bible-study

Will we allow the Word of God, Jesus, to transform our hearts and minds?

The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her (Mk 6:26).

The king referenced in today’s Gospel is the tetrarch, Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great. He reveals the weakness of his character when he calls for the beheading of John the Baptist, much as a foreshadowing of Pilate before the crowd asking for Jesus’ death. Both condemned innocent men to die. They  each decided to take John and Jesus’ life. Herod chose to protect his foolish oath to Salome, instead of standing up and defending the dignity of the life of John the Baptist. Pilate caved into the pressure of the crowds who claimed he was no spokesman for Caesar. In both cases, innocent men were brutally murdered without any regard for their lives.

For the first part of his gospel, Mark has shown the opposite. He has shown what true leadership is as he has presented Jesus who instead of disregarding and degrading human beings has empowered them through his teaching a better way to be whole and in union with the God who has created his listeners. He has freed the possessed, healed those who had been on the outside bound by illness and/or sin. Instead of the evil disposition of Herodias, we recently saw the courage of the woman with the hemorrhage.

And while Mark provides us with this interlude and flashback of the death of John the Baptist, the apostles are on the march proclaiming the gospel, healing, and exorcising demons in Jesus’ name. They are putting into practice what they had learned. They are allowing their hearts and minds to be changed by the Word of God. Herod did not allow the same seeds of God’s word to find any root in his heart. Instead of hearing the words of John, repenting from his sin, and allowing his heart and mind to be transformed, the little inspiration that he received withered and died in the heat of his ego and passions.

Time and again, Jesus showed the moral courage to stand up for and empower those who were considered other, lesser, unclean, and social outcasts. He, like John, showed true courage by speaking the truth that God gave him to reveal. As John was willing to lose his head for being God’s spokesman and preparing the way for his Son, Jesus was willing to suffer, to be nailed to the Cross, to die and conquer death, that each one of us might have life, and have it to the full.

We have a choice to make each day and each moment. We can choose to follow the enemy or to follow Jesus. Herod and Pilate made their choices and the apostles made theirs. May we choose to follow Jesus and allow his words to find rich soil, that we may allow our hearts and mind to be transformed as apostles, and so also grow in virtue so that we too will have the moral courage to stand against the pressures of a culture of death and stand up for the dignity of each person at every stage of development from the womb to the tomb, and implore that our leaders do the same.

Photo: Nothing helps us to allow our hearts and minds to be transformed by God’s love than by making the time to be still, pray, and meditate on his word and listen.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, February 7, 2025

Jesus is stronger than any evil and will free us from anything that binds us.

Jesus and his disciples have entered the Gentile territory of the Gerasenes. As soon as they get out of the boat a man possessed by an unclean spirit rushes up to him. He himself was in a worse state than the storm that Jesus had stilled. He called himself Legion as he was possessed by many demons. He had been living in the tombs, away from society, family, and friends, some of whom had made multiple attempts to restrain him, cure him, bring him back to his right mind, but to no avail. The encounter with Jesus ultimately brought about the result of this man “sitting there clothed and in his right mind” (Mk 5:15). Jesus was able to liberate this man from his desperate state. If you have not done so, I recommend reading the full account (Mk 5:1-20).

Many scoff at the healing power and miracles of Jesus, and they certainly would also discount demonic possession. Though rare, there are still cases today. A strict approach of scientism that only accepts the empirical, only that which can be measured by the five senses, discounts not only the divinity of Jesus and the reality of God but any talk of a spiritual realm. This is unfortunate because this is a limited approach to understanding the fullness of creation. We ourselves are both physical and spiritual. A healthy embrace and experience of both will help us to better appreciate and understand the world around us.

Too many today are in the same need of experiencing the liberating power of Jesus as the Gerasene. Just as chaotic and tumultuous, especially among too many of our youth, are those who are consumed and imprisoned by the vice grip of addiction. Family members and friends reach out desperately to help, to provide aid, and find themselves in the same situation as those who sought to care for this man who had been living in the tombs. Somehow this man caught “sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him” (Mk 5:6). There must have been some ember at the core of who he was that could still move and bring himself to Jesus.

