Christ in the Wilderness, Ivan Kramskoi, 1872 (Tretyakov Gallery)

Filled with the Holy Spirit,
Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
(Luke 4:1–2)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
First Sunday of Lent
Deuteronomy 26:4–10
March 6, 2022

Very few sections of the Bible are oracles of a wise teacher from a distant perch. The Jews believed in a God who was involved with their history and demanded that those who would speak for him be the same. Christians hold the same belief, and we find in Jesus most especially a connection with daily life. Although the scriptures emerge from divine commitment to a particular time and place as we discover in all great literature, this makes them more relevant for and applicable to every time. Yet there are some events which will make a certain passage shed an almost uncanny light. Recent events have made today’s reading from the Book of Deuteronomy unfortunately revealing for today, indeed perhaps the very day you read this.

Continue reading “1st Sunday of Lent – Needing Both Jesus and Neighbor” →

The Parable of the Mote and the Beam,
Domenico Fetti, c. 1619 (The Met 5th Ave.)
(About this Image)

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
(Luke 6:41–42)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 15:54–58
February 27, 2022

We complete our reading of the 15^th chapter of 1 Corinthians today with the conclusion of Paul’s argument for the Resurrection of the Body. This is also the end of the teaching section of the entire letter. This topic is so important that the Church brings it to our attention for five Sundays. Even though we read it in greater detail than almost any other section of Scripture we still have skipped sections and today we must begin several verses before this week’s selection.

This I declare, brothers:
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

(1 Co 15:50)

“This I declare” means pay attention. “Flesh and Blood” is a typical Jewish expression for the human body as a physical entity which of itself will decompose. As his audience was composed of many non-Jews, he translates this for them “as corruption.”

Continue reading “8th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Embracing the Resurrection of the Body” →

David Takes Saul’s Spear and Water Bottle,
James Jacques Tissot, c. 1896-1902, The Jewish Museum (NYC)

But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him,
for who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”
So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head,
and they got away without anyone’s seeing or knowing or awakening.
(1 Samuel 26:9,12)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 15:45–49
February 20, 2022

This week we continue our examination of Chapter 15 of Paul’s 1^st letter to the Corinthians. It is very rare that the Lectionary allots five weeks to one chapter of one letter for our second reading at Mass but this, as we have seen, is a unique chapter in a special letter. Even with this unusual attention we are not reading all of it and we are skipping about 20 verses from the last week to this. We must begin with an overview of these verses and examine a question which will shed light not only on today’s passage but on a very modern problem.

Continue reading “Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time – Being the Best Jesus We Can Be” →

The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew,
Caravaggio, c. 1603–1606, Hampton Court (London)

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
(Luke 5:10–11)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Cor 15: 1–11
February 6, 2022

For the four weeks of February, our second reading for Mass will be from the 15^th Chapter of 1^st Corinthians. This is an unusual amount of time to be devoted to one chapter, but it is one of the most important parts of the New Testament. As we will see it is a clear, concise, and profound proclamation and examination of the basics of our faith. Last week, we read the great “Marriage Reading” from the 13^th Chapter of 1 Corinthians and noted that however powerful it is in itself, it is even more meaningful when we understand it in the context of the entirety of the letters to the Corinthians. We will find the same with examining this chapter. Paul’s intention is more than preaching solid doctrine but in forming a solid community.

Continue reading “5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – The Community that Hears the Good News” →

Brow of the Hill Near Nazareth, James Tissot,
c. 1886–1894, Brooklyn Museum
(About this Image)

When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove [Jesus] out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
(Luke 4:28–30)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Cor 12:31–13:13
January 30, 2022

Today’s reading is among the most beloved passages in the Bible. It is a hymn to love and is by far the most popular reading at weddings. It is indeed beautiful by itself, but as we may suspect from our examination so far of 1 Corinthians, it is immeasurably more so in context. Although we as members of the Global North may have some trouble appreciating its wider context.

Paul is writing to a mixed group Jews, Greeks, slave, free, rich, poor. They are very impressed by oratory, and he will use many rhetorical techniques to reveal his familiarity with “proper speech.” Some of these are extremely effective and provide significant clarity but would take undue time to explain. We will look at this passage from the perspective of community. As we have seen the Corinthian church was not only composed of people from every land but from every class. It was a boom town in constant flux. A religion, indeed, any new society, would experience great tension keeping itself together. The more elite sections would expect to be given the places, positions, and privileges of their station. We see this in 1 Cor when the rich who gave their houses for the communion meeting—Eucharist—would expect better food and wine than the more common members. Others, however, sensed this as a new opportunity and sought to gain status by their participation in the Church. As Paul reminds us, all Christians have been given spiritual gifts and there is always the tendency to hold mine as the most important. We still find this today with people who claim the benefits of “meritocracy.”

Continue reading “4th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Building a Community Through Love” →

Le Christ chez les paysans, Fritz von Uhde,
1887–1888, Musée d’Orsay
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 12:12–30
January 23, 2022

Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are among his most personal writings. As we saw last week, Corinth was a busy mercantile and industrial city, which attracted people from the entire empire. The church at Corinth reflected this diversity not only with members from many religious and ethnic groups but by its composition: a small elite, some small businesspeople, and many laborers and craftspeople. They were enthusiastic but often did not fully digest Paul’s message and needed to be “reinstructed” more carefully. Continue reading “3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Bound Together by Our Spiritual Gifts” →

The Marriage at Cana, Maerten de Vos,
c. 1596, O.-L. Vrouwekathedraal
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 12:4–11
January 16, 2022

TV Westerns of the 50s and 60s were a wonderful introduction to sociology. Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, and countless others showed how towns and the social structures that maintained them developed. They mostly unconsciously revealed the importance of class and caste. Despite the almost official American ideology of rugged individualism, we saw how people worked together to build towns along rivers, between mountains, and eventually along train routes. Although most people farmed crops or herded animals, others were drawn to support roles of merchandising and transportation. There was almost always at least one church, school, and saloon in any town and perhaps to appeal to a wider audience, the contributions of white ethics were shown from the beginning. Black, Brown, and Asian people were added in the later sixties. Some programs were very honest about racial tensions but almost all about the conflicts between the very small elite and the workers and farmers. The realities both positive and negative of the power structures were clearly seen.

Continue reading “Second Sunday of Ordinary Time – Using Our Spirit-Given Gifts” →