Eagle, Brevard Zoo
c. J. P. Mahon

Moses exhorts the Israelites to keep the commandments so that God will reward them with good life. Not to honor the commandments leads to death and destruction. Jesus urges his followers to “be perfect and your heavenly Father is perfect.” Luke’s version calls upon them to “be merciful or compassionate as the heavenly Father is merciful or compassionate.” Somewhat contrasting challenges,  to say the least. The first from Moses relies on command. The second from Jesus relies on invitation. Continue reading →

Pelican
c. J. P. Mahon

[This year on the First Friday in Lent, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter trumps the Lenten readings. Being I do not wish to reflect on the Patriarchal Chair of Peter, I have reflected on today’s Lenten Readings from Ezekiel and Jesus.

One theory holds that matriarchal societies persisted until about 2500 BCE. The picture of the pelican reminds us that pelican fossils date back to 40 million years ago. They may carry memories of the goddesses and matriarchy.]

“You have heard it said . . . but I say to you. . . .” These words of Jesus alert us to the reality of the Kin-dom Jesus is proclaiming. Jesus is warning us that, as the Kin-dom dawns here and now, it cannot be business as usual.

In the first reading, Ezekiel painted two pictures—the deeds of the just man and the deeds of the wicked man. His undergirding theology was that God will directly punish the wicked and reward the just. Our experience does not square with that as the Bible also says that the sun shall rise on the wicked and the just and that rain (grace) shall fall on the just and the wicked alike. Continue reading →

Art of Sand sculpture reminds us of all of God’s creatures
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

The age old question is, “Does God really answer prayer?” The response of the believer is, “Yes!” The more realistic answer is, “What does your God look like?”

The Israelites saw God as having agency in their lives and affairs. God is active on behalf of his people if they are faithful. The amazing thing about God is that God is faithful, wants to look good to the nations, even when we go astray. We wander and stray; however, we then repent and God forgives. We thus move forward to a new and deeper level of relationship. It really is all about relationships. Continue reading →

Today’s readings are about prayer. God’s word is efficacious. It goes forth and produces results. Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. They are not to babble on like pagans. The prayer he taught them says it all.

I want to focus on new insights into prayer from Walter Breuggemann and Robert Heaney (http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/021913.html). Daniel’s prayer on behalf of the people in Daniel 9 is a prayer which recounts Israel’s failures at covenant keeping. Israel sins. Israel repents. God forgives. The prayer also shows that the Israelites realized that God has agency in their lives. God can and does act in the lives of people. The covenant is not s set pattern like Torah. The covenant is a back and forth negotiation between God and God’s people. Brueggemann says that Isaiah 56 is a deliberate contradiction to Torah. God will welcome eunuchs and foreigners to God’s holy mountain. God is not bound by God’s previous acst. God is free to change God’s ways as the relationship with the people progresses. (I bet Walter cannot sell this exegesis  to the patriarchs of the Vatican!) Continue reading →

Poor Children in Nicaragua
c. J. P. Mahon, 2006

The list of commandments in Leviticus 19 expands beyond the other versions of the Ten Commandments. This list makes it perfectly clear that God is a God of justice, right order. Loyalty to God demands that we structure our lives around these life-giving principles. We are not to steal, lie, swear falsely, or profane God’s name. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Note this is in the Old Testament); therefore, we do not rob or defraud our neighbor. We do not withhold the wages of day laborers. We are not to curse the deaf even though they never hear what we are saying. How cruel it would be to place stumbling blocks before the blind. We are to render just judgment and treat all people evenhandedly. Think of how peaceful the world would be if we stopped spreading slander. We are not to stand by idly when our neighbor is in dire peril. Finally, we are not to take revenge or cherish grudges. A tall moral order indeed; however, these are the rules that help us build our first half of life containers. Continue reading →

Winter Sunset in FL
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

My wife sometimes reminds me that Richard Rohr teaches that Jesus did not say, “Worship me.” Jesus said, “Follow me.” I imagine the results if Jesus had walked up to Levi’s tax collector’s booth and said, “Worship me.” Remember that Levi was an outlaw among his own people because he was part to the system that was ripping them off. He collected the taxes plus whatever value added he could impose for his own profiteering. If Jesus has said, “Levi, follow me,” Levi would probably still be in his tax booth happily ripping off his compatriots. Continue reading →

Sunset Light
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

In frustration, we cry out to God. Come, save us, make our lives right. Restore order and harmony. Give us peace. What is wrong? We go to church every Sunday. We say our prayers. We listen to sermons. Some of us in Eucharistic churches share in Jesus’ body and blood. Yet, our lives are miserable. Wars, murderous rampages, draught, famine, high carbon fuel prices, contaminated food supplies, dirty water, shrinking IRAs, a burgeoning debt and a failing economy. C’mon, God, why? What is happening? Why aren’t you listening to our cries and pleas? We even fast during Lent? Yet, it is more of the same old stuff day after day. Vanities of vanities and all is vanity. Lamentation upon lamentation and yet to no avail! Continue reading →

Hagia Sophia Istanbul
c. J. P. Mahon, 2012

Richard Rohr popularizes Carl Jung’s two halves of life theory. The first half, the length of which varies from person to person, is about building the container. Early on we are on the path of ascent building our ego, building structures which will help us establish ourselves. It’s about us, our work, our dreams, our accomplishments, our families and our lives. At some point, we grow into a sense of futility about what we have been about. My experience is that the path of descent is not a single event, though it may be. Rather, it is about adjusting to the changes that life throws at us when the joints stiffen from arthritis and when the systems which served us well in the first half start to dwindle or even fail. When I was growing up, we were bombarded with aspirin ads during the nightly news.  Now we are bombarded with ads about Androgel for Low T(estosterone) and Cialis to be ready for the right time! Continue reading →