tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post4426338728313942780..comments2024-03-18T15:28:13.866-04:00Comments on A Concord Pastor Comments: Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary TimeConcord Pastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18322127779647130869noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-33035585766354095062009-11-12T16:24:58.643-05:002009-11-12T16:24:58.643-05:00The introductions to the readings that I use are t...The introductions to the readings that I use are the work of the late Bishop Kenneth Untner of the Saginaw diocese in Michigan.Concord Pastorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18322127779647130869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-7275278249099793162009-11-12T15:27:53.987-05:002009-11-12T15:27:53.987-05:00Concord Pastor, Those context-setting introduction...Concord Pastor, Those context-setting introductions that you read out before the official readings each Sunday... They are from the St. Louis Jesuits, are they not?<br /><br /><br />Irish GalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-89145284184707301332009-11-10T17:05:42.319-05:002009-11-10T17:05:42.319-05:00Concord Pastor, your ability to break open the wor...Concord Pastor, your ability to break open the word in ways that perhaps we haven't thought of before is a testament to how seriously you take your role as a preacher. I for one am grateful that you research the readings with an eye to expanding our knowledge of the Bible, biblical times and biblical personalities. Your brief introductions to the Sunday readings are also very helpful in setting the historical context for the readings.<br /><br />RosemaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-21773064017352985362009-11-10T07:08:27.890-05:002009-11-10T07:08:27.890-05:00Thanks - I understand more fully now.Thanks - I understand more fully now.christinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-16350963675533406062009-11-09T21:58:01.643-05:002009-11-09T21:58:01.643-05:00Yes and no, Christine... each preacher is charged ...Yes and no, Christine... each preacher is charged with breaking open the Word so that God's people can be nourished by it. It's not so much about what the preacher believes - it's about what the Word speaks.<br /><br />I've never before preached on this text as I did this weekend, and over 36 years of preaching, I've had this text to preach about a dozen times. I often consult the work of John Pilch whose expertise is on first century middle eastern culture, especially with regards to the communities with whom Jesus interacted. It's very important and helpful for us to understand the context in which the story of Jesus was originally preached and finally written down. Pilch writes about the class system of the time and the ways in which the scribes abused that. <br /><br />When you look at the longer form of the day's gospel as one piece it's hard to miss the connection between Jesus' condemnation of the scribes and the story of the widow. As I preached, it's impossible to understand fully what Jesus says of the widow if we don't consider what he said of the scribes.<br /><br />Interesting, isn't it, that many Christians are familiar with the image of the "widow's mite" but many would not be familiar with the image of the "scribes devouring the houses of widows" - and yet both images are part of the same scene in the scriptures. No doubt about it: we need to grapple with what Jesus says of the scribes and there can be a little "scribe" in all of us (or even a lot!).<br /><br />I was pleased to use the pope's beautiful title as an image of what true hierarchy is about and careful not to avoid the unmistakable similarities between the scribes and those, including myself, who are their contemporary colleagues. The temptations facing the scribes in Jesus' time face today's "scribes" as well. <br /><br />Looking at the whole of my homily, Christine, I think you'll see that in addition to holding the scribes accountable, in the end I point to Jesus upholding the value and virtue of the kind of giving the widow offers and, in the end, I tried to call us to that same kind of giving, modeled most perfectly in the sacrificial offering of Christ.<br /><br />My Monday Morning Offering picks up the same theme - the offering up of those realities we find most difficult to let go.Concord Pastorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18322127779647130869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-92107547422988904512009-11-09T21:10:02.079-05:002009-11-09T21:10:02.079-05:00Maybe, Irish Gal, the "plain" meaning of...Maybe, Irish Gal, the "plain" meaning of the the text, was not intended. Isn't that the beauty of what each pastor preaches? Preaching of what he believes Jesus intended us to hear??? Maybe this is what concordpastor believes is a different perspective. I don't believe he's saying this is actually what it means ... but what it "could" mean. <br /><br />I, for one, like his different perspective.christinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-74810546132670594272009-11-09T08:18:44.481-05:002009-11-09T08:18:44.481-05:00There is so much in your interpretation, Father, t...There is so much in your interpretation, Father, that I've never heard before. "A structure and its leadership" leaving the widow obligated to offer even her last penny. The evil all-male scribes... and hierarchy. From the simple sacrificial love of God (which most everyone uses as a theme) to a feminist/liberation deconstruction? I never before got a whiff of the widow being "guilted" into her praiseworthy giving, or of her leaving her children destitute. Why stray into these conjectured areas when the plain meaning of the text is rich in value? I believe here --as with the gospel on marriage a few weeks ago -- you somehow are missing the essential point.<br /><br />Irish GalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4808375493800890797.post-1774721667148284632009-11-08T19:55:29.805-05:002009-11-08T19:55:29.805-05:00Thank you! I very much appreciate your inclusion o...Thank you! I very much appreciate your inclusion of the first part of this gospel about the scribes as an integral part of the reading as well as your commentary on it This does frame the message in a different way and, I think, offer encouragement for the generosity of the Faithful.Novonoreply@blogger.com