Sunday Meditation: The End and New Beginning of the World

This week brings the readings to the end of the Sunday lectionary of Mark’s Gospel, and we get part of Jesus’s Eschatological Discourse, the discourse on the end times.  The reading only gives us nine verses from Chapter 13 of Mark’s Gospel, but the entire chapter is the full discourse.  I recommend you pull out your Bible and read the entire chapter.  Here is what is given as the Sunday Gospel reading, a middle section from the chapter.

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"In those days after that tribulation

the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from the sky,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

 

"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'

with great power and glory,

and then he will send out the angels

and gather his elect from the four winds,

from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

 

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree.

When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,

you know that summer is near.

In the same way, when you see these things happening,

know that he is near, at the gates.

Amen, I say to you,

this generation will not pass away

until all these things have taken place.

Heaven and earth will pass away,

but my words will not pass away.

 

"But of that day or hour, no one knows,

neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

~Mk 13:24-32

Bishop Barron has given some great homilies, but this on today’s Gospel is one of his best.

Most other homilies will see only the end of times in this reading, but Bishop Barron regards this reading as unveiling Jesus’s time through His resurrection, unveiling the radical transformation of our lives today, and, yes, unveiling the future end.  With the unveiling, we come to a new beginning.  Bishop Barron’s scope in this homily is breathtaking.

 

Sunday Meditation: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." 

 

For a hymn, let’s go with this Gospel song, "The End of Time is Drawing Nigh" by Charles Johnson & the Revivers. 

 

I know nothing of Charles Johnson and his group but that was just wonderful.  This is the best little bio I could find on the Gospel singer.  

Sunday Meditation: The Widow’s Mite

Last week Jesus spoke about loving God with everything, but this week He highlights someone who does, a poor widow who gives to the Temple her two only coins.  There’s more.  Last week he also praised a scribe.  This week He condemns scribes for their rapacious behavior.

 

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,

"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes

and accept greetings in the marketplaces,

seats of honor in synagogues,

and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext

recite lengthy prayers.

They will receive a very severe condemnation."

 

He sat down opposite the treasury

and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.

Many rich people put in large sums.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,

"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more

than all the other contributors to the treasury.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,

her whole livelihood."

~Mk 12:38-44

 

Dr. Brant Pitre gives a gives a quick overview of the scene.

Just about all the exegesis of the Widow’s Mite passage runs along that line, but I did find someone who grasped it even further.  Fr. William Nicholas, who seems to have his own podcast which I will now stop by, finds a common theme with the widow in the first reading.

That's very insightful.  I have not come across that observation.  The widows are donating to the institutions, the prophet and the Temple, not to any specific charity, not to any good deed.  They are in essence donating to donating to an entity representing God. 

What exactly is a “mite”?  I did not really know.  From Webster’s, the second definition.  

mite

noun (2)

1: a small coin or sum of money

2a: a very little : bit

b: a very small object or creature

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “She, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,

her whole livelihood."

Returning to John Michael Talbot this Sunday, his “My God and My All” is most appropriate.

 

Sunday Meditation: The Love of God

Last week Jesus was at Jericho on His way to Jerusalem.  Today we find Him in Jerusalem, and it is during Holy Week.  Because we have split off the Gospel readings between Easter and Ordinary Time, we have already read Jesus’s triumphant Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem.  Now we pick up on events prior to the Last Supper, which we already read.

Today Jesus is questioned by a Scribe.

 

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,

"Which is the first of all the commandments?"

Jesus replied, "The first is this:

Hear, O Israel!

The Lord our God is Lord alone!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind,

and with all your strength.

The second is this:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these."

The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.

You are right in saying,

'He is One and there is no other than he.'

And 'to love him with all your heart,

with all your understanding,

with all your strength,

and to love your neighbor as yourself'

is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,

he said to him,

"You are not far from the kingdom of God."

And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

~Mk 12:28-34

 

Fr. Geoffrey Plant gives one of his comprehensive explanations for this passage. 

If you didn’t know, Fr. Geoffrey tells us there are 613 commandments in  the Torah!  So you are way off if you think there are only the Ten Commandments.  I also thought the comment by Amy-Jill Levine (who is Jewish by the way, but a New Testament Scholar) observes that Jesus actually added to the Shema, “with all your mind.”  That is not there in Deuteronomy.  Look carefully at the first reading from today. 

Again, Jeff Cavins does another fine outline from a pastoral point of view. 

Sunday Meditation: "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

 

Why not far?  Why are you not yet in the Kingdom of God?  Something to meditate on. 

In lieu of a hymn this week, I want to give you the Shema in the Hebrew.  From a Rabbi at myjewishlearning:

 

 

Sunday Meditation: Blind Bartimaeus

Jesus and his followers are almost to Jerusalem, and Jesus going through Jericho performs the last miracle in the Gospel of Mark before entering the Holy Week in Jerusalem.  We come to the miracle of healing Bartimaeus’ blindness.  There is so much that can be said from this one little passage.  How Jericho is the city of Joshua’s conquest, how Bartimaeus calls out to the Messiah (Son of David), how he was rebuked but still persistent, how Jesus cures him and he follows the Way, casting off his only possession, his cloak, and how this is the second healing of blindness in the Mark sandwiched containing the apostles’ metaphorical blindness.

