Year B

Sep 19 2025

“Called to Proclaim”

She wasn’t a likely candidate. She had no status. No voice in the eyes of her society. A woman, marginalized, overlooked.

So why her?

Why would God choose Mary to be the first preacher of the greatest message in all of human history?

Mary Magdalene is often called the “Apostle to the Apostles.” In all four Gospels, she is identified as a key witness to the Resurrection. In some accounts, she is the first to encounter the risen Christ… and the first to preach the Resurrection.

Mary Magdalene experienced the healing power of Jesus firsthand—he saved her. When he cast out seven demons from her, she didn’t just find relief; she encountered the life-changing force of God’s transformative love. Jesus didn’t stop there—he offered her redemption and called her into his ministry.

At a time when society overlooked her worth, Jesus saw her, knew her, and loved her. His merciful love called something deep within her, and she responded with unwavering devotion.

God called, and she responded. She showed up.

She followed Jesus not just in moments of joy or comfort—but through the pain.

She listened to his words.

She witnessed his miracles.

She stood at the foot of the cross.

She showed up at the tomb while others walked away.

And because she showed up… she encountered the Risen Lord.

Showing up to discipleship is a response to love.

Let me ask you: Where would we be today if Mary hadn’t shown up?

Where would we be if Mary hadn’t gone to the tomb? If she hadn’t lingered? If she hadn’t been willing to receive the call?

In her grief and confusion, Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. She was looking for Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him—until he spoke her name.

In that moment, she recognized him—not just with her eyes, but with her heart. She didn’t just see an event—she encountered a Person. And she ran to proclaim: “I have seen the Lord!”

And that, my friends, is the essence of evangelization. Not recounting a story, but proclaiming someone we have met. Someone we have encountered. Someone who has called us by name and changed our lives.

If Mary hadn’t shown up—she would have missed the voice that called her by name.

God is always looking for hearts willing to be present. Scripture is full of so-called “nobodies” who said yes to God—people like Moses. People like Esther. People like David. People like Mary of Nazareth… People like Mary Magdalene.

People the world thought were insignificant. But God used their “yes” to change history.

God doesn’t need you to be perfect—He needs you to be present.

God needs you (and me) to show up.

Jesus has called each of us by name and is sending us to share the good news.

Like Mary, maybe you feel inadequate. Maybe you wonder, “Who am I to preach?” Just remember, it’s not about us. It’s about HIM. You don’t preach yourself. You preach Christ.

The gift of your faith is not just for you.
You have been called—not just to believe—but to proclaim.
You have been entrusted with the mission to say to the world:
“I have seen the Lord.”

From Mary Magdalene’s trembling voice to the apostles…
From the apostles to the early Church…
From house churches to cathedrals…
From generation to generation… the message has passed.

And now—it rests in your hands.

You are part of that same mission. That same witness. That same call.

Mary was the first… but she was not the last.
And the mission is not finished.
You are the next link in the chain.

Now YOU are invited to GO.
Proclaim what you have seen.
Bear witness to what you have heard.

Let the world know through your words, your life, your love:
Christ is risen. I have seen the Lord.

Amen.

Spanish Translation – Spoken Reflection

Ella no era una candidata probable. No tenía poder.

No tenía voz según los estándares de su tiempo.

Una mujer marginada, ignorada.

¿Entonces por qué ella?

¿Por qué Dios eligió a María para ser la primera en proclamar el mensaje más grande de toda la historia?

A María Magdalena a menudo se le llama la “Apóstol de los Apóstoles.” En los cuatro Evangelios se le identifica como testigo clave de la Resurrección. En algunos relatos, es la primera en encontrarse con Cristo resucitado… y la primera en predicar la Resurrección.

María Magdalena experimentó el poder sanador de Jesús de primera mano—Él la salvó. Cuando expulsó de ella siete demonios, no solo encontró alivio; se encontró con la fuerza transformadora del amor de Dios. Y Jesús no se detuvo ahí—le ofreció redención y la llamó a formar parte de su misión.

En un tiempo donde la sociedad no veía su valor, Jesús la vio, la conoció y la amó. Su amor misericordioso tocó algo profundo en ella, y ella respondió con una devoción inquebrantable.

Dios llamó, y ella respondió. Ella estuvo presente.

Siguió a Jesús no solo en los momentos de alegría—sino también en el dolor.

Escuchó sus palabras.

Fue testigo de sus milagros.

Estuvo al pie de la cruz.

Se presentó en la tumba mientras otros se alejaban.

Y porque se presentó… encontró al Señor Resucitado.

Presentarse como discípulo es una respuesta al amor.

Déjame preguntarles: ¿Dónde estaríamos hoy si María no hubiera estado presente?

