Month: September 2002

The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

September 29, 2002

Ezekiel 18:25-28 +Philippians 2:1-11+ Matthew 21:28-32

The entry to Jerusalem is complete. The palms are cleaned up. The Hosannas have echoed away. Jesus has made a mess in the Temple, and the authorities are demanding to know who he thinks he is. Tension is building that will eventually explode in a hostile confrontation. The vineyard is the focus of conversation. We heard it last week and again this week, and we shall hear of it again next week before we go to a wedding. All are full of hard sayings to those authorities who are closed to any action of God they cannot control. … more »

The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

September 22, 2002

Isaiah 55:6-9 + Philippians 1:20-27 + Matthew 20:1-16

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner…..that is the point of this parable, a landowner. It has nothing to do with wages, work, hours, or justice. It has to do with the landowner – God. It tells us about God, and in so doing, we find out something about ourselves. It does not explain divine justice, but stirs us to wonder about how God acts toward us. Even adjusted to the time and place in history from which it comes, the story makes no sense. After all, what employer who was going to do what this one did would have the ones who worked the longest hang around to be paid last and see what was going on? … more »

The 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

September 15, 2002

Sirach 27:30-28:7 + Romans 14:7-9 + Matthew 18:21-35

The final verses of Matthew’s “Discourse on the Life of the Church” are the sum and substance of it all

for those who would count themselves among the saved, the faithful, and the loved. From what has just been said, and we heard it last week and the week before, we are not to be soft on sin, and there is no reason to think that “mercy” means looking the other way or that it proposes some kind of “denial” in the face of evil. On the contrary. The church has been given a step-by-step instruction on what to do and how to respond. … more »

The 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

September 8, 2002

Ezekiel 33:7-9 + Romans 13:8-10 + Matthew 18:15-20

In Roman Catholic tradition, the “REAL PRESENCE” is a significant issue. It is a matter of faith. Yet for many that idea is focused only on the Sacrament of Eucharist. To leave it there, to think that this is the only “REAL PRESENCE” is to live one’s faith in a very passive and very incomplete way. The promise of Jesus recorded for us in Matthew 18 is a promise of presence, but it is not a presence reserved only for the Eucharist. It is a presence to be felt deeply in the human heart, acknowledged humbly in human life, and celebrated joyfully in the reconciliation of those who have been isolated, alienated, and broken by sin. … more »

The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

September 1, 2002

Jeremiah 20:7-9 + Romans 12:1-2 + Matthew 16:21-27

It would be easy to think that this Gospel is about Peter, but I don’t think so. The easy way is rarely the right way, or the way that is going to take us deeper into what is revealed or into what God is saying to us through His Word. It is more difficult to focus on Jesus in these verses than on Peter. We understand Peter’s reaction. It is our own. Nothing in his history; nothing in his scriptures; nothing in his tradition prepared him for a Messiah/Hero who would suffer disgrace. We do not connect with Peter here. … more »