The End of Mark’s Gospel

This is our final reading from Mark's Gospel. While November 24th is the last Sunday of the Church Year, that Sunday we will have a reading from John's Gospel. This week we get Mark 13:1-8, but I recommend taking a few minutes to read the whole chapter. Chapter 13 is frequently known as the "Little … Continue reading The End of Mark’s Gospel →

The Widow teaches us

Whenever I talk to folks about the Gospels, I like to ask what some of their favorite stories are. I hear a lot of the highlights from Luke like the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan. The Beatitudes from Matthew often make an appearance. Folks will rapturously describe some of the discourses from John. Two … Continue reading The Widow teaches us →

Again?

I've read the Bible, and the Gospels in particular, a lot. I read the Daily Office with its three bible readings most days. I go to church most Sundays. I have a minor in Hebrew. So when I see something in the Biblical text that I've never noticed, I sit up and take notice. This … Continue reading Again? →

You don’t know what you’re asking

I have a literature degree. Part of what I have been trained to do throughout my life is to read texts closely, dissect them for meaning, and look in every word and phrase for connections to the rest of the text. That's why, the last time we had this text in 2021, my eyes were … Continue reading You don’t know what you’re asking →

Who can be saved?

They [the disciples] were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” (Mk 10:26) This deeply important question is asked in this week's Gospel. But there's a problem. What does it mean to be saved? There's a lot of opinions about who will be saved in our modern day but one through … Continue reading Who can be saved? →

The Word and the words

This week's passage from Mark's Gospel frequently gets called "The Divorce Passage" and for good reason: as soon as we hear the word "divorce" in the passage we don't hear anything else! But that is an artifact of the way this passage has been misused to subjugate women and keep them in abusive marriage throughout … Continue reading The Word and the words →

Jesus asks the hard questions, again

This week's gospel is tough. This is one of the ones that is really easy to brush off and ignore, but we do so to our own peril. It is the difficult passages of the Biblical text that we must engage with more seriously than the ones that are nice or (seemingly) easy to understand. … Continue reading Jesus asks the hard questions, again →

Jesus and the Fourth Wall

In this week's Gospel (Mark 9:30-37) we get another dose of Jesus breaking the fourth wall. If you're not familiar with that phrase, it comes from media, particularly TV and movies in my experience, where the people inside the world of the show or movie look at the camera or make an aside that is … Continue reading Jesus and the Fourth Wall →

Pick up your cross

As we travel through Mark's Gospel in the Lectionary this summer, we arrive, with eleven weeks until the First Sunday of Advent, at the beginning of the first climax of Mark's Gospel. The end of Chapter 8 and the beginning of Chapter 9 are in my mind the most fascinating and compelling parts of the … Continue reading Pick up your cross →