Far too many are suffering, bound, and shackled by a wide range of addictions, obsessions, disordered affections, and oppressions that plague far too many today, as well as the rare cases of possessions. Evil seeks to distort, disfigure, divide, dehumanize, and separate all of us from the goodness and wholeness that God intends. This growing epidemic damages individuals, families, and friends and could benefit from a unified approach of the best that science, psychology, counseling, prayer, the sacraments, spiritual direction, and when needed, exorcisms can offer.

Jesus can reach into even the deepest darkness of our internal entanglements and help to reveal any disordered affections. Yet we must choose, as did the Gerasene demoniac, to surrender to Jesus. May we resist the temptation to flee from him, and instead run into his open arms. Resting in the grip of his loving embrace, we will come to know that we are not alone in our suffering, that our deepest anguish, sin, and wounds can be healed.

Jesus is stronger than any evil that seeks to bind and separate any of us. He shared this in his parable of “tying up the strong man” (Mark 3:27) which is on vivid display as he casts out Legion from the Gerasene man. Let us continue to place our trust in the name of and the power of Jesus and intercede for all those who are suffering from any form of disordered affections, addictions, and/or afflictions emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually. May Jesus lead all of us to experience deliverance and freedom from any affliction no matter how small or large, so that we may experience the right ordering of our minds, hearts, and souls to God’s will, and like the Gerasene man, not only experience the fullness of his healing but also go to share the good news of our experiences to help to bring the invitation of healing to others.

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Photo: Not even the strongest of chains can bind us when we seek the healing power of Jesus to free us.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, February 3, 2025

May we have compassion on others and be moved to help as Jesus did.

“Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them” (Mt 15:29-30).

There is a key yet subtle point before Jesus began to heal that might be missed. Before great crowds came to him, Jesus “went up on the mountain, and sat down there.” This is no insignificant sentence. The posture of sitting on the mountain would have been recognized right away by the people of Jesus’ time. This was the posture of the teacher and sitting on the mountain a reference to Moses. Prior to the healing in this setting, as he did throughout the Gospels, Jesus taught about the reign of God. In fact, time and again, Jesus’ “works of healing took place in this context of his preaching of the kingdom of God” (Lohfink 2014, 58).

A great multitude of people came to Jesus to hear his message and also brought with them a wide range of needs. Jesus made himself available, restored, and healed those who were brought to him. He encountered them as they were in their present condition. There is no record in this Gospel account that Jesus asked for any identification, that he discussed their belief system before healing them, nor did he ask if they were Jewish or Gentile, and nowhere in this account did Jesus deny anyone who came to him. The response of those to being healed and restored was that “they glorified the God of Israel”. This is because, “where God is master, there is salvation and healing” (Lohfink 2014, 62).

The recorded accounts of mass healings in today’s Gospel are but a foretaste of the heavenly realm of eternal communion with the Father, where death will be destroyed forever. Jesus is the kingdom of heaven at hand, for as St Irenaeus wrote, “Jesus opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.” Jesus came to show humanity what life with the Father is so that we could have a clear choice of what living with him is like and what living apart from his is like. Living with Jesus and following his teachings provides healing and life.

For three days, Jesus served the people who came to him, and as people were getting ready to leave, Jesus showed compassion yet again. He sought the assistance of the disciples because he did not want to send the people away hungry.

The disciples, of course, were taken aback because of the reality of the undertaking Jesus proposed. Jesus asked what they had with them and they shared just some bread and fish. Jesus took “the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full” (Mt 15:36-37).

This Advent let us make an extra effort to surrender our will to God. May we pray with and meditate upon the Gospels such that they become a living word that takes root in our hearts, may his teachings become relevant in our lives, and may they move us to also have compassion on those around us. May we resist the temptation to withhold our service because of someone’s religion, race, gender, creed, or political affiliation.

What matters is that we are willing to see in each person before us a human being with dignity and worth. Even if we feel we have little to give and that is not limited to material means, let us give as God guides us. As the disciples gave the seven loaves and fish, no where near enough to feed the thousands, Jesus multiplied what they gave him. Jesus will do the same through us. We just need to be willing to follow his lead and like Jesus be willing to feel compassion and love for others and let God happen. 

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Painting: The Multiplication of the Loaves by Giovanni Lanfranco between 1620-1623

Lohfink, Gerhard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Curiosity from a distance, like Herod, or intimate, Lord and Savior, like Teresa?

