Bible on the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
The Raising of Lazarus
5th Sunday of Lent
The account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is told in John 11:1-45. In the telling, St. John offers us another sign (as he calls miracles). While the story stands on its own, it is part of a larger narrative’s flow in which Jesus is revealed by signs. The account follows the story of the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1-41). In the commentary on that gospel it was explained that the miracles (called “signs” / semeia) in the gospel point beyond themselves to the divine – not just the divine as a vague power, but to a person. The person who restored sight to the man blind since birth. The one who proclaims: “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10)
Chapter 10 continues the revelation of Jesus – and like the chapters before it, also reveals faith among people in the way they respond to the signs – or sin in the way they fail/refuse to respond to the sign. In John 10, Jesus reveals/identifies himself as the good shepherd (10:11,14) promised by Zechariah 34 who would bring the lost sheep of Israel back into the covenant relationship. But we see the hard hearts in scene after scene. Despite all the signs, there is a hardness of heart that always wants more signs before the commitment can be given. It is in this context that returning someone from the dead establishes the ultimate “fish or cut bait.”
In the Gospel we see Jesus, holding two grief-stricken sisters in his arms, and telling them with absolute certainty that he is the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus proclaims the truth of eternal and abundant life in bold, unapologetic tension with his own inner turmoil as he came face-to-face with the death of his friend. “When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled…and Jesus wept.” (John 11:33,5).
It is not just the dead who suffer. It is everyone around them who also suffers. There are aspects of the story that pull us to consider them more deeply, there is one part of the story that stands clear. It is a story well-suited for pandemics, plagues, death, doom, flood, fire, famine, and all manner of disease, disaster and human folly. It is an account that shows grief taking hold of Jesus, taking hold of God and breaking him down to tears. It is the clearest, most human, revelation of the Divine. And Jesus wept. Weeping in the same moment he proclaims he is the Resurrection and the Life. Weeping, for while God will have the last word, in this moment death is speaking.
This is a gospel that holds clear the promise of resurrection and joy but does not race past the moment when Mary and Martha are grieving. He weeps for Lazarus and he joins the sisters in their grief. His kindness calls us all into the holy vocation of empathy, compassionate suffering, and mourning.
You can find the full text of the Sunday gospel here. And if you are interested in a detailed commentary, one is available here.
The first reading is from the Prophet Ezekiel. Our passage is from a section that is a message of Hope to a people who were hard-hearted, strayed from the covenant into idolatry, and as a result were taken into exile in Babylon. The first reading is like the gospel but instead of raising one man, the Lord resuscitates a whole nation of people – raising them from the graves of their exile. This video will give you an introduction to the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
The Passion
On the sixth Sunday during Lent we have a unique liturgical feature: two gospels. At the start of the Mass, there is a gospel proclaimed that recalls Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the event we remember as “Palm Sunday.” What follows the reading of that gospel is a procession which serves as the entry of the priest celebrant into the sanctuary. The celebration of the Mass continues. Then, as part of the Liturgy of the Word, there is a second gospel proclaimed: the Passion narrative. It is the proclamation of the two gospels that gives the Sunday its formal name. While we often refer to it as Palm Sunday, the correct title of the celebration is “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.”
One way in which to view the Passion narrative is as an play in three Acts: love portrayed, love betrayed and love on display.
Love protrayed in Jesus’ desire to share the Passover table and to then institute the Eucharirst, as well as the love between Father and Son in the prayers in the garden.
Love betrayed by Judas, disciples running away at Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, and so much more.
Love on display – arms outstreached on the cross, connecting heaven and earth, open to his Father’s will, and open to receive all who believe into the salvation offered by his sacrifice.
The Passion narrative is a lengthy reading. You can find the full text of the Sunday gospel here. And if you are interested in a detailed commentary, one is available here.
Christ’s entry into Jerusalem | Pietro Lorenzetti, early 14th c. | Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi | Assisi, Italy
The first reading is from the Prophet Isaiah. One of best known passages is from Isaiah 52 which says how beautiful are the feet of the messenger who brings the good news. The video connects that passage to the Passion of Jesus, all part of the Good News (Gospel) of the Kingdom of God achieved on the Cross.
The Resurrection of the Lord (Easter Sunday)
Easter Sunday
The gospel narrative is simple: “On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.” What she encountered was an empty tomb. What the disciples saw was an empty tomb. Does an empty tomb change anything?
You can read the full text of the readings here.
The Easter gospel is only snapshot of the morning on a day that will continue to unfolds. While our gospel reading is taken from the Gospel of John, enjoy this video that contextualizes all the runs up to Easter from the Gospel of Luke.
