vessels of a poor widow with oil, saving her from creditors; cures a stew that has been poisoned; heals a foreigner of leprosy. Gratitude to the prophet was thus really gratitude to God. In the reading we see also the prophet’s gratitude, expressed through the promise of a child for an elderly couple. The woman does indeed have a son (who will fall ill, die, and be raised by the prophet), once again showing that the God of Israel is a God a life.

Paul has been arguing that the death of Christ brought an end to the reign of sin and death. How does this work? When one is in bondage to someone, Paul says, that bondage naturally ends when we die (6:7). In the same way, if we die with Christ in baptism we are freed from bondage to sin. We are also raised with him and are freed from the power of sin and death. Paul’s larger point here is ethical: because Christians have died to sin, and are no longer under its power, they must stop acting as if they were. They must start living for God, not continuing to serve sin.

Jesus warns his disciples that the gospel will not be received in all quarters and that he will prove, both during and after his earthly life, to be a cause of division. His followers should know that being his disciple will be the hardest thing they have ever had to do, requiring more of them than they imagine: losing family, even their lives. They will have to “take up their crosses,” the instrument of their deaths. Yet this death will lead to life—a promise only those who have faith in Jesus can believe. Even those who receive the one who proclaims the gospel will gain their reward. Both those who sacrifice for Jesus and those who receive them are assured that their efforts will redound to them in the end.

Jan 12 2025

Ordinary Time, Extraordinary Courage

The prophet Jeremiah captures my imagination. He is called to speak the word of the Lord at a tender age: “I am too young,” he objects. Repeatedly he resists his call to preach: “I try to hold it in, but it burns like fire in my heart, imprisoned in my bones.” He is brutally honest before God. He is also starkly straightforward with kings. His forthrightness gets him into trouble: he’s thrown into the muck of a cistern, imprisoned in the stocks, mocked and made fun of, and ultimately hauled off to Egypt to end his life where he doesn’t want to be.

Do you ever wonder if Jeremiah wished that he could simply be an ordinary guy? God’s call was sometimes just too challenging. “You duped me, Lord,” he says, “and I let myself be duped.” He may have prayed today’s psalm: “Rescue me from the mire, and do not let me sink . . . for it is on your account that I bear insult.” Though he is smacked down over and over, Jeremiah keeps popping back up again.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns the disciples of that same kind of opposition. He knows that the muck is real. But he says time after time, “Do not be afraid . . . Even the hairs of your head are counted.” What are we to be afraid of? Not physical death, but spiritual cowardice.

Fortitude is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There may be times when life calls for swashbuckling bravado. But more often, the Divine Nudge encourages us to roll out of bed with an “it doesn’t matter how you feel today, just get up and keep going” kind of everyday courage. Sainthood is in the small things. Heroic virtue grows through giving God one obedient yes at a time.

Consider/Discuss

Fear is part of life. We get burned and we grow cautious. Yet Jesus says repeatedly, “Do not be afraid.” In what part of our lives do we need Holy Spirit fortitude so that we can keep rising back up to do what we are called to do, in spite of our fear or weakness?
The saints and prophets were brutally honest in their relationship with God. Are you willing to yell at God, to pour out your heart in prayer and be forthright with the Creator of the universe? Why or why not? What does that look like?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, sometimes I’d rather stay in bed and take life easy. Yet Jeremiah and the saints and you yourself show me another way—to keep giving and loving and preaching even when it is personally challenging. Guide my discernment in the balance between self-care and self-gift. I seek you. I offer myself to you. Help me to trust you to use me according to your best lights, for you watch over even the hairs of my head. Cast out my fear and keep me close to you.

Jan 10 2025

Scripture Study for

Just prior to this week’s reading, Jeremiah has complained to God that God has “seduced” him—drawn him into a difficult mission of proclaiming God’s word of judgment to a faithless and violent people. In the face of rejection, the prophet has tried to walk away from his calling, but like a fire burning in his heart, the word of God demands to be heard (20:7–9). Yet despite danger and even the treachery of friends, Jeremiah ultimately trusts that God will defend him “like a mighty champion” because he is doing God’s work. In Jeremiah we see both the depths of suffering in relationship with God and the heights of trust and hope despite it all.

Paul explains to the Romans how the death of Christ has saved humanity from death and sin. Paul understands sin here not as a human act of the breaking of covenant commands (“law”), but as a malevolent, intractable power that entered the world through human disobedience. This power, which spread through all Adam’s descendants, brought with it death. Thus all people, even those who were not under the covenant obligations to God, sinned, even if they were not breaking “the law” (Torah). Thus death “reigned” over all. The obedience of Christ ends this reign by flooding humanity with grace, a gift from God to deliver the descendants of Adam from the bondage of sin and its “wages” of death (6:23).

As Jesus sends the Twelve out to proclaim the kingdom, he warns them of opposition. This warning shades into predictions of what the early church will face after Easter. Out of fear for their lives and livelihoods, they will be tempted to withdraw from the task of proclaiming the gospel, or even to deny Christ. Yet this is what they are being formed to do: to proclaim publicly what they are learning from and about Jesus. In the face of fear, they must remember not only that God cares for them, but also that even physical death is to be preferred to the spiritual death that would follow from apostasy or abandoning the call to proclaim the gospel.