All posts filed under: Year A

Easter, a reflection

April 14, 2014
by rick
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Creation / Easter / Gospels / Holy Week / Jesus / Lectionary / New Testament / Religion / Soteriology / Year A

On the day of the resurrection, some of the followers of Jesus went to the tomb. They were going to make the final preparations of Jesus’ body, for he had been buried with haste. And when they got there, they were met with the amazing revelation that Jesus was…no longer dead. He was dead, but now he wasn’t anymore. He was very much alive. And different. Mary didn’t recognize him. He had to speak her […]

Good Friday, a reflection

April 14, 2014
by rick
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Christology / devil / Easter / Gospels / Holy Week / Jesus / Lectionary / Lent / New Testament / satan / sin / Theology / Year A

I have this wonderful painting hanging in my office, “Cimabue after Disney” by the Rev. Dr. Dennis McNally, SJ. Jesus is muscled, teary-eyed, and dead. Blood trickles down his hands and feet. He’s also naked, and exposed just enough that that’s the one thing people notice when they see it for the first time. Subtly, at the bottom of the painting is a less-known feature. A mouse, with a dark halo, lapping up some of […]

lent 4a: rise from the dead

March 22, 2014
by rick
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Current Affairs / Easter / Epistles / Eschatology / Lectionary / New Testament / Paul / Year A

Zombies. Hungry with an insatiable appetite for living flesh, they roam alone and in hordes, looking and listening for prey. They have no regard for their own safety. No regard for life. No compassion. No relationships, not even with each other. They just want to feed. They want to consume. They are all hunger. As such, they are a grotesque statement on humanity. On culture: mindless consumming.

last epiphany a: overcome with fear

February 19, 2014
by rick
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Gospels / Jesus / Lectionary / New Testament / Religion / sin / temptation / Year A

The mission of the Church is to be a vessel where transformation can happen. Where lives may be changed by the Presence of God. Where people are reconciled to God in Christ, and to each other as neighbors. That transformation isn’t a small thing. It’s not a fresh coat of paint. It’s not even an upgraded operating system. It’s metamorphosis. It’s wholesale change. From the bottom up. From the inside out. And, to be honest…it’s […]

epiphany 5a reflection: lose the morons

January 31, 2014
by rick
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Current Affairs / Epiphany / Gospels / Jesus / Lectionary / New Testament / Religion / Year A

It is to be noted that the semantic parallel of “low-grade” with imbecile is far closer than might have been expected. (The Anchor Bible Commentary: Matthew by W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann. Page 55.) That is, quite possibly, the funniest statement that I’ve ever read in a biblical commentary. Had I been enjoying a beverage whilst reading that statement, I would have soiled the book. Albright and Mann have a quite different translation […]

advent 4a reflection: looking back

December 16, 2013
by rick
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Advent / Exodus / Gospels / Jesus / Year A

Everything in the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel – which tells of God doing this wondrous thing in the birth of Jesus – seems to point backwards. Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy, starting with the Patriarch Abraham. Then we have the reference to Isaiah’s prophesy that the child shall be called “Emmanuel.” And then the child is given the name “Jesus,” which not only means “God saves” but in Hebrew it’s also the name […]

advent 3a reflection: the holy way

December 7, 2013
by rick
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Advent / Old Testament / Religion / Year A

Many years ago my wife and I moved to Atlanta. We roamed around our new city, taking in the sights and sounds of our exciting new home. On one of our travels we happened by a place where there were some interesting shops. Above the shops was a towering building with a very unique cantilevered roof. Not long after that trip her birthday was coming up, and I wanted to go back to those shops […]

advent 2a reflection: you’re so vain

November 26, 2013
by rick
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Advent / Year A

Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were coming out to the wilderness to John the Baptist to be baptized. That’s pretty stunning in and of itself, wouldn’t you agree? And, John is less than impressed. “You brood of vipers!” he roars. Sounds like an interesting call to […]

advent 1a reflection: like a thief

November 22, 2013
by rick
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Advent / Eschatology / Jesus / Lectionary / New Testament / Year A

The following is a reflection on 24:36-44, the Gospel Lesson appointed for the 1st Sunday of Advent, Year A. I was sitting on the couch. Watching TV. Who knows what great and inspiring programming I was zoning out to… My wife yelled from upstairs: “Rick…RICK!” “Yes?” I said, rather annoyed that she hadn’t had the grace to wait for a commercial break. “My water broke.”