Mark wants to establish early-on in his Gospel who Jesus is and the authority of his teachings. The religious leaders of his time centered their teachings on traditions and laws. The purpose of the Law given by God to the people of Israel was to produce holiness – a...
Most people will miss what is happening in today’s Gospel. Most of us modern day listeners would tend to focus on the expulsion of the demons and lose the rest of the importance in today’s Gospel. Then we even tend to explain away the expulsion using modern science,...
Today we find Jesus acting to cure a terrible disease called leprosy. This was a very scarry disease in the times when Jesus lived. I was incurable and contagious. The lepers had to live outside of the town, and they could only support themselves through begging. They...
When Jesus returns to this hometown at the beginning of his public ministry, he chose the reading from the prophet Isaiah that we just heard. It was obviously a reading that set the tone for his whole ministry. As such it should also be foundational in our own...
Today we look at one of the most iconic moments in the Gospel. We generally call it “the multiplication of the loaves”. The whole event is centered in the first verse that we just heard: his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a...
