From Season to Season

All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee. —Mark 1:27-28 When many people hear the word “prophet,” they imagine someone who is essentially a divinely sanctioned fortune-teller. But, if we look at the full story of salvation as it is presented in the Bible, we recognize that prophets were just as concerned with the here and now as they were with the world to come. In fact, it was the prophets’ special mission to help the people recognize the truth about themselves and the world around them, especially calling them to the see how their words and actions impacted their relationships with God and others what the consequences of those words and actions might be. Prophets told the truth. Because of this, prophets were often hated, especially by people in power.   "Moses" by Michelangelo Buanarroti in the Church of San ...

Although I'm taking a few days of vacation, I still wanted to share my reflection on this Sunday's Readings, especially as we enter into the Synod on the Family on October 4. The Creation of Eve by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel As Pope Francis observed in Saturday’s Festival of Families, however, “Man and woman, through the astuteness of the devil, learned to separate themselves from one another. And all the love that God gave was almost lost. In a brief period of time, the first crimes, the first fratricide, brother killed a brother; the first war.” Damage was done and the beauty and simplicity of that first relationship was lost. But that wasn’t the end of the story. To read the full reflection, click here . And don't forget that you can now follow me on Twitter .

Each year the Scripture passages selected for the brief span of Ordinary Time that begins after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord focus on the theme of discipleship. It's as if the Church is saying, "We've celebrated the Incarnation and everything has changed. Now, let's spend time really understanding Who it is that has come among us." And so, we heard stories about disciples being called, wonders and signs being performed, and accounts of healings and exorcisms, all aimed at helping us understand who Jesus really is. In the Gospel proclaimed on the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we hear Mark's very brief account of Jesus casting an unclean spirit out of a man. But if we really pay attention to the way the story is told, we see that the point isn't the exorcism, but more about Jesus the teacher and especially about the source of his authority. In his book, Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Interactive Christology Father Michael Casey, O.C.S.O., wri...