Month: November 2002

The 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

November 24, 2002

Ezekiel 34:11-12 + 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 + Matthew 25:31-46

….and so ends the narrative portion of Matthew’s Gospel on this last Sunday of our present Liturgical year. With these final verses of Chapter 25 we conclude thirty fours Sundays of Matthew’s instruction, his companionship, and his vision of the Kingdom of God. As Matthew tells his story, the Passion now begins.

In fact, the scholars tell us that with all the Gospels, the Passion of Christ was written first, and then the earlier parts of the Gospel were written to set the scene and introduce the characters. That would suggest that we might imagine Matthew’s Gospel to be a great drama allowing us this kind of overview……

The Narrative of the Birth and Infancy of Jesus is a prelude before the curtain opens. … more »

The 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

November 11, 2002

Wisdom 6:12-16 + 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 + Matthew 25:1-13

In the next three weeks we proclaim the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. This chapter is the end of the public teaching of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, and it provides his final instruction about discipleship during this time before his return. It becomes an extended meditation on discipleship, and the church leads us in that meditation with some clues from the Old Testament that help with these verses today. Following that clue, the writer of our first reading today gives us the focus for reflecting on this Gospel. We are easily distracted by details of the story, and it is easy to be troubled by those who will not share what they seem to possess. … more »

The 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

November 03, 2002

Malachi 1:14-2:10 + 1 Thessalonians 2:7-13 + Matthew 23:1-12

The disputes are at an end. Jesus alone speaks, and now he speaks to his disciples: to you and to me. He is still in the Temple where he was confronted by first one group and then another. These groups: Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, are all part of the hierarchy that has too much to lose by his teaching. They have all been dismissed, and now, still in the Temple with all the authority the place itself can give, he speaks to his disciples, then at the end of this chapter he will leave the Temple. … more »

The Solemnity of All Souls at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

November 2, 2002

Daniel 12:1-3 + Romans 6:3-9 + John 6:37-40

Roman Catholics often visit a church to be alone with God, and in a Protestant church they have a feeling of emptiness. I often look into open churches, and I do not remember a time I have ever seen anyone praying alone in a Protestant Church. It may be a coincidence of my timing; but I am not mistaken about my feelings. There is no sacrament reserved there, and that does affect my feelings about the space. This is not the experience of Byzantine Christians. When they enter a church they do not proceed to their private prayers at a central altar or tabernacle without first going round to visit the icons. … more »

The Solemnity of All Saints at St Mark the Evangelist Church in Norman, OK

November 1, 2002

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 + 1 John 3:1-3 + Matthew 5:1-12

It is Matthew who speaks to us today with his unique vision of the Kingdom of God shaped by the adversity his church experiences historically. Later, when another generation has passed and a wider experience of the community’s life allows, there is different focus to the words of Jesus we proclaim today. It even changes location in Luke. The mountain is leveled, and the prophetic parallel with Moses is no longer important in the Lukan vision of life for the citizens of the Kingdom and those who would be one with Christ Jesus.

The location from which these words of Jesus were spoken is the least of the differences however. … more »