The Rambler

  19TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A] Let’s travel back to the year 1977. You are in the theatre, watching the newly released Star Wars film. It’s looking bad for Princess Leia. She’s being held captive on an enemy space station called the Death-Star. Suddenly, a rescue team arrives!! What a relief for Princess Leia!! However, you’re noticing that she’s not expressing relief. If anything, she’s expressing a sense of apprehension. The next thing you know, she’s making critical, derisive comments. Clearly, she’s not impressed with the people who have been assigned to rescue her. Nevertheless, she evidently has decided to go with it. It’s not what she would have drawn up. These are not the individuals that she would have recruited. Still, if she insists on having it her way, then this captivity could well linger on indefinitely. Therefore, it’s best to cooperate. It is what it is. She’s ready to go with it.  In the Bible, you’ll come across both types: those who are prepared to go ...

  18TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A] In the Book of Isaiah chapter fifty five, the prophet has something to say about the subject of “benefits” (55:3). He lists off several: water; wine; milk; grain. Then in Matthew fourteen we hear about an abundance of bread and an abundance of fish (14:16-21). This is the Lord, extending his special brand of pity (vs. 14) and his special brand of generosity.  For our part, we’re definitely interested. We like all of this talk about benefits. We’re interested, but we’re likewise concerned. What concerns us is the benefit that is NOT being listed. How about promising us a life of ease? We want to be shielded from any threat of hardship or adversity. Leaving out this particular benefit means that all bets are off. Perhaps a relationship with the Lord is not going to be worth the time or the bother.  Some people do walk away. It’s certainly an option. And yet, there are those who choose not to walk away. For example, consider the case of ...

  17TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A] We’ll begin by referencing a 1944 novel, titled Green Dolphin Street . The story centers around three children who grow up on the same street. Two are sisters: Marianne and Marguerite; the third is a boy named William. They form a close bond as they live out their childhood years. As they approach adulthood, William enlists in the navy and embarks on a series of travels. Having eventually settled within the British colony of New Zealand, he sends word back home,  requesting Marianne’s hand in marriage.  It’s a choice that will be questioned by a significant number of people—to include William himself. The older daughter would represent a suitable bride, under normal circumstances. However, Marguerite is generally understood to be the more appealing of the two. She is prettier, she has a bright, sunny disposition, and she laughs easily. Meanwhile, Marianne is more serious, more “bookish,” and considerably more intense. She holds out stiff...

  16TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A] You are being assisted by the Holy Spirit, whether you realize it or not. That’s what we hear in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, chapter eight. You are being supported, and it’s a measure of support that seems to be registering from WITHIN , from deep down inside of you. In other words, the Holy Spirit can be described as an “embedded” Spirit (see Rom. 8:9-27). You are made up of flesh and also of Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit coexist, in the same way the wheat and the weeds are coexisting in Matthew chapter thirteen (13:24-30).  It’s not as if the weeds have been invited. They are clearly an uninvited phenomenon. Nevertheless, you understand that they are also an inevitable part of the picture. You learn to live with this particular disadvantage. And likewise you learn to live with the disadvantages that are associated with the flesh. It can be said that they parallel one another: the weeds and the flesh. Weeds not only appear, but they...

  15TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A]  The unfortunate truth is that we live in a fallen world . You can read about The Fall if you refer to the Book of Genesis chapter three. As a result of this fall, the world finds itself locked into a pattern of “futility.”  At least, that’s how Saint Paul describes the situation (see Rom. 8:20). All the world can do is struggle along, moaning and groaning (8:22-23). Obviously, the world needs help. It does not possess the ability to help itself; the help will have to come from some other source. Thankfully, we do hear about a means of support that seems to be descending from somewhere up above.  God is sending his Word to us. It’s a phenomenon that can be compared to the arrival of precipitation: namely, the arrival of rain or perhaps snow (Isaiah 55:10). The Word is definitely being sent to us. But how do we feel about this gift from above? If the Word is indeed raining down upon us, are we positioned so that it can be absorbed?...

  14TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A] Come to me, all you who labor, who are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. That’s Jesus speaking in the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter eleven. He not only issues the invitation; he also provides the means through which we can indeed “come to him.”  He does this when he institutes the sacrament of the Eucharist.  Reflect for a moment on the Eucharistic ritual. Jesus makes himself present within the humble form of a Communion Wafer. He is evidently partial to the humble approach. Note the prophecy being delivered in Zechariah: the Savior is depicted riding upon the back of a mule, a beast of burden (Zech. 9:9). That’s how he enters Jerusalem when we mark the occasion of Palm Sunday (see Matt. 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12). He subsequently follows the path of humility, all over again, by becoming the Bread of Life for us within the context of the Mass.  For our part, we respond by processing forward so that we can receive his...