Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The next item on Luke's catechetical agenda is prayer. The instruction begins with a parable "about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary." The parable describes a judge "who neither feared God nor respected any human being." Hardly the kind of character we would want to occu...Read full story »
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Once again Luke reminds us that Jesus & Co. are "on the way to Jerusalem." It is amusing and well known among scholars that Luke had problems with Palestinian geography, and so he writes, "Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee." No one has ever deciphered where to locate "between...Read full story »
Thursday, October 06, 2016
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
On this Sunday both Luke and the liturgy give us a break from the theme of Christians and wealth. The author seems to have returned to miscellaneous material which does not fit any particular context. This part of Luke's gospel is still under the framework of the "Journey to Jerusalem," a long sect...Read full story »
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The major theme of last Sunday's gospel was Christians and wealth. Luke presented his teaching on this theme through a story about a crooked manager who got caught and fired. Following that story, Luke gathered sayings attributed to Jesus about the honest and dishonest use of wealth. The final sayi...Read full story »
Thursday, September 22, 2016
TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
After a half century and more of studying, teaching, and writing about the gospels, it should be possible to some extent to observe at work the mind of the author of a given gospel. The authors are not writing biographies of Jesus but catechetical instruction about Jesus. They use oral and written...Read full story »
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Chapter 15 of Luke's gospel is the "Lost and Found" chapter. The headline: "Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Jesus to listen to him, but the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'" Tax collectors were among the most despised of...Read full story »
Thursday, September 08, 2016
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
In his ongoing catechesis under the framework "Journey to Jerusalem," Luke continues to astound readers with difficult material for instruction. In this Sunday's gospel reading he seems to have reached the limits of problematic sayings attributed to Jesus. He writes, "If anyone comes to me without...Read full story »
Thursday, September 01, 2016
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The substance of this Sunday's gospel reading is an instruction on humility, but the reading does not begin that way. Luke writes, "One Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who was a member of the Pharisees." In the gospels a "ruler" is usually a member of the Great Council in Jerusal...Read full story »
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke's ongoing catechesis is still under the heading, "The Journey to Jerusalem." Thus Luke begins, "Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went, making his way to Jerusalem." That journey is a journey to a difficult ending - the cross. In view of the cross, Luke places difficult i...Read full story »
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
LUKE 12:49-53 (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Ps. 40:2, 3, 4, 18; Hebrews 12:1-4) The immediately preceding context, which was also last Sunday's gospel reading, centered on the end time and the return of Jesus, although in somewhat veiled language. What now follows in Luke's gospel seems to also be relate...Read full story »
Thursday, August 11, 2016
