Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Jan 07 2025

Scripture Study for

The story of Eden describes an idyllic past marked by divine-human intimacy, which was destroyed when the snake suggested that God, jealous of divine prerogatives, did not have the humans’ best interests at heart. The result, as later chapters make clear, was a breakdown of the divine-human relationship as well as relationships between humans. God’s judgment on the snake, read on one level, explains why snakes are dangerous and why humans try to crush their heads rather than be bitten. But the story calls for a symbolic reading, in which the snake represents temptation, and thus the enmity between humans and the snake represents the constant and universal struggle to trust and obey God.

The reading from Ephesians focuses on divine election apart from human merit. Paul emphasizes that this election results in “blessing” from God in Christ, which takes different forms. One is holiness, perfect conformity to the will of God, “without blemish.” Another is adoption into the household of God, not having earned this as a right, but receiving it as a gift, “in accord with the favor of his will.” Those in God’s household achieve their salvation because this is God’s will, and this is therefore cause for praise and glory. The Gospel scene is filled with references to God’s earlier work, suggesting that Gabriel is announcing the culmination of a plan long in the making. References to David point toward the divine election of that king and his descendants, whose rule over Israel God promised to be “firmly established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). The child who will fulfill this promise forever is to be born to Mary, who has found favor with God and so is prepared to be the mother of “the Son of God.” Mary, of course, is perplexed by how all this can be. Gabriel’s explanation itself might seem incredible, until he also announces that the aged and barren Elizabeth will also give birth, pointedly noting that “nothing will be impossible with God.”

Dec 12 2024

Scripture Study for

When David was first anointed king, after the deaths of Saul and his son Jonathan, he was king only over his ancestral tribe of Judah (2 Samuel 1:1 — 2:4). Only after various court intrigues and the death of Saul’s other son (and heir), Ishbaal, did David become king over all of Israel. Representatives of the northern tribes (collectively called “Israel”) approach David, noting that it was he who led Saul’s armies in their battles against the Philistines (“leading them out and bringing them back”). They have also heard that God has chosen David to be king and shepherd of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1–13). David agrees to rule over them, an arrangement formalized with a covenant, witnessed by God.

Paul begins his Letter to the Colossians by commending them for their faith in Christ and “love that you have for all the holy ones,” and prays they will continue to be filled with knowledge of God’s will so as “to live in a manner worthy of the Lord” (1:3–10). They should also be continually thankful to God the Father, who has made them heirs of the glory shared by Christ and all the “holy ones in light” (either angels or all the other saved, or both). Those who have been baptized have been delivered from the snares and power of evil that inhabit the world and infect the human heart, and they are now members of Christ’s kingdom. In other words, they are the beneficiaries of a divine rescue mission and are now safely under God’s power rather than under the power of sin.

It is hardly surprising that Pilate would be dismissive of any claims that the prisoner before him, apparently a typical Galilean peasant, should be the king of the Jews (Luke 23:1–4). Nor is it surprising that Herod and his soldiers would treat Jesus “contemptuously and mock him,” and then clothe him ironically in “resplendent garb” (23:11). Certainly from any normal, earthly perspective there was nothing remotely regal about Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel he refuses even to defend the claim that he is a king, responding to Pilate only, “You say so.” The crowd at the foot of his cross also sneers at the very idea. What is surprising, however, is that one of the thieves on a cross next to Jesus does recognize that Jesus is, in fact, a king. It takes astonishing faith to say to a fellow condemned man, dying on a cross next to you, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ kingship was not of the sort that the world would or could recognize. Only those with the eyes of faith could see it.

Dec 12 2024

Scripture Study for

The first several decades of the post-exilic period were a time of great trial. The former kingdom of Judah remained under foreign rule and only very slowly emerged from severe economic and demographic stagnation. Malachi focuses on additional problems: the resumption of injustice in the land, widespread marital infidelity, and priestly negligence and complacency. Through the prophet, God continually chastises the people for persisting in many of the very behaviors that led to the Exile in the first place. Where was the purification that was supposed to have taken place? The people always respond to these criticisms with disbelief: “How have we disdained your name?” (1:6). The prophet and others begin to wonder, “Where is the just God?” (2:17). In response we have today’s short reading. There will come a purifying fire when the Lord comes in judgment. The heat of God’s judgment will consume evildoers, but it will bring “healing rays” for those who are faithful to God.

In his conclusion to his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul exhorts the community to avoid acting in a “disorderly” way, which is to say, in a way that disrupts the peace and harmony of the community. This can happen in a couple of ways: by sowing doubt and dissension about Christian doctrine or by refusing to contribute to the needs of the community through work (3:6). As they have been instructed to look to Christ as a model of trust in God (3:5), so they should look to Paul as a model of industriousness for the “common good.” Paul and his companions have avoided burdening the Thessalonians by demanding anything from them, but instead have worked for their bread. Those among them who are shunning work (perhaps because they thought the parousia had already occurred) or otherwise disrupting the harmony of the community are not looking out for the good of that community.

