Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Feb. 3, 2024 (Epiphany 5B)

Christ Healing the Mother of Simon Peter’s Wife (1839). Oil painting on canvas by John Bridges (1818–1854). Birmingham (Alabama) Museum of Art. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Isaiah 40:21-31

The season of Epiphany is coming to an early end this year because Easter comes early, on March 31. Ash Wednesday and Lent are only about two weeks away. In our first reading we hear the Prophet Isaiah reassuring the people in exile that though God may seem far away, they have not been forgotten. Isaiah poetically portrays a transcendent God who is far beyond our imagining. And yet, the prophet proclaims, this mighty, eternal and all-powerful God lifts up on eagle’s wings those who wait patiently for God. God provides the power and the strength to wait and to follow God’s ways.

Psalm: Psalm 147:1-12, 21c

Sunday’s Psalm portion, excerpted from one of the six exuberant hymns of praise that bring the book of Psalms to its end, sings harmony with our Isaiah reading as it celebrates the glory of a God who is powerful and all-knowing. God is large enough to count and name even the stars of heaven, the Psalmist sings; yet God is close to the people too, guiding them home from exile and binding their wounds. God is unimpressed by strength and might, yet cares deeply for the weak and lowly, gently tending the broken and the brokenhearted.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Pretending to be something we are not is a morally dubious action, even when we do it for a worthy purpose. But that’s not really what Paul writes in these verses when he claims to have been “all things to all people,” presenting himself in a voice separately tuned to the ears of Jews and Gentiles, believers and pagans, the strong and the weak. Following up on the advice in last week’s reading, Paul offers simple counsel to the fractious, often battling believers of Corinth: Get over your divisions. Love one another. And finally, work together in spite of any differences in order to share the Gospel’s blessings.

Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

Immediately after the events in last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus goes from the synagogue at Capernaum to the home of his friends Simon and Andrew. There he cures Simon’s mother-in-law’s fever. Healed of her weakness, she gets up to serve them. The Greek word Mark uses for “she served” is “diekonei.” That’s the same word that Luke uses to describe those who came forward to support the Apostles as they spread the Gospel. And, of course, it is the word from which we derive our modern “deacon.” Just as Jesus cared for Simon’s mother-in-law and all who came for exorcism or healing, deacons vow to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 28, 2024 (Epiphany 4B)

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit (Mc. 1412-1416), from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, a French Gothic illumination for the Book of Hours by the Limbourg Brothers, Herman, Paul and Johan, now in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20

The ongoing theme of listening for God’s voice and trying to discern what God is calling us to do continues in our readings for the Fourth Sunday of Epiphany. Our first reading is a passage from Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah. We open the book as the story of God’s covenant with Israel is drawing to its close. Moses is in his last days. He will not live to enter the Promised Land. But then, the people wonder, how will they know God’s wishes once their longtime prophet is gone? Moses reassures them that God will raise up another prophet like him from among the people: a prophet who will speak God’s words and whom God will hold accountable.

Psalm: Psalm 111

Psalms, the hymns and worship poetry of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, offer many forms of prayer. Some ask God’s favor. Some cry out in lament. Others sing thanks for blessings. Yet many of the most joyous Psalms – like the familiar verses of Psalm 111 as a resounding example – exultantly sing God’s praise. God’s work, God’s majesty, God’s splendor, God’s justice, all last forever. God feeds us. The fear (meaning awe) of God is the beginning of wisdom.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

These verses offer us a fascinating insight into Paul. This pastoral question about eating meat that had been sacrificed in pagan temples might not seem to say much to us as inhabitants of a modern technological society. In his context, though, Paul understands the Corinthian Christians’ notion that pagan gods aren’t God at all, so sharing temple food – their primary source of meat – could be morally neutral to believers who are strong in their faith. The rest of Paul’s conclusion transcends time: Even if we do nothing wrong, Paul asserts, our actions may influence others, and Christ calls us to be mindful of that.

Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

We continue following Mark’s account of Jesus’ early ministry in Galilee. Baptized, returned from his time in the wilderness, and having chosen his disciples, Jesus now steps up and speaks for the first time during Sabbath services in Capernaum, the small Galilean town where he was active. Two remarkable things happen: First, this stranger amazes the community with bold teaching that reveals him as one “having authority.” Then Jesus further astounds the people by commanding a noisy unclean spirit to come out of a troubled man. Unclean though the spirit may be, it shouts wisdom, declaring Jesus “the Holy One of God.”

