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Monthly Archives: March 2015

Rejected in his hometown.

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Jesus then went to his hometown of Nazareth, taking his disciples with him. He stood up to teach and to read in the synagogue on the Sabbath as he usually did.

MT 13:54a, MK 6:1-2a, LK 4:16

He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll to the place where it was written: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim freedom to those in captivity, and healing to those who are blind, to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Rolling up the scroll, he gave it back and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was looking intently at him. He then said “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

LK 4:17-21

They were amazed and said “How did he get to be so wise, and how is he able to perform miracles? Isn’t this Joseph the carpenters son? Isn’t his mother Mary, and isn’t he the brother of James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters sitting here with us? Where does he get these ideas?” They were offended by what he said.

MT 13:54b-57a, MK 6:2b-3, LK 4:22

Then he said “No doubt you will quote the proverb ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ And you will say ‘Do everything here that you did in Capernaum.’”

LK 4:23

“Mark my words, a prophet is accepted and given honor everywhere except his hometown, in his family, and in his home.”

MT 13:57b, MK 6:4, LK 4:24

“But I tell you there were certainly many other widows in Israel in Elijah’s days when there was a drought for three and a half years, and a great famine because of it. Yet Elijah was sent to only one of them, a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And later in Elisha’s time there were many who had leprosy, but he healed only one of them, Naaman from Syria.”

Everyone in the synagogue became very angry when they heard this. They drove him out of town to the edge of a hill, meaning to throw him over the cliff, but he walked through the crowd and left instead.

LK 4:25-30

He was only able to heal a few sick people there, not many miracles at all. He was amazed at their unbelief.

MT 13:58, MK 6:5-6

Poem – discipline

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In order to gain something you need,
you have to give up something you want.

Reading, study, sleep,
versus
TV and the internet
for instance.

Consider the
monkey with his hand in the jar.
He can hold onto what is in the jar,
or pull his hand out
and be free.
He can’t do both.
What are you holding onto?

Time, money, energy
– these are all things we spend.
Are they giving good value for you?

The meaning of the parable of the wheat and weeds, along with the parables of the hidden treasure, pearl of great value, net, and storehouse

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The meaning of the parable of the wheat and the weeds.

Jesus sent away the crowds and went into the house. His disciples asked him to explain the parable of the wheat and the weeds to them.

He answered “The Son of Man is the one who sows the good seed, the field is the world, and the sons of the kingdom are the good seed. The weeds are the sons of the Devil, who sowed them. The harvest represents the end of the age, while the harvesters are angels.”

“In the same way that the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will separate out every stumbling block and everyone who does not follow the Law of God. The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then, all the godly people will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen to this!”

MT 13:36-43

The parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure a man discovered that was buried in a field. After he found it, he covered it back up again, and in his joy he went and sold everything he had to buy that field.”

“Also, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant on a quest for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went and sold everything he had so he could buy it.”

MT 13:44-46

The parable of the net.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It gathers up every kind of fish, and when it is full, the fishermen drag it ashore and put the good fish into containers but throw away the worthless ones.”

MT 13:47-48

The storeroom.

Jesus asked them “Have you understood what I have told you?”

“Yes,” they said.

“Therefore, every teacher of the Law who has been instructed in the nature of the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings new treasures as well as old out of his storeroom.”

Jesus left there after finishing these parables.

MT 13:51-53

The parable of the barren fig tree

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“There once was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He went to see if there was fruit on it, but there wasn’t any. He told his gardener to cut the tree down, explaining that in three years there hadn’t been any fruit on the tree. It was a waste of dirt.

The gardener asked him to give it another year. He promised to dig around it and fertilize it. He said ‘If it doesn’t bear fruit after that then it can be cut down.’”

LK 13:6-9

The parable of the growing seed.

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“The kingdom of heaven is also like this; a man scatters seed, and without his knowledge or assistance the seed sprouts and grows over time. The soil makes the seed grow all by itself. First there was a leaf blade, then the heads of wheat formed, and finally the grain ripened. As soon the crop was ready, the man sent for the harvesters.”

MK 4:26-29

The parable of the mustard seed

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“How can I explain what the kingdom of God is like? What can I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed sown in the ground. It is smaller than any other seed, but when grown, it is a huge tree, taller than any vegetable. It becomes a tree big enough for birds to make nests in its large branches.”

MT 13:31-32, MK 4:30-32, LK 13:18-19

The parable of the wheat and the weeds.

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Jesus offered his listeners another parable. “The kingdom of heaven may be thought of as being like a farmer who sowed good wheat seed in his field. One night while he slept his enemy came and planted weeds in amongst the good wheat seed. Later the plants sprouted. The wheat and weeds had grown up together.

The man’s servants asked him ‘Didn’t you only sow wheat here? Then why are there weeds?’

‘This was done by an enemy!’ he said.

His servants asked him ‘Do you want us to pull out the weeds?’

‘No’ he said. ‘You might accidentally uproot the good wheat at the same time. Let them both grow together until harvest time. Then I will tell the reapers to sort out the weeds, tie them in bundles, and burn them, but put the wheat in the barn.'”

MT 13:24-30

Poem – the cross, the tree, the altar. The thing isn’t the thing.

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Consider
the cross of Saint Damiano,
the cross that St. Francis was praying under
when he got the commission
from God
to rebuild the Church.
The cross is now guarded by the Poor Clares
and a copy
hangs in the chapel.

Consider
the bodhi tree
Buddha sat under
and achieved enlightenment.
Sad looking monks sit under
that same tree
now.
Nothing happens.

I once found
a temple to Mithras
in a sheepfield somewhere in England,
the foundation is there,
but the altar is at Newcastle
in a museum.

Why do we idolize the thing?
Why do we think the thing
is the thing?

The cross isn’t special,
the tree isn’t special,
the altar isn’t special.
What happened was special,
is special.

Are the guards
of the cross and the altar
trying to prevent others
from having that same awakening,
that same experience,
not knowing that
lightning never strikes
in the same place
twice?
God is everywhere,
awakening is everywhere.

Are the monks hoping that
by sitting there
they will awaken
too?
If only Buddha were here
to say,
go find your own tree.

Perhaps he just did.