‘Who then is this about whom I hear such things?'” And he kept trying to see him” (Lk 9:9).

Herod Antipas, the ruler over Galilee and Perea, heard stories about Jesus. The range of his thoughts, expressed by Luke, is confusion to curiosity. Herod may have started to feel concern over the possibility of a growing revolt, some guilt for his execution of John the Baptist, or just curiosity to see what this man was all about. Could this Jesus accomplish even half of the things Herod had heard about him? One question that did not seem to cross Herod’s mind was, did he have any interest in changing his life and becoming a follower of Jesus?

Herod was not the only one in Luke’s Gospel who asked questions about who this man, Jesus, was. Nor did the asking of those questions die with Jesus on the cross. They continued after his resurrection and ascension, they continued into the first centuries of the Church, which led to the calling of the first ecumenical councils which dealt directly with who Jesus was, and they continued in each following century and continue today. There are even at present in some academic circles, the question arising as to whether Jesus even existed at all.

One could ask why this question about Jesus persists? One answer is that we are finite beings seeking to understand an infinite Mystery. The full comprehension of the reality of Jesus existing as fully human and fully divine, dying on the cross, conquering death through his resurrection and ascending to the Father transcends even the wonderful intellect and ability to reason that we have been blessed with. Also, Jesus’ invitation is a universal but personal one. Each individual person has to encounter Jesus for her or himself.

Jesus called the Twelve, one by one as well as Mary Magdalene, St. Irenaeus, St Thomas Aquinas, St Francis and Clare of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena, St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, St Ignatius, St Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and he calls each one of us as well. He did not call us to just merely embrace a new philosophy, a new ethical way of life, or even a new religion. Jesus called and calls us to be a part of his Body, the Mystical Body of Christ.

Who is Jesus, Herod asks in today’s Gospel? It is a good question for us to ask as well. For me, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who became incarnate, becoming one with us in our humanity so that we could become one with him in his divinity. This same Jesus who called others through the ages invites us to follow him today as well and he continues to walk this journey with us whether we say yes or no to his invitation. We are just aware of and receive more of his help when we say yes!

Life with Jesus isn’t perfect, and we will at times echo St. Teresa of Avila, who stated after she was thrown from a carriage into a mud puddle, “If you treat your friends this way, it is no wonder you have so few.” But we will, as did Teresa, also experience moments of inexpressible joy, of wonder and exhilaration, and feel blessed when Jesus works and loves through us.

St. Teresa of Avila had a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus and knew him as her closest friend because she heard him knocking and let Jesus in. She spent determined and intentional time consistently with him. She spent an hour before and an hour after Mass each day. She set aside specific, daily anchor times of personal prayer, meditation, and contemplation which allowed her times of closeness that she could then experience Jesus as well in her daily activities. She was able to share with him her joys and frustrations because Jesus was that close to her.

Let Jesus not be just a passing curiosity as he was with Herod Antipas. Jesus is standing, knocking, (cf. Revelation 3:20) inviting us to open the door and let him in. Jesus is inviting us as he did with Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and take him to his home (cf. 19:5). Jesus is calling us to come and follow him as we read with Matthew just a few days ago (cf. Matthew 9:9-13). Jesus is not just some person from history. True, he died at a specific point in time and yet also was resurrected at a specific point in time, and he is alive and well, and inviting us to follow him today. All Jesus waits for is our, “Yes.” and a few steps. Jesus will take care of the rest!

Photo: Spending some quiet time with Jesus before heading to the land of dreams.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 26, 2024

Jesus seeks to heal and free us from our labels.

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus is accused of being an agent of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, because he was exorcising a demon from a man that was mute. Jesus addressed the critique and showed the polarizing nature of the onlookers who were unwilling to see the healing before them for what it was. Jesus then stated the obvious: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house” (Lk 11:17).

Satan seeks to sow discord and division. Jesus seeks to bring about unity. Now it is true, that five verses later in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is recorded as saying: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51). Anyone feeling a bit confused? Welcome to the wonderful world of the Bible!

To understand Scripture, we need to understand the context of the whole of Scripture, not just isolated verses. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, he seeks the unity that all may be one as he and the Father are one (cf. John 17:21), yet he has consistently experienced those that rejected his message and healings as witnessed in today’s Gospel account.

