Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The reading from Ezekiel emphasizes that the divine will is for the wicked to turn from sin and toward God. What God sees is the direction in which one is currently headed, rather than where one has been. This sounds good when we have turned from evil to good, but the principle is less congenial when we have turned from good to evil. In response to the accusation of unfairness, God notes that what is in fact “unfair” is the human desire to have God always forget past sin but never forget past virtue. God’s “fairness” consists in holding us responsible for the life we have chosen rather than the one we have forsaken.

We surmise from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that there were divisions within the community, exacerbated by outside opposition. So Paul strongly encourages unity: same mind, same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. This unity is found by sharing the same attitude that Christ had, which was sacrificial kenosis (“emptying”), setting aside his own interests for those of others. The force of the exhortation is sympathy or empathy, regarding others as “one with oneself,” just as Christ united himself with humanity even to the point of death. Just as there was in Christ no selfishness, no holding back, no concern with “rights” or “prerogatives,” so it should be for the Philippians.

The parable of the two sons presents a clear analogy: only those who actually do the will of God, even if they refuse at first, will enter the kingdom. The parable involves two sons, highlighting the fact that even the tax collectors and prostitutes are children of God—disobedient at first, and maybe for a long time, but children nonetheless. The chief priests and the elders, who thought they were following the will of God, were given the opportunity to reassess that belief when John came preaching repentance. They refused to listen to him, even when they observed the conversion of sinners at his preaching. Those who thought they had no need to repent were mistaken.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The reading from Isaiah suggests that even after the Babylonian exile had ended, Israel (or some of it) still struggled to be faithful to God. While there are no limits to the mercy of God, who is generous in forgiving, that forgiveness must be sought through repentance. God does respond to evil and one must not delay in repenting. Thus the insistence that one must “seek the Lord while he may be found” (Isaiah 55:6). Yet hope lies in the fact that God does not calculate forgiveness as we do. As merciful as sinful human beings are capable of being, God is more merciful. And in situations that human beings would find completely unforgivable, God’s forgiveness for those who repent is unbounded.

Paul is writing to the Philippians from prison, stating that his imprisonment and suffering have “turned out rather to advance the gospel” (1:12). His fervent hope is that no matter what happens, Christ will continue to be glorified in him. He would like to die, so that he can be with Christ (and end his suffering). On the other hand, if he lives he will be able to spread the gospel, teach, and support other Christians. He has learned to be content either way. The exhortation to conduct themselves in a way worthy of the gospel leads into the next section of the letter, in which he will address some divisions within the community.

Contemporary audiences of the parable of the workers sometimes fail to notice that those who did not work until the end of the day had not deliberately avoided labor; no one had hired them. All of the workers in this parable lead a precarious existence, not knowing from day to day if they will make any money to feed their families. The owner of the vineyard, in paying all of the workers a day’s wage, is paying them not according to how much they have worked, but according to how much they need. The parable emphasizes the generosity of God’s kingdom, in which everyone’s needs are met, regardless of their ability or good fortune. God cares more about mercy than fairness.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

In a passage that mentions “sin” six times, Sirach focuses on refusal to forgive. Here the sinner is not so much the one who causes wrath and anger, as the one who “hugs them tight,” like a security blanket; not the one who offends, but the one who avenges the offense. It is preposterous to hope to be forgiven for one’s own sins if one is not willing to forgive others. It is presumptuous to expect the sinless deity to forgive our sins when, as sinful human beings, we are unwilling to do the same thing. Refusal to forgive is a form of hate, which is antithetical to the ethical perspective of the covenant between God and Israel.

Paul’s insistence that Christians live and die for the Lord occurs within an exhortation against judging others. Those whose consciences lead them to abstain from certain foods must not be despised by those with different scruples, and vice versa. The point, Paul says, is that each should be eating (or not eating) for the Lord. If we are doing it for the Lord, and it is not evil, then it is good. In fact, everything, even up to one’s own death, should be done for the Lord. It is the Lord, he goes on to say, who will judge us. We will give an account to the one for whom we have done everything, and that is the Lord, not each other.

