Blogger Priest

The Second Scurrilous Mystery

The real scandal was on the part of the crowd. While there was no charity to allow the paralytic to be carried into the house, they are moved by fear to allow the healed man to walk out. Jesus was moved by the faith of the men who lowered the poor man from the roof. What Jesus does is in response to their intercession for their friend. Instead of an outright physical healing, Jesus says to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” This angers the scribes and they condemn Jesus for blaspheming. After all, only God can forgive sins. It may be that the man’s soul was more afflicted than his body. Illustrating he had the authority to absolve from sin, he ordered the paralytic to get up and walk. The crowd is astounded and gives glory to God. And yet, do they perceive the full truth that in Jesus God had come to save his people?

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The First Scurrilous Mystery

Jesus goes to great length emphasizing that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood if we would have his life within us. His listeners murmur and quarrel about it. How can he say this? A good number abandon him, complaining that this teaching is too hard. Jesus then turns to his apostles and asks, are you going to leave me too? Peter responds, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Like us, Peter is saying the he does not understand it either; but if Jesus says it, he accepts it. Jesus was preparing them for the sacrament of the Eucharist that he would institute at his Last Supper. Some believers insist that Jesus only meant a figurative or symbolic presence. They refuse to accept a literal interpretation. However, the Jews understood the use of representational language. They abandoned Jesus precisely because Jesus was graphic and insisted on a REAL presence. Similarly, at the Last Supper, our Lord takes the bread and says it is his body. He takes the cup of wine and says this is the chalice of his blood. A new covenant is made. Covenants cannot be established with fake blood. There has to be a real sacrifice. Here too the emphasis is upon a substantial change. This caused great scandal among the Jews who were forbidden to taste blood. This is still a point of contention between Catholics and many Protestant believers. We continue to take Jesus for his word.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Fifth Scandalous Mystery

Jesus has been invited into a Pharisee’s home. But immediately we are told a sinner woman came to Jesus weeping and next bathed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed and anointed them. Simon the Pharisee is secretly scandalized. He thinks to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” Our Lord knows what is going through his mind and tells him a quick parable about two debtors, one owing more than the other. He asks, if are both forgiven “Which of them would love him more?” Simon answers it is probably the one with the larger debt. Jesus agrees and connects the parable and question to the woman. By comparison with Simon, she has demonstrated the greater love. He shocks everyone by saying that her sins are forgiven. Only God can forgive sins. There is a certain recrimination against Simon when Jesus says, “But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He is challenging Simon to reflect upon his own spiritual state. Notice that this sinner woman had no trouble entering Simon’s house. How is that? I suspect it was because the servants recognized her and that she was regularly a visitor, not so much as a guest but for Simon’s secret pleasure. There is a story here that has been left unsaid.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Fourth Scandalous Mystery

There is a popular expression, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” While we might think that we can hide the truth about ourselves, and our sins, the truth is that we are largely transparent and God sees everything. Before charging others we should all admit that we are guilty and vulnerable. The scribes and Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. The Mosaic Law required stoning to death, crushing and suffocating the person. Will Jesus insist upon the law or excuse sin? Jesus writes upon the ground. It has been speculated that Jesus was listing the secret sins of her accusers. He says let the one without sin cast the first stone. One by one they walk away. Finally, he is alone with her. Note that her accomplice in sin is nowhere to be found. Our Lord is aware of the double-standard and the hypocrisy of her accusers. As the innocent all holy one, he could rightfully condemn her. But instead he shows her mercy and tells her to go and “from now on do not sin anymore.” He did not say that what she did was right. Along with her absolution comes the admonishment to repent.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Third Scandalous Mystery

Centurions were honored soldiers of the empire. They were known for their loyalty and command authority. One could almost imagine the crowd cringing backward at his approach. He was both feared and hated among the Jews. And yet, here was one sympathetic to their religion. He had won the respect of those who knew him and he supported their faith community. The stories have spread about a wonder worker and healer. When his servant becomes ill he does not hesitate to seek out Jesus. Our Lord offers to go to his house. But the soldier knows that this will make for further complications. Those who want Jesus out of the day will exploit every scandal and eyes were watching. The centurion demonstrates a genuine faith that does not have to see in order to believe. Humbly he says that he is not worthy for the Lord to enter under his roof. It is enough that Jesus should utter a saving word. Jesus was so amazed that he praises the faith of this Gentile over that of all his own people. It is evidenced here that the Jesus was not simply the Jewish Messiah but the Savior of the world. The centurion is sent on his way with the assurance that his intercessory prayer was granted. Who is to say what ripples resulted from this? There has been much speculation about what became of this centurion. While it would come after centuries of persecution, he and his faith would prefigure the conversion of the Roman Empire. Do we have his kind of faith?

