Israel understands itself as a nation existing only through God’s extraordinary mercy. Blotted out from the earth because of their sins against the poor, their wars carried out for the sake of prosperity, and their political alliances that led to idolatry, God nonetheless restores them from captivity in Babylon. The God who led Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea acts once again: “Remember not...
In the Sunday lectionary, there is often an obvious connection between the reading from the Old Testament and the Gospel. Yet, the third Sunday of Lent requires a bit of work from the reader to discern how the two texts are mutually illuminating.
Parents of young children are aware of the pushing of boundaries that our children perform when beginning to exercise their newly discovered will. If a hungry or sleepy toddler is told not to throw their stainless steel train, it is very likely that said toddler will launch this toy across the room with maximum velocity. The child will then stare into the eyes of the exasperated parent, daring mom...
The Year of Mercy is a call to action, but first of all, it is a call to contemplate the action of God. In the words of Pope Francis, “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy.” But contemplation is really hard work; it takes tremendous effort to learn to receive well, to take up a posture of willed passivity in the manner of Jesus’ Immaculate Mother who “[heard] the Word of God and ...