 

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,

sat by the roadside begging.

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,

he began to cry out and say,

"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

But he kept calling out all the more,

"Son of David, have pity on me."

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called the blind man, saying to him,

"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."

He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"

The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."

Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."

Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

~Mk 10:46-52

Here is someone new to my Sunday Meditations to explain it, Professor Curtis Mitch from the St. Paul Center, the same institute Dr. Scott Hahn started and runs.

For a more pastoral understanding to apply it to your life, Jeff Cavins has a short talk. 

Sunday Meditation: "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."

 

John Michael Talbot’s “Surrender to Jesus” is just so beautiful.

 

Sunday Meditation: The Servant of All

On the ongoing journey to Jerusalem, Jesus teaches the apostles many lessons.  In today’s Gospel passage, He teaches them the lesson of true leadership. 

 

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,

"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."

He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"

They answered him, "Grant that in your glory

we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."

Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.

Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

They said to him, "We can."

Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared."

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.

Jesus summoned them and said to them,

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.

But it shall not be so among you.

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;

whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

~Mk 10:35-45

It is interesting that the Gospel reading skips over the few lines before the passage.  There Jesus tells the apostles for the third time that He will be handed over to be abused, scourged, and crucified.  And James and John, oblivious to what He truly is referring to, jump up and want to be exalted.  The apostles in the Gospel of Mark are regularly portrayed as dimwitted. 

This is just a perfect homily for this passage, from Fr. Peter Hahn from Saint Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church in Lancaster, PA.

 

Now, if you want an even deeper insight into this passage, Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. provides one through the Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology, “an online, open access resource providing readers with a contemporary presentation of the teaching of the Catholic Church.”  

Fr. Cajetan, I believe, is also with the Dominican House of Studies.  Jesus is not just telling the disciples, don’t be like the typical rulers.  He is saying they have to go beyond even that.  You have to be a suffering servant ruler, because a suffering servant ruler reaches people from the inside, from their conscience.  That is pretty profound.  How many of today’s presidential candidates would be a suffering servant ruler?  None. 

 

Sunday Meditation: “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

 

This week, let’s listen to John Michael Talbot’s “See My Servant.”

 

 

Just so beautiful. 

Sunday Meditation: What Must I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?

Last week as Jesus was on a journey, He was stopped and asked a question by the Pharisees.  This week, again continuing His journey he is asked a question, this time by a rich, young man.  Last week the question was set as a trap.  This week the question is sincere, and I think is the most important question we could ever ask.  Now this event is told in all three synoptic Gospels, and what is interesting is that all three describe the man subtly different.  Mark identifies him as rich, Matthew as young, and Luke as a ruler.  So we combine all three and get the “rich, young ruler,” but only in the Gospel of Mark are we told that Jesus looked at him with love.

 

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,

knelt down before him, and asked him,

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill;

you shall not commit adultery;

you shall not steal;

you shall not bear false witness;

you shall not defraud;

honor your father and your mother."

He replied and said to him,

"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

"You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

At that statement his face fell,

and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

 

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

"How hard it is for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words.

So Jesus again said to them in reply,

"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,

"Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said,

"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.

All things are possible for God."

Peter began to say to him,

"We have given up everything and followed you."

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters

and mothers and children and lands,

with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

~Mk 10:17-30

 

First to explain the Biblical context of the passage, let’s let Dr. Brant Pitre explain it.

And so Jesus gives us the “eleventh commandment.”  If this is a commandment, then the implications of are great.  I’m going to let Bishop James Golka from the Diocese of Colorado Springs explain the moral implications of the passage.

 

We are never told what happens to the rich, young man.  I would like to think that the penetrating love of Christ worked in the man’s soul, and, though he may have missed the opportunity to follow Christ that day, he subsequently became a Christian and worked to bring about the Kingdom of God.

 

Sunday Meditation: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing.  Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

John Michael Talbot’s “Walk And Follow Jesus” is most appropriate for today.

 

 

Sunday Meditation: Cutting Sin from Your Life

As they continue their journey with Jesus, the disciples continue to show how obtuse they are.  Someone not of their group is driving out demons, and they want to stop him.  This leads Jesus into a little sermon, first on doing the good, then on causing sin, and then on what to do if one sins repeatedly. 

 

At that time, John said to Jesus,

"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,

and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.

There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name

who can at the same time speak ill of me.

For whoever is not against us is for us.

Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink

because you belong to Christ,

amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

 

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone

were put around his neck

and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life maimed

than with two hands to go into Gehenna,

into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.

It is better for you to enter into life crippled

than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye

than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,

where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"

~Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

 

Jeff Cavins identifies just how important cutting sin is from your life.

As I look at Jesus’s sermon, there doesn’t seem to be a logical transition from not stopping outsiders from healing to radically cutting sin from one’s life.  For some reason the lectionary stops on verse 48, but perhaps verses 49 and 50 actually pulls all three elements of his sermon together: “Everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.” (Mk 9:49-50)  By cutting out sin, one is purified as being salted, and those that are salted are those that can go and drive out demons.  The final outcome of cutting out sin is peace! 

 

Sunday Meditation: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.”

 

Our hymn today will be “Go in Peace,” by John Michael Talbot

 

He just has beautiful song after beautiful song.