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From the ‘rib-tickling’ account of the creation of the woman from Adam to the ‘knee-jerk’ teaching of Jesus that ‘What God has joined together; no human being must separate’ we have a brilliant scriptural beam of light that casts clarity on the current mired perception of modern-day marriage in contrast to God’s plan. While the exact timing of angelic creation is not specified in scripture, it is widely interpreted that they were created before humans based on their roles and presence during the creation narrative. Yet, after making the first human being, God muses that it is not good for him to be alone! The creation of Eve from Adam's rib holds profound symbolic significance in the biblical narrative. This act demonstrates the intimate connection between man and woman, emphasizing their shared essence and complementary nature. By using Adam's rib, God showed that Eve was not a separate creation, but an integral part of Adam, highlighting their unity in marriage. The rib's location near the heart symbolizes the close emotional bond between spouses. Additionally, the rib's ability to regenerate suggests that Adam's temporary loss resulted in a greater gain - a lifelong companion. In the original Biblical language, it was rendered as ishsha (“woman”) is made from isha (“her man”) signifying how men

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off … And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off … And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out …” These are stark words that make us cringe. Jesus spent three years curing the sick, giving sight to the blind and making the lame walk. This teaching seems to go diametrically against His actions. Interpreters are inclined toward giving these verses figurative rather than literal meaning. Surely, Jesus did not intend to gather a band of lame and blind followers around Himself. Though this view has merit, we must not forget even today in some Middle Eastern countries maiming punishments are meted out by courts to blasphemers and convicted criminals.

Jesus Christ's message was profoundly subversive to the traditional value systems of His time, which were centered on power, status, and hierarchy. His teachings and actions challenged the established social, religious, and political order in ways that were radical and transformative. The Scripture for this 25th Sunday offers us three insights. The first is that we need to take a deeper dive into Christ’s way of thinking, which is often counter cultural to our own popular notions. The second is to take a second look at our personal ambitions and our tendency to use every opportunity to our personal advantage. And finally, we need to accept that we are all finite beings in a finite and tainted world and striving to live by the wisdom of God will open for us a “God-willed” pathway through suffering!

Standing Firm Against Evil Forces We human beings tend to take extraordinary measures to create memories. Imagine a young man taking his fiancee to an exotic location to make a proposal for marriage or a family going to a far off land to celebrate a mile-stone event. Jesus brought his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi before his final journey to Jerusalem. They had been together for almost three years and were followed by crowds wherever they went. Here, in this northeastern area of Israel not frequented by pious Jews, Jesus would have some private time to prepare His disciples for the inevitable. Jesus’ teaching in Caesarea Philippi would be the first time He spoke about His future church, and it seems curious why Jesus chose this faraway, pagan location for one of His most important lessons and revelations. Jesus, however, was a masterful, intentional teacher and storyteller. He must have selected this area for a powerful visual illustration of the disciples’ future challenges and responsibilities.

There is always a ‘buzz’ in media when a miracle-like happening takes place. When a disaster is averted or a few people survive a terrorist attack or are rescued from captivity, we get excited and glue our attention to the TV channels. The atmosphere in the time of Jesus was also fascinated with miracles. Not only was a miracle greeted with excitement but there was an underlying expectation that the messianic times had already arrived.

In his history of the Jewish people, Antiquities of the Jews, the Jewish historian Josephus, himself a Pharisee, identifies four influential Jewish sects that existed during the time Jesus was alive: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the Fourth Philosophy. The New Testament mentions just the first three, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Biblical scholars estimate that there were about 6,000 Pharisees, 4,000 Essenes, and substantially fewer Sadducees who in spite of it, wielded great influence in the Sanhedrin (Jewish religious authority of elders) and the Temple Liturgy. At the time of Jesus, there were approximately 4 million people living in Palestine.

With today’s section we complete the reading of Chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel, and it took us 5 weeks to do so. This chapter is known as the Discourse of the Bread of Life and is a pivotal part of the New Testament that intertwines the themes of sustenance, belief, radical choice and eternal life. This chapter not only reflects on the miracles of Jesus but also draws connections to the Old Testament and introduces new theological perspectives.

The Book of Proverbs — a collection of wise sayings — is classified as “wisdom literature.” This means it is primarily focused on how to live a good, faithful, meaningful life. Wisdom literature relies on human experience, an awareness of God’s presence in our world and in our daily lives and on inspiration, when we look at our life from the higher perspective of God. In a world where we want everything fast and easy, and where we’re always expected to have a clever comment or a quickly formed opinion, wisdom is no longer the valued commodity it used to be. The life of sages and the stories of men and women seeking solitude in the wilderness or deserts are not attractive lifestyles today. Wisdom grows slowly from experience, patience, and listening.