2nd Sunday of Easter
(Divine Mercy)
The Upper Room
The gospel text for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of John (20:19-31). It is a scene in the Upper Room and occurs “On the evening of that first day of the week…” – in other words, it is the evening on the day Jesus was resurrected from the tomb. In John’s gospel we know that Mary Magdalene has already discovered the empty tomb and informed Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved (assumed to be John) of the findings which they confirm for themselves. Yet “they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9)
It is not hard to imagine the confusion, the rumors, the fears and doubts, and all that would try to fill the void of not knowing what to make of the empty tomb. It is at this point in time that the gospel narrative resumes.
What follows can be understood as three movements within the reading:
- The appearance of the Risen Lord and his greeting of peace,
- The giving of the Spirit and the mandate for the forgiveness of sins, and
- The familiar “doubting Thomas” narrative
There is a lot going on in these verses. If you would like to read a detailed commentary, you can find that here. The commentary goes into far more detail about the meaning of “peace”, what seems to be a “mini” Pentecost in the giving of the Holy Spirit, the commissioning (As the Father has sent me, so I send you.)
the institution and mandate of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the story of Thomas. Take the time and dive into the details!
A word about Thomas. Interestingly, the word “doubt” does not appear in the text, neither in English nor in Greek. The New American Bible (the one we use to proclaim the Sunday readings) says “do not be unbelieving, but believe.” An equally valid translation is: “do not be untrusting, but trust.” I think that when we use the word believe we tend to think of the messenger. “Trust” is a word we associate with relationships with people. Do we trust this person or not? Thomas received witness and testimony from the other disciples – did he not trust them? That is a question that Thomas needs to answer even before he can “believe” their testimony.
The disciples are being sent just as Jesus was sent. The messenger needs to be trustworthy before the message can be received.
Acts of the Apotles
After the events of Easter Sunday morning and that same evening when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room, the nacsent church was being born. There is still Pentecost to come that we will celebrate in some 40 days or so, but the first reading for this Sunday begins to describe the early church as a commuity of believers. The first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles – as are almost all of the first readings (daily Mass and Sunday). Take a moment and watch this overview video of the Acts of the Apostles.
Breathing Divine Mercy
A homily from Bishop Robert Barron in which he unpacks the meaning of Jesus breathing on the disciples. He cnnected that action and its source to the story of Creation, the moment the holy breath of God gave life into the soil that became Adam, and its connection to Psalm 104…. and there is a lot more!
3rd Sunday of Easter
The Road
The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is part of the unfolding narrative of the events of the first “Easter Sunday.” As one would expect, their hopes were crucified on Good Friday: “we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” In their minds and hearts, those hopes lay buried in the tomb. They note that “Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.” But later went back to the site and could only verify that the tomb was empty. And now the rumors are swirling about and filling up the void of actually knowing what happened. Disheartened, they are heading home.
This is when they meet the stranger on the way. The narrative forms an outline of the Mass with a nascent liturgy of the Word and of the Eucharist. “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.” Later the two will remark that their hearts were burning within them. It is later at table that they recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
The account is another of the unfolding events of that first Easter Sunday but it also outlines the hopes for your participation in Mass. The heart and mind inflamed by the Word of God, leading to a recognition of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
You can find the full text of the Sunday gospel here. And if you are interested in a detailed commentary, one is available here.
Proclaiming the Good News
In the first reading we continue to follow the Apostles and disciples as they move from the Upper Room into Jerusalem to begin their mission of evangelization. The scene follows the imparting of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The speech contains all the elements of the kerygma, related to the Greek verb κηρύσσω (kērússō), literally meaning “to cry or proclaim as a herald” and being used in the sense of “to proclaim, announce, preach”. Amongst biblical scholars, the term has come to mean the core of the early church’s teaching about Jesus. And that is exactly what Peter does.
Previously we offered Part 1 of 2 of an overview of the Acts of the Apostles. Now we provide Part 2. Enjoy.
4th Sunday of Easter
The Gate
The gospel text for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of John (10:1-10). The text has sheep, shepherds but rather than describing a bucolic scene, the passage seems to begin with a harsh, accusatory tone. It is almost as if we have picked up an on-going conversation. And we have. There are many commentators who set the boundaries of this gospel pericope as John 9:39-10:21 in order that the reader understand the scene that is unfolding.
