24th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Christ Before Everything

Caesarea Philippi is located in the Golan Heights, which is the northeastern part of the modern state of Israel. Today, the area is a beautiful park, visited by many nature lovers. Within the park stands a group of ancient Roman ruins, the remnants of temples dedicated to various gods revered in Greco-Roman culture. Among these temples was one honoring the Emperor Augustus, who had founded the Roman Empire and was worshipped as divine.

At the time of Christ, the Jewish people, like many other nations, lived under Roman occupation. Throughout the New Testament, we see a contrast between the reign of Christ and Roman imperial power. The Gospel of Mark starts with the words "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1). At first sight, we might gloss over this sentence as just a chapter heading. But, as we shall see, each word is full of deep meaning. The use of the word "beginning" invokes the first words of Genesis, "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), the words that introduce the account of creation. Mark is subtly implying that what we are about to read, the coming of Christ among us, is as important as God's act of creation. In the New Testament, the life-giving order created by Christ is set in contrast with the oppressive order brought about by the Roman Empire.

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23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Finding the Creator Through Creation

In understanding the role of the physical world in human life, we have seen two extremes in human history. One perspective is materialistic hedonism, which sees the overindulgent enjoyment of the physical as the goal of life, with no reference to a higher cause or state of being. On the other extreme, we see schools of thought like Gnosticism, which view the material world as inherently evil and consider the goal of life to be the escape from the physical toward the spiritual. Catholicism rejects both of these perspectives.

The Church teaches that the material world was created inherently good. The physical world has been marred by the consequence of sin, but the physical is not evil. We are allowed to enjoy the goodness of the physical world, as long as we have the right perspective. We must always remember that the material world is God’s creation. The physical is never an end in and of itself, but something that speaks of the glory of God, the creator of the universe. Thus, if we approach the world correctly, our engagement with the physical will always lift our soul to God. In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, we see the curing of a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. As soon as he is cured, he can hear the words of Jesus. He is also able to speak of Jesus to others. His situation is an image of how the physical can lift us up to the spiritual.

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Twisters Is a Cute and Uplifting Movie

I never thought I'd use the adjectives cute and sweet to refer to a movie about tornados, but both those words are apt to describe Twisters. Nor would I have had any interest in a Hollywood storm disaster flick, but the positive word of mouth from people whose opinion on movies I generally trust drew me in, and I am so glad I gave Twisters a chance, for several reasons.

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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Why We Must Flee From Even Small Sins

The ancient Israelites lived according to the Torah, also known as the Mosaic Law, the law that they received from God through Moses during their long journey in the desert. The Mosaic Law encompassed every aspect of life, from fundamentals to dietary codes and smaller matters too. For the ancient Israelites, there was no distinction between a secular and a religious sphere. Everything was viewed through the lens of their faith. Thus, the Mosaic Law governed not only one's individual relationship with God but the whole organization of society.

By observing the Mosaic Law, the Israelites truly lived as God's own chosen people. But they were chosen not for their own glory but to be a light to the other nations. A major part of their calling was to show to the rest of the world how to live in right relationship with God. The observance of the Mosaic Law deliberately set them apart from other cultures, so that they would not blend in with the surrounding tribes but would be the shining light that would call them to repentance.

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