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Second Scandalous Mystery

Jesus was tainted by his associations. Tax collectors were working for the Romans, in other words, they were viewed as traitors to their own people. If Jesus were the Messiah, then how would he dare associate with those who had compromised themselves with their enemies? Tax collectors were judged collectively as thieves. Since the righteous Pharisees, scribes and others would not freely mingle with them; their social relations were usually only with those who were judged as sinners and reprobates. Jesus did not shy away from the sordid crowd. It may be that they were also shocked that a holy teacher and prophet would sit with them. But I suspect they were also moved. Jesus would let them know that God had not abandoned them. They also had an immeasurable worth in the eyes of God. Jesus responded to his critics by saying, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” The message lost on the religious leaders was that they too were sinners needing redemption.

Filed under: Prayer | 1 Comment »

The First Scandalous Mystery

Jesus turns to the Samaritan woman at the well and says, “Give me a drink.” She is taken aback. Convention would preclude him speaking with this woman but she also knows that Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Jews look down upon Samaritans. They see them as throwbacks to a more primitive faith. Samaritans often hindered travelers to Jerusalem because they did not believe that one had to visit the temple to offer sacrifice. Jesus responds that if she only knew who was asking, she would in turn ask and receive living water. She fails to understand and notices that Jesus has no bucket. She recalls with pride that Jacob gave them this cistern. Of course, the water here is like the water from the rock in Exodus, it supports the body but does not quench the thirst of the soul. Jesus tells her bluntly, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Beginning to understand but still thinking of literal water, she begs for this living water so that she would not have to repeatedly return to the well. But our Lord knows the state of her soul and challenges her for having many husbands and yet none of them of them are true. She does not argue. Stung that he knows the truth about her she offers the typical challenge to Jews about them offering sacrifice only at the temple in Jerusalem. Instead of debating with her, he says that true worship will not be restricted to her mountain or Jerusalem. God will be worshipped “in Spirit and truth.” Of course, then he claims that Jews properly understand what they worship and that salvation comes from the Jews. He is, after all, the Jewish Messiah. The highlight to the Gospel passage is when the woman says, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus reveals to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.” Nothing will ever be the same again. Notice how Jesus speaks so candidly to her about something he is careful about saying in front of his own people. The Jews have many wrong and militant ideas about the Messiah. The Samaritans envision him somewhat differently. The disciples do not witness this conversation. Indeed they are surprised that he is talking with her. She runs off and leaves her water jar. She is accepting his offer and becomes a prophetess for her people.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Fifth Notorious Mystery

The High Priest and the Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat, to their religion as they understood it and to their positions of power and influence. The question was asked, are you the Son of God? It has come to this. Everything rested upon the answer. Jesus affirmed his identity and was disowned by the very ones who had been given the promise of redemption. They refused to accept that God had come to save his people. Any kind of Messiah would get in the way; this kind would change everything forever. “The Lord thy God is one!” Caiaphas viewed this central tenet of their faith as challenged. He could not penetrate the truth that Jesus was the revelation of the Father. Jesus would ultimately stretch our understanding even further with his sending of the Holy Spirit. Yes, God was one but he was also three divine Persons. The second Person had entered the human family and would soon pay the terrible price for our sins. “It is better for one man to die than for a whole nation to be destroyed!” Caiaphas had no appreciation as to how prophetic his words would become. Jesus would suffer and die so that we might be healed and live. Falsely condemned as a criminal and a liar; the truth would be vindicated by his resurrection.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Fourth Notorious Mystery

The Jewish people defined themselves by their fidelity to the law. Jesus challenges rote responses and wants to get to the spirit behind the law. Certain foods are not unclean in themselves any more than the tree in the primordial garden had poisoned fruit. The issue was the proper posture of the creature before God, which is loving obedience. Catholics fast and abstain from meat at designated times, not to say that food is bad but to show that we love the Giver more than the gifts. That which is truly unclean comes from inside the person. Sin is fully realized in our behavior but it is conceived in our minds and hearts. Nothing should be done to encourage the blight of lustful and greedy hearts. Those seduced by evil want what they want and will not let anyone tell them what to do, even God. The rights and needs of others are dismissed because there is a failure to love as God loves us. It is for this reason that the two-fold commandment of Christ, loving God and neighbor, is really one commandment. We cannot say that we love the God we do not see while hating the neighbor we do see.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Third Notorious Mystery

There is no sin that arouses our Lord’s ire like that of hypocrisy. Jesus holds nothing back in his negative assessment of the scribes, religious lawyers and the Pharisees. Like the whipping of the money-changers, we are shocked by his words and behavior. His woe-statements are literally curses against them. This flies in the face of the passive wimp-image that so many have of Jesus, today. Indeed, people who are challenged for misconduct will say things like, “Who are you to judge?” and “Jesus would not condemn me.” But can we be so sure? Jesus is also the great Pantocrator (as imaged in the large mosaic at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception) — the God of Judgment. Are we the disciples that we claim to be or have we compromised ourselves? All sin, large and small, from believers is a form of hypocrisy. The person’s intention is literally communicated through his action that “at this moment,” “here and now,” “I freely choose” to “disobey” Almighty God. It is in this light that all sin is serious. Jesus wants us wholly for himself. Anything less is from the evil one.

Filed under: Prayer | Leave a comment »