Chapter 9 is essentially the narrative of the “man born blind” whom Jesus heals on the Sabbath – much to the exasperation of the religious authorities who cannot see the glory of God revealed in this sign. Instead the authorities are more concerned with a violation of Sabbath rules and want to get to the bottom of the “who, what, when and where” of the miracle. They never seem to pursue “why” it was done and on the Sabbath. One of their agenda was to discredit the notion that Jesus was the promised Messiah (cf. 9:22). At the end of the narrative, the now-sighted man has been thrown out of the Temple and Jesus comes to him. While the man comes to believe in Jesus as Messiah, the religious authorities are, at best, divided – and in fact are plotting to do away with Jesus. Jesus knows their hearts and that gives context to the verse that follows: Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
Jesus is rebuking the religious authorities because they had become irresponsible and thieving shepherds, feeding themselves rather than their flock. The condemnation of the shepherds would have been a theme well understood from the OT narrative. Crucial to the identification of the author’s purpose at this point is the necessary realization that he is writing about Jesus with the text of Ezekiel 34 in clear view. (Note: it would be good to pause at this point and read Ezekiel 34) In that passage, Ezekiel, speaking God’s word, rebukes and condemns the kings and authorities of his own time. They too had fed themselves rather than their flock. Thus God would take away their position and authority and become the shepherd himself. Finally he would appoint another shepherd after the figure of David. John sees all of this coming true and fulfilled in Jesus: the Good Shepherd. Thus John makes clear that the glory of God is being revealed in the pastoral metaphor of shepherd in that Jesus’ fidelity to his sheep, his sacrifice for them, will stand in contrast to the failure of the blinded, bullying authorities of John 9.
The metaphors come fast and often in John 10. There are the sheep — easily identified as the flock that Jesus intends to lead into good pasture (v. 9), those whom he knows by name and who recognize his voice (vv. 3–4, 14), those whom he intends to defend against thieves and robbers (vv. 1, 8, 10) and whom he wishes to join together with all others who, listening to his voice, will come into the one fold (v. 16). Jesus will effect all this because he is the Good Shepherd (vv. 11, 14), loved by the Father because he will lay down his life for the sheep. It is this act of total, loving self-sacrifice that is mentioned again and again as the central motif. Appearing first in v.11 as the good shepherd title is introduced, it occurs again in verses 15, 17, and twice in verse 18. Though the shepherd-sheep metaphor was well known in the OT, this laying down of the shepherd’s life is something new. It is the characteristic function of Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd, especially because of his willing self-sacrifice.
The Traits of the Shepherd
The list of God’s character traits found in Exodus 34:6-7 is the most repeated and re-quoted text in the Bible. In this video, we’ll explore this foundational description of God’s attributes that illustrates what God values and why he acts the way he does. What is it about the Good Shepherd that instills in the sheep the desire to follow?
5th Sunday of Easter
The Gate
In the gospel for the 5th Sunday is part of a larger section which includes the Last Supper and all that takes place after Jesus had washed the disciples feet, after Judas had left the table, and after Peter’s protestations he would never betray Jesus. The section comes before the disciples see their master led away for trial; then be condemned to death on a cross. Their faith will be sorely tested. Jesus’ teaching, beginning in 14:1, was given to strengthen for the hours, days, months and years to come.
There are several discourses in the Gospel according to John, however, this one is different. Where the others generally follow an event and serve to explain the event (e.g., John 5,6 or 9), the Farewell Discourse is one given in anticipation of the Passion, Death and Resurrection. It is thus interesting that in its liturgical use, while Jesus is preparing the disciples for the events of the three days of Holy Week (triduum) – in our time it is after the celebration of Holy Week and Easter. Of course, these readings are also given to us to prepare our endeavors and journey in the times following Easter.
One of the great discourses/speeches of the OT is the book of Deuteronomy, especially the farewell discourse by Moses to the people of Israel on the plains of Moab. The book of Deuteronomy reached its final written form during the Babylonian Exile period when Israel was asking itself the deep questions of identity, place and purpose. It is that context that Moses’ farewell speech receives a fresh hearing by new ears, in a new time and place. These words spoken long ago before the event of entering the promised land, are later heard in a new moment by a new people – even centuries after the event. Just as the people of exile were invited to see themselves on the plains of Moab, so too, in our day, we are invited to see ourselves in the Upper Room. We are reminded what is ours to do in proclamation of the Good News of the risen Christ. It is in this vein that the Johannine discourse is offered by the Church for our consideration on the 5th Sunday in Easter
Royal Priesthood
For this and the following 5 Sundays, the second video will cover the the final verse in the second reading for the 5th Sunday in Easter (Year A). The verse simply states: “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises’ of him.” (1 Peter 4:9) The expression is taken from Exodus 19:6 and Isaiah 61:6 – and echoed in Revelation 1:6 and 20:6.) Simple, yet containing such depth. Specifically we will look at the biblical idea of a “royal priesthood.”