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 21, 2024 (Epiphany 3B)

Call of the Sons of Zebedee (1510), oil painting on panel by Marco Basaiti (1470-1530). Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

As we continue through the Epiphany season, our readings again this week speak to us of God’s call and our response. Even after we do wrong, when we repent and return, God is quick to forgive and to welcome us back. Our first reading is a brief passage from the familiar story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, who ran away when God called him to prophesy to the people of Nineveh. Just before this passage, Jonah had been spewed out on the beach by the giant fish that God sent to bring the fleeing prophet back. Jonah is ready to cooperate after this experience, and his concise prophecy has great effect: The people of this huge city all put on sackcloth, fast and repent; whereupon God shows mercy and forgives them.

Psalm: Psalm 62: 6-14

We enter Psalm 62 at Verse 6, joining a narrator who has been assailed, battered, and defamed by foes who seek to bring him down. Can this troubled person turn to God for refuge and stability in a world gone fearsome? Yes, the Psalmist asserts: Wait, hope, trust in God. Do not be shaken: when all else fails, God remains our strong rock and our refuge. Our faith and hope in God’s power and steadfast love will be rewarded. Trust in God alone, the Psalmist tells us over and over again. No one else can be trusted. God is always there, always holding the power, always ready to repay us according to our good deeds.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31

No marriage, no mourning, no joy? No things? What in the world is Paul going on about this time? Paul’s letters can sound very confusing to modern ears, but we can usually hear the voice of the Spirit when we understand them in the context of their time and place. Paul was convinced that Christ was coming back very soon, bringing God’s kingdom and a new way of life. Nothing was more important than that, Paul preached. Not husbands and wives, not mourning or joy. All that is passing away, Paul assures his fractious flock; but God abides.

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

The Gospel according to Mark is moving along very quickly, as Mark’s Gospel does. We are only 14 verses in, and already Herod has arrested John the Baptist, and soon will have John killed. Jesus has just returned from the 40-day fast in the desert that he took on immediately after John baptized him. Now Jesus has taken over John’s call to proclaim repentance from sin and to declare the good news of God’s kingdom. Then, just like that, Mark’s narrative shifts again as Jesus calls his first disciples from fishers working on the Sea of Galilee: Two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, and James son of Zebedee and John. Without any discussion or question, they all get up, leave their former lives behind, and follow Jesus.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 14, 2024 (Epiphany 2B)

Nathaniel Under the Fig Tree (c.1886-1894), gouache drawing over graphite on gray paper by James Tissot (1836-1902). Brooklyn Museum, New York City. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Listen for God’s voice in the world, and take care to grasp the reality that we hear. Listen for this theme as it resonates through Sunday’s Lectionary readings. Our first reading introduces young Samuel, puzzled by a mysterious voice as he lies near the Ark in the Temple in Jerusalem. Samuel thinks the voice is his guardian Eli, the high priest and judge of Israel. But Eli, who is elderly and nearly blind, was sound asleep. After a few repetitions, Eli realizes that Samuel is hearing the voice of God. Eli advises the boy to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then Eli accepts the words that Samuel hears from God, although they are harsh and stern: God plans to punish Eli and his blasphemous sons who have corrupted the Temple priesthood.

Psalm: Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

It is rarely easy for us to be certain of what God is asking of us. But we can be sure that God fully and completely knows our every thought, the Psalmist sings in verses traditionally attributed to King David. God knows us, God knows when we move forward and when we sit down; God knows every word that we speak and every word that we think. God’s thoughts are more countless than Earth’s grains of sand, the Psalmist continues. It would take an infinity of time to count them.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

At a glance, this reading might reinforce our modern doubts about Paul’s occasional ruminations on sexuality and sin. Read in its original context, though, we see a kinder and gentler image. As he so often does in 1 Corinthians, Paul is offering pastoral counsel to a loving but often quarrelsome little church community. They’ve been arguing about all sorts of theological issues. They’re split into factions. Some of them really haven’t been behaving well, fired by an odd notion that being baptized in the Spirit allows them to behave immorally without sin. Paul’s advice is not angry but clear and firm: Listen for God’s voice through the Holy Spirit. Remember that our bodies are parts of Christ’s body and temples of the Holy Spirit, so honor God by behaving well.

Gospel: John 1:43-51

We are called to respond to Christ in faith through the revelation of his divinity in the gospels of the Epiphany season. In the first chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus calls his disciples, one and two at a time. In the verses preceding Sunday’s gospel, Andrew, Simon Peter and now Philip have joined Jesus. Now we learn that Philip wants his friend Nathanael added to the growing band. Nathanael, though, is wary at first. This Jesus comes from Nazareth? That’s not where the Messiah is supposed to come from! But when Jesus speaks to Nathanael in words that seem to echo the Psalm’s “Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb,” Nathanael accepts Jesus’s call and declares him the Son of God and King of Israel.