The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Tomb,
Eugène Burnand, 1898, Musée d’Orsay
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
Easter Sunday
April 17, 2022
Acts 10:34A, 37-43

During the Easter Season, the first reading will change from selections from the Old Testament to passages from the “Acts of the Apostles.” This is an inspired decision which will become clearer as the season progresses. The Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke whose Gospel we have been reading this year and who we have also been examining in Bible Study.

Continue reading “Easter – Being Apostles Today” →

Entry into Jerusalem, Wilhelm Morgner, 1912, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany.
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Palm Sunday
Philippians 2:6–11
April 10, 2022

As we saw in last week’s reading from Philippians, Paul had an exceptionally good relationship with this community. The letter to the Philippians is a “Letter of Friendship,” not of exhortation much less of sorrow. This does not mean that everything was perfect; there were strains within the Church but that they addressed them as Paul had preached “with the same mind that is in Christ Jesus.” (Php 2:5) Last week, we saw how false teachers had come to Philippi and caused discussion. They preached a Gospel which was overly dependent on maintaining Jewish customs and attitudes. Paul praises the Philippians for their wisdom and loyalty to the Gospel of Christ. However, in December, we read of a more personal conflict which Paul ultimately feels will be satisfactorily concluded.

Continue reading “Palm Sunday – Exalted by Humility” →

Jesus Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery,
Lorenzo Lotto, c. 1528, Louvre
(About this Image)

They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
(John 8:4–7)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Philippians 3:8–14
April 3, 2022

Paul’s mission strategy was to go to a large trading city with at
least some Jewish merchants. He would visit their synagogue and as a
learned man be invited to speak. As a compelling speaker, he would
attract disciples among them and from this core he extended his ministry
to Gentiles. When he felt that the seed had been planted, he would
choose leaders and move on to another city. This allowed him to make
more converts, but it also meant that the seed may not have had much
time to mature before it was tested. Since other preachers would have
realized the same thing as Paul and also sought out cities on trade
routes, the most serious testing was from other Christians. Sometimes as
with Apollos in Corinth, it led to the strengthening of the community
but usually it was from Jewish converts who were unwilling to give up
their customs and often held on to doctrines now incompatible with faith
in Jesus. As we read last week in the 2^nd letter to the
Corinthians, these false teachers could change the minds of Paul’s new
Christians. This caused Paul such distress that letter is called “the
Letter of Sorrow.” On the other hand the Philippians remained strong in
their faith and this letter is called the “Letter of Friendship.”
Continue reading “Fifth Sunday of Lent – United by Our Creator and Redeemer” →

The Prodigal Son in Modern Life: The Return,
James Tissot, c. 1882, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes
(About this Image)

So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
(Luke 15:20)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fourth Sunday of Lent
2 Corinthians 5:17–21
March 27, 2022

We return to Corinth this week about a year after the events spoken
of last week (57 AD). The first letter to the Corinthians shows that
Paul left Corinth feeling that he had successfully addressed the
divisions in the community. He has since heard that people from outside
Corinth have come and created even greater dissension than before. It is
uncertain who they were or what they held but this may not be especially
important. They seem to have tailored the good news of Jesus to be good
business for them and presented a slick package. In our own terms, they
would be like TV health-and-wealth preachers as opposed to an evangelist
like Bishop Barron. Paul is so hurt that this is often called the
“letter of sorrow.”

Continue reading “4th Sunday of Lent – Called to the Work of a Lifetime” →

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
(Luke 13:7–9)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Third Sunday of Lent
1 Corinthians 10:1–6, 10–12
March 20, 2022

We read several chapters of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in
some depth earlier this year. The section today is taken from Chapter 10 somewhat
before our previous readings but reflecting the same concerns. Readings
chosen for Lent, however, must be read not only for their original
meaning but also how they reflect Lenten themes. This year this reading
will, alas, also shed light on our present situation.

Continue reading “3rd Sunday of Lent – Connecting Worship to Charity” →

Landscape with Stars, Henri-Edmond Cross,
c. 1905–1908, Met. Museum (NYC)
(About this Image)

The Lord God took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
(Gen 15:5–6)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Second Sunday of Lent
Philippians 3:17–4:1
March 13, 2022

St. Paul is a great religious genius. It is incorrect to say that he
invented Christianity, but he understood many of the implications of
Jesus’ teaching sooner and more strongly than others. As the Christian
Church developed, his thought eventually influenced what Christians
everywhere believed. This however took over a century and I cannot help
but ask “What did Christians who did not know the writings of Paul
believe?”

The answer is largely unknowable, but this section from the Letter to
the Philippians gives us an indication of past possibilities and a
prescription for present maladies.

Continue reading “2nd Sunday of Lent – Humbly Accepting Salvation from the Cross” →

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” →