The temple in Jerusalem was massive and completely covered in gold. It must have been hard to imagine that it could ever be destroyed, as Jesus claims it will be (and was, by the Romans, in A.D. 70). Jesus assures the crowd that there will come a time when the world will come undone. But before this, and more immediately relevant to them, his followers will be subjected to the same trials and persecution that he is about to undergo. In response to this, they should not fear, but trust in God and see the trials as occasions to proclaim the gospel, which is perhaps most effectively and authentically preached under such circumstances. Although many will suffer, some even to the point of death, yet “not a hair on your head will be destroyed” if they remain faithful. He is speaking, of course, of life in him, both in this world and in the next.

Dec 12 2024

Flung into the Arms of God

When I was small, my three older brothers and I shared a shiny black two-wheeler bicycle. Gregg was eight, Rex and Scott were six, I was the little sister. Gregg fit the bike well. My feet could barely reach the pedals. My dad had run behind me and taught me how to ride. I loved the freedom of rushing in the breeze. Except . . . I didn’t know how to stop. I would pedal up the driveway, ride into the grass, launch into the air and fling myself onto the lawn. It was a test of my agility. It was a test of my five-year-old courage.

The Sadducees give Jesus a test. A woman shared seven brothers as husbands in this life (Lord have mercy!); when she dies, whose wife is she? It is a trial of mental acuity for the man they consider

just a yokel from Galilee. Jesus cleverly flings their expectations into the air. He speaks of the freedom of heaven, like rushing in the breeze. There will be nothing to hold us back; we will be free among the living, to spend eternity praising God.

The Greeks put seven Maccabean brothers to the test—would they eat pork and abandon their religion? Or would they refuse and die a horrible death? One after another, the brothers offered themselves to martyrdom. It was a test of spiritual fortitude. How firmly did they believe? Their mother, after watching her first six sons die, encouraged her youngest lad also to hurl himself toward resurrection.

Life is full of tests, especially the final one. We pedal as hard as we can, but we are not in charge of the brakes. We don’t know when our lives will stop. Do we have the courage to trust in the resurrection? Are we willing to launch into the air and fling ourselves into the arms of a loving God?

Consider/Discuss

Many life experiences do not come with an instruction manual (and sometimes too many and conflicting ones)—the birth of a child, the loss of a spouse, the rebellion of a son or daughter, the moment of death. These are often bigger experiences than we know how to handle. What have you gone through in life that you’ve had to grow into? How did God walk with you through that?
Launching into the unknown can be filled with fear. We could get hurt. Those we love could get hurt. What kind of unknowns are you stepping into right now?

Living and Praying with the Word

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, you are with us here, now, surrounding us with your love. This day we ask you to handle this test: ____________. Please take this trial and transform it. Give us the strength to handle our lives. You are our strength. You are the source of our fortitude. Take our troubles and surround us with your peace. When we get to the final test of death and leap into the unknown, give us the courage to fling ourselves into your loving arms.

Dec 12 2024

Scripture Study for

The Second Book of Maccabees recounts the efforts of devout Jews to oppose the Hellenist rulers who sought to undermine their adherence to their faith. One such ploy was to try to force them to eat pork; more than one Jew accepted death rather than disobey the Law at the command of secular rulers (6:18–31). Aside from its edifying tale of seven faithful brothers and their mother, the present passage gives us the clearest expression in the Old Testament of belief in bodily resurrection (along with Daniel 12:1–3). Hope that they would be raised up by God even if they died faithful to God allowed all seven sons to die excruciating deaths. Both fidelity and great hope are on display in these early tales of Jewish martyrs.

In the face of social disapproval, perhaps some civic persecution, and the confusion and disturbance caused by the claim by some that the parousia has already occurred (a claim that, if true, would have to lead one to question everything that one had been taught, since nothing had changed in the world), Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to calm down, ignore the false claims, and remain steadfast. Divine encouragement will strengthen them against the profound temptations to abandon the faith and their way of life in Christ. Paul too has his work to do, spreading the gospel as far as he can while he has time, in order to bring as many as possible to salvation. No matter what, they must remember a central claim of scripture: God is faithful. Just hold fast, keep steady, trust in what they have been taught, and above all, trust in God’s love. In this, as in all things, they should look to Christ as their model.

The Sadducees were a Jewish group who rejected any doctrine not clearly taught in Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy). Thus, unlike the Pharisees, they did not believe in resurrection. They take the opportunity here to argue with Jesus about the question by trying a little reductio ad absurdum. The challenge they pose has to do with the institution known as levirate marriage, in which a brother of a deceased man was required to marry his widow if they had had no children. What if that same woman ended up marrying seven brothers? What a complete mess in the age to come! This is taken as an argument against resurrection. Jesus breezily dismisses it as misunderstanding the nature of the age to come. Since people will no longer die, there will be no need for marriage or to raise children. Using an authoritative source they will acknowledge, he points out that God could hardly be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob centuries after they had left this earth if they were not in fact still alive to God.