¿Dónde estaríamos si María no hubiera ido a la tumba? ¿Si no se hubiera quedado? ¿Si no hubiera estado dispuesta a recibir el llamado?

En su tristeza y confusión, María se quedó afuera del sepulcro llorando. Buscaba a Jesús, pero no lo reconoció—hasta que Él pronunció su nombre.

En ese momento, lo reconoció—no solo con los ojos, sino con el corazón. No fue solo un evento… fue un encuentro. Y salió corriendo a anunciar: “¡He visto al Señor!”

Y eso, amigos, es la esencia de la evangelización.

No es contar una historia. Es proclamar a alguien que hemos encontrado. Alguien que nos ha llamado por nuestro nombre y ha transformado nuestra vida.

Si María no se hubiera presentado—se habría perdido esa voz que la llamó por su nombre.

Dios siempre está buscando corazones dispuestos a estar presentes.

La Escritura está llena de supuestos “Don Nadies” que dijeron sí a Dios—personas como Moisés. Como Ester. Como David. Como María de Nazaret… como María Magdalena.

Personas que el mundo consideraba insignificantes. Pero Dios usó su “sí” para cambiar la historia.

Dios no necesita que seas perfecto—necesita que estés presente.

Dios te necesita a ti (y a mí) para que nos presentemos.

Jesús ha llamado a cada uno de nosotros por nuestro nombre y nos está enviando a compartir la Buena Nueva.

Como María, quizás te sientas incapaz. Quizás te preguntes: “¿Quién soy yo para predicar?”

Solo recuerda: no se trata de ti. Se trata de ÉL.

No predicas sobre ti. Predicas a Cristo.

El don de tu fe no es solo para ti.
Has sido llamado—no solo a creer—sino a proclamar.
Has recibido la misión de decirle al mundo:
“¡He visto al Señor!”

Desde la voz temblorosa de María Magdalena hacia los apóstoles…
De los apóstoles a la Iglesia primitiva…
De las iglesias domésticas a las catedrales…
De generación en generación… el mensaje ha sido transmitido.

Y ahora— ese mensaje está en tus manos.

Tú eres parte de esa misma misión. Ese mismo testimonio. Ese mismo llamado.

María fue la primera… pero no fue la última.
Y la misión aún no ha terminado.
Tú eres el siguiente eslabón en la cadena.

Ahora TÚ estás invitado a IR.
Proclama lo que has visto.
Da testimonio de lo que has oído.

Haz saber al mundo, con tus palabras, tu vida, y tu amor: Ahora TÚ estás invitado a IR.
Cristo ha resucitado. He visto al Señor.
Amén.

Feb 11 2025

Reflection-Visions of the End

In the 1400s, artists depicted Doom. Jan Van Eyck painted grisly naked bodies, deformed and in torment, with a skull-like figure hovering over them. Hans Memling depicted the Last Judgment with bodies flung about; a demon seizes a helpless man by the ankle and smashes a foot on his neck. The people of Europe had just come through one of the most hellish centuries in memory—war, famine, and bubonic plague had decimated Europe. They had seen dead bodies. They had seen people starve. The artwork reflected that desolation. Where was God in all that tribulation? The mild Jesus of the thirteenth century’s artists was gone. The art of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries tended to portray God as harsh, judgmental, and aloof. If you needed help, go ask his mother or one of the other saints. God wasn’t likely to help you.

Where are we now? When we hear Jesus talk this week about tribulations and stars falling from the sky, is this more real than it used to be? Could we be wiped out by war, or famine, or disease? When the prophet Daniel speaks of a “time unsurpassed in distress,” does that feel more like a possibility?

I know a young woman who lost two of her grandparents in one day during the COVID-19 pandemic. The immediate response was, “God, where are you in this?” If desolation goes on for a hundred years, as it did in the fourteenth century, will our perspective of God change? Will we believe that God is likely to help us?

Jesus says that we cannot know the day or the hour of the end. But with the psalmist, we ask for the grace to hang onto a belief in a good end, believing God will not abandon us to Sheol, the land of the dead. God alone is our inheritance!

Consider/Discuss

How has your perspective about the end-times changed since five or ten years ago? Have recent tribulations altered your perception of God? If so, how? If not, why not?
Many recent movies and shows deal with apocalyptic scenarios. Have you seen one that has impacted you? How do the protagonists deal with the end-of-the-world trials that they face? Where is/isn’t faith in God present in those end-times situations? Six centuries from now, how will people look back and see how our artists are depicting the Divine in the twenty-first century?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, from your words, you appear to have a long perspective. While we measure time in days and years, you see things in centuries and eons. If heaven and earth pass away, will your words not also pass away? That is hard for us to envision. Give us your eyesight this day. The end of the world is a scary prospect and we cannot handle that without your help. Strengthen us this day for whatever the future brings. In the midst of our fears, be our Peace. When trials come, be our Rock. No matter what happens, show us the path of life and allow us to glorify you forever.