The shocking headlines that come on our TV screens of terrorist’s attacks draw our attention to the power of ideologies that are used by fanatics who attribute transcendental purpose to frame violence as morally justified. Sadly, the terrorist's attempt to connect with transcendent meaning through violence is a tragic perversion of the human need for purpose and significance. The readings from 1 Kings and John deal with this same theme of our very human lives as an adventure with the transcendent God. The prophet Elijah, in his dramatic confrontation with the prophets of Baal and their defeat with the miracle of the burnt offering through a thunderbolt from heaven drew the anger of Queen Jezebel who sent a whole army in pursuit of the fleeing prophet.

In the last week’s passage from St. John Chapter 6 we reflected on the wonderful miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. A meal of plenty with a mountain of food left over (12 wicker baskets full) from the little picnic lunch of a small boy. Anyone in the crowd would have been impressed. The people in Jesus’ time accepted life as a direct connection between work and bread. In fact, the just wage of one denarius was sufficient to buy bread for a family. It is no wonder that the people are looking for Jesus so that they can stop this ‘bonded labor connection to bread’ by enquiring what sort of deeds they need to perform to get an abundant supply of food.

Jonathan Roumie, best known for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in the TV series "The Chosen," delivered a significant speech at the National Eucharistic Congress on July 20, 2024. His talk took place during the final revival night of the event, which aimed to energize and inspire the thousands of attendees to "be alive again in Christ." Roumie shared personal anecdotes and reflections on his faith journey, emphasizing the importance of the Eucharist in his life. He stressed the Catholic belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, referring to it not as a symbol but as a reality. He wore a shirt with Flannery O'Connor's famous quote, "If it's a symbol, to hell with it," emphasizing the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

According to the historical context, Jesus of Nazareth was considered an unlikely candidate for being the Messiah by many people of His time for several reasons. Jesus came from Nazareth, a small and insignificant town in Galilee. This was seen as a mark against Him, as evidenced by Nathanael's skeptical response: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46). The Messiah was expected to come from a more prestigious background. As the son of a carpenter, Jesus belonged to a lower social class. This contrasted with the expectation of a powerful, royal figure that many Jews anticipated as their Messiah. Many Jews expected the Messiah to be a powerful leader who would liberate them from Roman rule. Jesus, however, did not engage in political rebellion or military action. One of the early miracles that He performed was to cure a Centurian’s son, thus Jesus nipped in the bud the hostility to the Romans that the Jewish authorities expected from a liberator.

God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things. This truth is powerfully illustrated in the stories of the prophet Amos and Jesus' disciples. Amos was a humble shepherd and fig farmer from Tekoa, a small village in Judah. He had no formal religious training or prophetic lineage. Yet God called him to speak truth to power in the northern kingdom of Israel. When confronted by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, Amos boldly declared: "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel'" (Amos 7:14-15).

Think of all the genealogies and historical accounts of the Old Testament, and we who consider ourselves to be modern, find it quite irrelevant to give unusual attention to land, geography, and place. Even if we consider all these details to be important, we are surprised that not one single mention is made of a rustic settlement tucked away in a region known for its obscurity. Nazareth was an uncelebrated, forgotten town, off the beaten path, even for Galilee. When guileless Nathanael queried a friend about Jesus, he expressed the common Jewish sentiment in the first century (John 1:46): Can anything good come out of Nazareth? During His earthly life, so far as we know, Jesus never self-identified as “Jesus of Nazareth.” Only rarely did his followers call him that (John 1:45). Wherever we find his name on the lips of foes who want to give it a derogatory spin, expect them to call Him “Jesus of Nazareth.” And if Nathanael’s comment, the venom of demons and detractors, had not been enough, Pilate inscribed it on the instrument of his torture: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19)

Today's readings from the Holy Scriptures speak of the gift of eternal life. The First Reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us, "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things so that they might exist …” (1 Wisdom 1:13). In my life as a priest, Funerals and Baptisms and Weddings, in that order, line up my calendar of events and the frequency in which they occur. Through them I experience with people the rhythm of life. In an ordinary day, we tend to forget about these milestone events that color our life. There is a concerted effort to put on the backburner of our daily living, the thought of death. Our preoccupation with death would make us morose and melancholic. We as a society would even fail as an economy, since we would not engage in the business of buying and hoarding. Our mediated world shows the exciting feeling of possessing things and enjoying the present moment and subconsciously postponing death.

The Sea of Galilee lies 680 feet below sea level. It is bounded by hills, especially on the east side where they reach 2000 feet high. These heights are a source of cool, dry air. In contrast, directly around the sea, the climate is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. The large difference in height between surrounding land and the sea causes large temperature and pressure changes. This provides an optimum setup for the perfect storm like the one described in the Gospel. This narrative is not just a ