Thursday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, January 30, 2025

Mark 4, 21-25

Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lamp stand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, the Lord teaches on the subject of faith.  Faith, he tells us, is not some private belief that is to be kept locked up or disguised.  He uses a lamp as a figure for faith, but in the way he talks about it, it seems to be a living thing announcing its presence: “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lamp-stand?”  As though to say that the lamp will not tolerate being hidden under a bushel basket or stuck under a bed.  If the lamp is lit, hiding it in such places will only result in a fire, anyway.  Its light will shine forth one way or another.  In the same way, we believers are lamps and the flame is our faith, or, the faith committed to us.  The fuel we contain for the flame is the grace of God.  The purpose of the lamp is to provide the basis for light, and the purpose of the light is not to illumine the lamp so that people can admire it but to throw back the darkness all around as though it were a heavy curtain, so that reality may be seen.  That reality is God and his love for us.  To cover up the lamp and its light in order to continue walking in the darkness is madness.  “For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.”  God does not hide himself from us, though we sometimes try to hide him from ourselves by covering our eyes with our hands or by distracting ourselves by gazing into the darkness beyond the reach of the lamp’s light.  He wants us to see his glory: we were made to see his glory.  Only those who resolutely flee from his glory never see it.  And many do so, preferring their own imagined glory to that of Almighty God: “I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14, 14). 

“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.”  The Lord teaches us here that the greater our belief, the more enduring our perseverance in our faith during tribulation, the greater the reward he shall give us in heaven: “To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of my God” (Revelation 2, 7).  We should also know that since the “measure” of our faith is a lit lamp: the greater the measure, the brighter the lamp, and so the more unbelievers our faith shall bring to the glory of the Lord.  And, “to the one who has, more will be given”, that is, the Lord will provide more grace to us whose flame already burns furiously, but “from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”  This warning takes another form in Revelation 2:5: “Be mindful therefore from whence you are fallen: and do penance, and do the first works [of your faith]. Or else I come to you and will move your candlestick out of its place, except you do penance.”  A person may burn brightly at first, but then he stops praying, fasting, and doing good works.  He may even stop worshipping God at Holy Mass.  He is like the seed scattered on stony ground, which signifies the person who “hears the word [of the Gospel], and immediately receives it with joy. Yet it has no root in him, but is only for a time: and when there arises tribulation and persecution because of the word, he is presently scandalized.”  Or the seed that is scattered among thorns, signifying the person who “hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes up the word, and he becomes fruitless” (Matthew 13, 20-22). 

Wednesday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, January 29, 2025

Mark 4, 1-20

1 And again he began to teach by the sea side; and a great multitude was gathered together unto him, so that he went up into a ship and sat in the sea: and all the multitude was upon the land by the sea side. 2 And he taught them many things in parables, and said unto them in his doctrine  3 Hear ye: Behold, the sower went out to sow.  4 And whilst he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and ate it up. 5 And other some fell upon stony ground, where it had not much earth; and it shot up immediately, because it had no depth of earth. 6 And when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And some fell upon good ground; and brought forth fruit that grew up, and increased and yielded, one thirty, another sixty, and another a hundred. 9 And he said: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And when he was alone, the twelve that were with him asked him the parable. 11 And he said to them: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but to them that are without, all things are done in parables: 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 13 And he saith to them: Are you ignorant of this parable? and how shall you know all parables? 14 He that soweth, soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown, and as soon as they have heard, immediately Satan cometh and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 And these likewise are they that are sown on the stony ground: who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but are only for a time: and then when tribulation and persecution ariseth for the word they are presently scandalized. 18 And others there are who are sown among thorns: these are they that hear the word, 19 And the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts after other things entering in choke the word, and it is made fruitless. 20 And these are they who are sown upon the good ground, who hear the word, and receive it, and yield fruit, the one thirty, another sixty, and another a hundred.

This is an excerpt from a commentary I am currently writing on the Gospel of Mark.  I am using the Douay-Rheims translation.

4, 3-9: The Parable of the Sower is found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  It is the only one of Christ’s parables to appear in all three, which speaks to its importance especially for the early Church.  It explains the different reactions people have to the Faith when it is preached to them.  It explains that not everyone who hears the word of God will embrace it and hold fast to it, and why this is so.

4, 3: He that soweth, soweth the word. This is Christ, whether he himself or acting through his ministers.

4, 4: Some fell by the way side.  The Sower casts his seed as far as he is able.  Most of it falls on the field but some of it outside the field.  Those who reject at once the offer of the gift of faith — immediately Satan cometh and taketh away the word (Mark 4, 15) — are said to be outside the field.

4, 5: Some fell on stony ground.  Even in a well-tilled field there is stony ground here and there.  The Lord says this seed signifies those who have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.  and they have no root in themselves, but are only for a time.  They receive it with joy because it promises eternal life.  But they do not change their lives in response to the word, do not pray, and do not ask for the graces necessary to persevere, and so when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.  That is, when tribulation and persecution ariseth for the word they are presently scandalized (Mark 4, 17).  The Greek word translated here as “scandalized” means “to trip up”: they are tripped up and lose what faith they had.

4, 7: And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.  As Christ explains: These are they that hear the word.  And the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts after other things entering in choke the word, and it is made fruitless. This is made clear in the case of the rich young man whom Jesus urged to give up his worldly goods so as to follow him: And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions (Matthew 19, 22).  The Greek word translated here as “sad” has the meaning of “grieved” and even “heart-broken”.  The rich young man was choked by his possessions and his desire for more of them, and he became “fruitless”.  He is as the fig tree on which the Lord sought fruit (cf. Mark 11, 13) and which he subsequently cursed: The fig tree [was] dried up from the roots (Mark 11, 20).

4, 8: And some fell upon good ground.  The Sower is good.  The seed is good. The problem is with the ground, that is, the reception of the seed.  The welcome reception of the gift of faith results in fruitfulness — the growing beauty of the plant, the pleasing taste of the fruit, and the seeds that each piece of fruit bears which can also fall into good ground, spreading the knowledge of the truth and the gift of faith.

4, 9: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  A Hebrew expression emphasizing the need of the hearer to contemplate and act on what he has heard.

4, 10-11: The Apostles ask the meaning of the Parable but the crowd does not and so the Apostles receive a detailed explanation.  The crowd receives enough so that they should ask questions but they fail to do so.

4, 12: That seeing they may see, and not perceive.  The Lord quotes Isaiah 6, 9, where Almighty God commands the Prophet: Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.  That is, Prophesy the truth, and those open to it will receive it, and those who are not will reject it.  

Tuesday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, January 28, 2025

The Mother and brothers of Jesus arrived at the house.  Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him  “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking for you.” But he said to them in reply, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark places his account of this episode before Jesus returns to Nazareth where the people reject him.  Luke, however, with a mind for proper chronology, places it after his rejection there.  If so, members of his family had already been alarmed by his behavior, now thinking that he has gone mad and is being made sport of in the towns neighboring Nazareth.  They come after him, intending to bring their wayward family member home.

“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.”  We know the names of some of the Lord’s brethren from texts such as Matthew 13, 55, which lists James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude.  These are male relatives, but not sons of the Virgin Mary.  Seeing members of the extended family departing for Capernaum, she went with them, wanting to protect her Son.  

“Who are my mother and my brothers?”  He does not go out to them but asks a question of the crowd.  Some might have expected that he would answer his question by praising his family members for their righteousness and by describing their heritage as descendants of David.  But he paused and looked around at the people sitting on the floor, listening intently to him.  They had come to hear him teach about the Kingdom of God.  Some had come from a distance.  “Here are my mother and my brothers.“. He may well have made a sweeping gesture with his arm to indicate the people around him.  “For whoever does the will of God.”  He teaches that it is not biology that causes people to belong to him but doing the will of his Father.  As St. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father. For I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. (Matthew 3, 9).

Jesus uses the occasion to teach the crowd about the intimacy shared by those who do the will of God — those bound together in grace.  The saints, he says, are nearer each other than any two people related merely by biology.  He says this to people for whom family ties were everything.  A person’s very identity and survival depended upon his or her family, genealogy, and tribal association.   What Jesus says turns Jewish culture on its head.  It is one of the Lord’s “hard sayings”.

But what does it mean to be the Lord’s “brother” or “sister” or “mother”?  St. Thomas Aquinas, whose feast we celebrate today, commenting on these verses, says, “Any of the faithful who does the will of the Father, namely, who obeys him simply, is the Lord’s ‘brother’ [or ‘sister’] because he is like the One who fulfilled the Father’s will.  But the one who not only does this but also converts others, ‘begets’ Christ in others, and thus is made the Lord’s ‘mother’.  Galatians 4, 19: ‘My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you.’ ”

We ourselves may attain the high dignity of the brothers, sisters, and Mother of the Lord very simply — not by birth into a royal family, but by obedience to his Father’s will.

Monday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, January 27, 2025

Mark 3, 22-30

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Today’s First Reading begins very abruptly, with a strong and yet contradictory charge against the Lord Jesus, who has just performed an exorcism. The Pharisees and scribes try to discredit him, but the problem of the miracles, which many have seen, remains.  They attempt to explain away the miracles with a wild accusation: “He is possessed by Beelzebul . . . by the prince of demons he drives out demons.”  (“Beelzebul” was the name of an ancient Canaanite deity, later used by the Jews for the devil).  The Pharisees cannot claim that the healing of the sick, the injured, and the deformed, and well as the exorcisms, did not occur; that Jesus performed these is incontestable.  But what they claim is that the supernatural power required for performing them comes from the devil.  The absurdity of the idea and the willingness of the Pharisees to promote it tells us a great deal about them.  It is not the Lord Jesus who is “out of his mind” as his relatives fear, but the Pharisees, whose malice has run so rampant that this seems feasible.  And, an invention of utter desperation, it fails to catch on with the people.  Their desperation brings to mind the image of the priests of Baal (that is, “Beelzebub”) in 1 Kings: 18, 28: “They cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.”

As Jesus spent some days in Peter’s house at this time, perhaps the Lord allowed the Pharisees to slither back to Jerusalem to make their report to their masters, as he does not argue with them here.  Little would be gained by such a direct confrontation anyway: those particular Pharisees were past converting.  Instead, the Lord takes the opportunity of their departure in order to teach the people, for they truly wished to learn.  And so Jesus calls them together and teaches: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”  He does not address the accusation made by the Pharisees, which is unworthy of serious discussion, but he uses the subject brought up in the accusation to explain that the devil’s reign over the world is finished.  First, if Satan is driving out Satan, there is civil war in hell which will lead to the devil’s overthrow.  Second, if miraculous works are being performed on the earth, it is because God is showing the signs that he has “bound” the devil and is putting an end — “plundering” — his dominion.  That is the meaning of, “No one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.”

“Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”  The ascribing of God’s work to the devil is a sin against the Holy Spirit.  It is a most malicious act.  The Pharisees did this two thousand years ago.  It still goes on today.  

We see here how patient Jesus is with sinners.  He could have made a fearful example of the Pharisees when they accused him of being possessed and of wickedness, but he did not.  He let them go.  They would have until the end of their lives to seek forgiveness and convert, just as Judas would be given many chances to walk away from his evil deeds.  He did not come to condemn the world but that it might live (cf. John 12, 47).  

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 26, 2025

Luke 1, 1–4; 4, 14–21

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

In the prologue St. Luke added to his Gospel, he speaks of his gathering together of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus from the people who saw and heard him, and even some who were healed by him.  Luke also declares that he made an orderly sequence of them — fashioning a chronological history —  so that his audience might be strengthened in their faith through coming to know Jesus, his teachings, and his Death and Resurrection, much more vividly.  Luke wrote his Gospel in a very good style of Greek, at times imitating the prose of the classical authors, and filled it with details and accounts we have only from his hand, such as that of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, and parables such as that of the Good Samaritan.

We see an example of Luke’s attention to chronology in the second part of today’s Gospel Reading.  It begins with the Lord’s coming out of the wilderness after being tempted by Satan and the start of his Public Life.  After traversing through Galilee for some months, he returned to Nazareth where he read from a section of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, and then declared it fulfilled in the hearing of his neighbors in the synagogue.  We might miss the significance of this, but the people who heard him declare it did not.  The only one who could fulfill the Scripture was the one whom it prophesied: the Messiah.  The furor that resulted from his declaration — for the people could hardly conceive that one of their own was the promised One — precipitated the Lord’s departure for good from his home town and his subsequent taking up residence in Capernaum, several miles away.  The Gospels of Matthew and Mark, neither of whom were much concerned with chronology, had the Lord settle in Capernaum and only later return to Nazareth.