Feb 11 2025

Visions of the End

The reading from the book of Daniel contains the only clear Old Testament reference to resurrection. The passage is situated in a section that focuses on the persecutions and sufferings of the faithful during the period of Greek rule. In standard apocalyptic language, the oracle foresees the day when God’s armies—led by the angel Michael—will come to the aid of God’s people. Those who have been faithful to God will escape the “unsurpassed distress” that will ensue when God comes to set things right. Those faithful, the “wise,” who have died will awake to live “like the stars forever” (perhaps referring to the heavenly host of angels). The unfaithful, however, will endure the everlasting disgrace merited by their wickedness.

Having established that Christ’s priesthood is perfect and that this priesthood now makes the older system unnecessary, Hebrews goes on to discuss the implications of this for believers. Christ’s sacrifice makes possible not only the forgiveness of sins, but actual salvation. The older sacrifices could atone for sins, but they could not take them away, as Christ’s does. This leaves the believers fundamentally changed, and now they are (potentially, at least) “made perfect forever.” Christ himself is now in the presence of God, not only as intercessor, but as heir and conqueror of all the forces that oppose him, including sin itself.

The Gospel reading is sometimes called the Markan apocalypse, featuring as it does several standard tropes from Jewish apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic thought looked forward to the day when God or God’s Messiah would defeat the evil forces that currently inhabit and corrupt the world. History and the world as we know them will come to an end, a new age will begin, and God’s sovereignty will be recognized by all. The Son of Man, an image derived from Daniel, represents the messianic figure who will bring judgment on the wicked and vindicate the righteous during the final days. The cosmic catastrophe at the beginning of the reading is the sign that the time has arrived, that the world is coming to an end, and a new era is beginning.

Jan 30 2025

The King of Hearts

Both the Jesus who stood before Pilate on his way to a brutal death and the Jesus who will come as the firstborn of the dead and ruler of all can seem too far away to make much of an impression on our lives. But holding these two images together can speak a profound truth, offering our lives meaning and value.

In John’s Gospel Jesus is the revelation of the Father, the Word of God, communicating who God is and what God wants to do for us: to bring us eternal life. The image of Christ the king was one way of communicating that in Jesus, the Creator of all and everything began to reign in a way that “does not belong to this world.”

The use of power in our world has been an endless story of one individual, family, group, or country using its strength, wealth, and talents to hold sway over as many as possible. To do so, any and all means of force and violence were often legitimate. But this is not the way of Christ or those who follow him.

“For this was I born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37). What truth? That God so loved the world that the Father gave his only Son, “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (3:16). That’s the foundation of this kingdom and its use of power. That’s the plan. Do you want in?

Consider/Discuss

Do you think of yourself as one who “belongs to the truth” to which Jesus testifies?
What are some ways you try to listen to his voice?

Responding to the Word

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you spoke and the world came into being. You spoke in the fullness of time and the Word became flesh. You continue to speak so all who listen may be born into your kin-dom through the power of your Holy Spirit. Help us to listen for and obey your voice.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The depiction of the coming and arrival of the Son of Man is colored with both mythic and royal tones. The figure comes with the clouds, which are the most frequent accompaniment of a theophany or revelation of God. He comes riding the clouds as one would ride a chariot. He is presented before God in the manner of courtly decorum. The one who sits on the throne is called the “Ancient One.” This implies that God is the one who has endured and, presumably, will continue to endure. In other words, God is everlasting. The mysterious Son of Man is installed by God as ruler over the entire universe.

Jesus is first identified as the anointed one (the Christ) and then described as such. He is a witness who faithfully mediates to others the message that he has received from God. He is the firstborn, the one to whom belong both priority of place and sovereignty. He is the ruler of all the kings of the world. These epithets sketch a “high” Christology, one that emphasizes the more-than-human aspects of Jesus. The final statement reinforces this more-than-human character. Alpha and Omega connote totality, suggesting that Jesus comprises everything that is; he transcends the limits of time; he is the almighty, the ruler of all things.

For the Jewish people, King of the Jews was a messianic title. Pilate considered it a challenge to Roman political authority. The Roman asks about a political reality that may have a religious dimension, while Jesus speaks about a religious truth that certainly has political implications. By describing his kingdom through negative contrast, Jesus has indirectly admitted that he is a king. His answers show that both the Jewish leaders and the Roman officials had reason to be concerned about his claims. Though not of this world, his kingdom would indeed challenge both messianic expectations and the powers of this world.