Immediately after Jesus gives instructions on the church’s proper response to obstinate sinners (Matthew 18:15–20), Peter inquires about the limits of forgiveness. Jesus’ answer—there are no limits— must have astounded those who thought that seven times was already quite generous. The parable gives a straightforward rationale for the demand that humans place no limits on their willingness to forgive: because God places no limits on the divine willingness to forgive. To act as if we have the right to limit forgiveness when we ourselves must ask for it repeatedly constitutes gross hypocrisy and ingratitude. We ourselves are the ones who place limits on God’s forgiveness of us when we insist on placing limits on our forgiveness of others.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

Drawing on the analogy of a watchman, God reminds Ezekiel how crucial his prophetic task is. If a sentinel sees an enemy advancing against a city and warns the people, but they do nothing, the people only have themselves to blame when they succumb to the enemy. But if the sentinel fails to warn the people, when disaster strikes he is guilty of a great crime. A crucial element of the analogy is the correlation between physical death and the death of sin, which is no less real for being “spiritual.” Not to warn the wicked of their sinfulness is as disastrous a dereliction of duty as failing to warn them of impending (but preventable) physical destruction.

As he continues to exhort the Romans to conform themselves to Christ rather than to the age, Paul focuses on the call to love as a manifestation of the Christian’s conformity to Christ. A little earlier in the letter, he had urged the Romans to avoid repaying evil with evil, but instead to bless, live at peace, “conquer evil with good” (12:21). Since loving others is the fulfillment of the law, which the Christian must heed as the will of God, we are obliged to love others—it is a debt we owe them. The earlier exhortation makes clear that this “debt” extends even to those who persecute or harm us; it is not an option.

Jesus’ instructions make it clear that when the church must address sin, it should be done in a way that minimizes publicity and shame. The intention is to right the wrong, not to punish. The process thus begins between the two individuals involved, expanding beyond them only if necessary. Only those who, after repeated attempts, refuse to listen should be treated “as a Gentile or tax collector,” in other words, “excommunicated.” It’s helpful here to recall Jesus’ attitude toward Gentiles and tax collectors in this Gospel (9:10–11), which is to invite them into the kingdom, suggesting that his desire is that the “excommunication” be not only a last resort, but also not the last word.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

Jeremiah has struggled not only with the mission to proclaim God’s word, but also with the way God had gone about practically coercing him into the task from the beginning (1:5). Jeremiah’s attitude comes out most clearly in this famous passage in which he accuses God of “duping” (or “seducing”) him. The prophet feels God has put something over on him, and he has allowed it to happen. The result has been nothing but pain. Yet Jeremiah is unable to simply walk away. God has gotten into Jeremiah’s bones and the call to proclaim God’s word is unrelenting. This is what Jeremiah was born for and there is no walking away from it.

Having concluded that no matter how mysterious are God’s ways, they are for the good of everyone, Paul turns to the response his audience should have to this divine mercy, which is to offer themselves to God. This requires them to reject the tendency of the “old self” (or the “flesh”) to conform to the values and expectations of the world. Having died to sin in Christ, and with the Spirit dwelling within them, they must be re-formed and have their minds, wills, perspectives renewed. Being conformed to Christ means becoming like him, who was devoted to nothing but the will of God, and thus sought always to do what God—not “the age”—considered good, pleasing, and perfect.

Immediately after being proclaimed the rock upon which Jesus will build his church, Peter reveals the limits of his understanding of the Christ. When Jesus announces that he will suffer and be killed, Peter responds according to quite human ways of thinking: The Messiah and Son of God could not possibly suffer and die. Jesus immediately recognizes this reasoning as a satanic temptation to abandon the course and insists that the kingdom of heaven is costly. This is not a new teaching—Jesus has been proclaiming it along. What is new is the realization that the Son of God himself will pay the highest price. As he has previously assured them, the price will be worth it. They will gain the very thing they think they are losing, and more.