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  The Greek word translated here as “is fulfilled” can also mean, “is completed”, which makes it easier for us to understand and the sense.  The Son of God completes Isaiah’s prophecy by coming amongst us, preaching of the Kingdom of God and healing.  Isaiah speaks, the Son answers.  And this passage from Isaiah today continues to be fulfilled with the good works of those who are members of the Body of Christ.

The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, Saturday, January 25, 2025

Mark 16, 15-18

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

In the case of a conversion to the Faith, Almighty God provides all the grace that is necessary.  For most people who convert, the movement of grace within them is subtle, a seed putting down roots underground before it ever puts stem and leaves above ground.  At some point, a person experiences a “lightbulb” moment when the understanding and the heart see the truth of the Faith and feel the love of God and love for God.  An outside observer may see nothing, but for the person experiencing this, everything has changed.  

The Scriptures tell us of how this befell Saul of Tarsus.  The drama of it all — the blazing light, the falling to the ground as though shoved, and the Voice with which he converses — tell us how dedicated and fanatical a Pharisee he was, that this was necessary for him to convert.  

St. Paul came to fall deeply in love with the Lord Jesus: “To me, to live is Christ: and to die is gain” (Philippians 1, 21).  His passion for the Lord drove him to far places in all conditions: Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one.  Thrice was I beaten with rods: once I was stoned: thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren.  In labor and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Corinthians 11, 24-27).  

The Holy Church holds this Feast as a celebration for the sanctity and love of Jesus which he attained and for the work which his conversion led to, himself converting thousands of souls and providing future generations of believers with the example of his life and the teachings in his letters, both of which aid us to grow in our own love of the Lord and zeal for his cause.

Through his prayers, may we, through whatever vocation and state of life the Lord calls us to, “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”  Even confined to our homes, we may join in this great work through the invaluable prayers and penances we raise to Almighty God.

Friday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, January 24, 2025

Hebrews 8, 6-13

Brothers and sisters: Now our High Priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one. But he finds fault with them and says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they did not stand by my covenant and I ignored them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying, ‘Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from least to greatest. For I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.”  When he speaks of a “new” covenant, he declares the first one obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is close to disappearing.

The Letter to the Hebrews was written before 70 A.D. to Jewish Christians who lived in and around Jerusalem.  According to tradition, it was written by St. Paul.  The style of the Greek and the lack of a greeting at the beginning point to someone else as the author, but Paul could have written it at greater leisure than he had for the other letters he wrote, and the lack of a greeting may indicate that this work belongs to the genre of treatises rather than that of letters.  The author argues that the Jewish Christians should see themselves as very much distinct from the Jews: they are Christians now and they believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  Central to his argument is his point that the old priesthood of the Temple, and the covenant which confirmed it, is dead, and that Christ is the High Priest and has established a New Covenant in his Blood — Blood which he presents to his Father in heaven in unceasing intercession for us.

“Now our High Priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.”  The Father appointed his Son as our High Priest, as Hebrews 5, 6 makes clear, quoting Psalm 110, 4: “You are a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech.”  As High Priest, the Son made the Sacrifice of his life in atonement for our sins.  It is a more excellent ministry in that the blood of goats, formerly offered in the Temple, did not take away sins (cf. Isaiah 1, 11).  He is the Mediator of a better Covenant in that it is written not on stone but in our hearts (cf. Jeremiah 31, 33).  It is enacted on better promises, for as Jesus himself said, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins” (Matthew 26, 28).

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one.”  The Greek word translated here as “faultlessly can also mean “without defect”.  The covenant with Moses which instituted the Law had as its main purpose to be a sign of the Covenant the Lord Jesus would enact in the time of grace.  The first covenant was a preparation; the second was its fulfillment.  In that sense, the old covenant was defective.  But it can also be said that the old covenant was “defective” because the people with whom God made it did not keep it, as it was external to them and could be ignored or denied.  To this point, the author of Hebrews quotes a long passage from Jeremiah 31, 31-34, through which God promises to inscribe this new Law, this New Covenant, in the hearts of the faithful.  This occurs at baptism.

At the time of its writing, the Christian Jews in and around Jerusalem were still going to the Temple to worship.  They continued to circumcise their baby boys, to follow the Jewish dietary laws, and to offer sacrifices.  At the same time, they attended Holy Mass held in the larger houses of believers such as that of Mary, the mother of Mark (cf. Acts 12, 12).  The author of Hebrews does not forbid them from living as Jews, but shows them that they now had a far better way.