Jesus demands a choice. We need to decide if we are either going to be for him or against him (cf. Lk 11:23). The division Jesus is talking about results from those who choose not to recognize that Jesus is who he says he is and reject him and those who accept him for who he is. This choice continues to cause division within households, families, and friends even today.

The greater take away from today’s Gospel and Jesus’ teachings as a whole, is that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life (see John 14:6). Jesus is the Son of God made man. Some will reject this truth. Some will accept only parts of the truth that Jesus teaches, while others will say there is not objective truth. We who identify with this truth and give our lives to him as his disciples, then like Jesus, we are to embrace the gift of our diversity.

We are more united rather than divided when we resist limiting ourselves by mere labels. In our modern context, labels, such as liberal and conservative are not helpful. It is certainly easier to cast labels, but interactions with people and developing relationships are much more nuanced. We are not mere cardboard cut outs, or caricatures.

To better understand the essence of who we are as human beings demands greater time and experience with each other than an outward appearance or isolated statement may portray. Many times, once we have cast a label, we believe that we have “defined” the person. They are classified in their box and tied up in a neat and pretty bow, and woe to the person who resists being boxed and bowed.

I remember reading from one of the books from the tracker, Tom Brown, Jr., in which he described how many people when seeing a bird, such as a blue jay, robin, or crow, are often satisfied with the label, the naming of it, and move on from that sighting self-satisfied. They think that in that simple identification they now have come to understand all that there is to know about that species. So much of the essence of one of God’s amazing creatures is missed by such a simplistic and limiting classification!

Unfortunately, we do the same with each other. We make a prejudgment on a person or group of people because of a word, statement, stance on a particular issue, or particular belief. We then falsely believe we know everything there is to know about that person or group. This is a limiting and divisive approach. Jesus invites us to encounter, accompany, spend time, and break bread with people. In spending time with one another, dialoguing, and respecting each other, the caricatures can be filled in with some substance and we can come to know a little better the person beyond the prejudgment. Maybe, just maybe, someone who we have been keeping at arm’s length, we can actually grow closer to, despite our differences.

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Photo: During 30-Day silent retreat, St. Joseph and Mary Retreat House, Mundelein, IL.

Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, March 7, 2024

Any part of our hearts in need of healing?

The hypocrisy scale is over the top in today’s Gospel. Each day this week these particular Pharisees have been not only seeing the glass regarding Jesus, half empty, but in today’s account, they are no longer seeing the glass! There is some validity in keeping the Sabbath day holy as I shared yesterday, but today they have thrown that out as well.

The issue today is that when Jesus entered the synagogue he saw a man “who had a withered hand” (Mark 3:1). Of course, Jesus is going to heal the man and on cue, the Pharisees are crouched to see if he is going to do so as well, on the sabbath. Jesus then asks a revealing question: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than destroy it” (Mark 3:4). Crickets… not a peep from the Pharisees.

Jesus gave them an opportunity to see not only their hypocrisy but revealed to them the darkness of their own hearts. Jesus is about to heal this man, “to do good on the sabbath” and the Pharisees, not only don’t see the gift of this man’s healing and so allow themselves to find healing from their own hardened hearts, but they leave to plan to destroy Jesus’ life. They choose to do evil on the sabbath and justify it by condemning Jesus for healing a man’s hand.

Why such hardness of heart? We aren’t given that insight. In some way they may be threatened by Jesus as King Herod was when he heard of the announcement of Jesus from the Magi from the east. An encounter with Jesus demands a choice, because he is the truth, he is the light that reveals the darkness. It can be easy to see the darkness in others like the Pharisees today.

The man’s hand is restored, and the Pharisees have just left seething with steam coming out of their ears. Each of us are now are invited to step into the scene. Are we willing to step into the synagogue with Jesus? He is facing you right now. His eyes have softened, they are inviting and loving you right in this moment. Is there a healing that you need? Is there a part of your heart that is hardened or wounded that you are willing to share? Is there any unforgiveness, sadness, anxiety that may be constricting your heart?

If you are willing, take that step, open your heart to your Lord and Savior this morning in your own unique way and trust him to reveal to you where we could use a healing or if you know, ask him.

Photo: My view each morning before as I start my day. I have been blessed with a lot of healing heart to heart time with the Divine Physician over the past year and a half.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, January 17, 2024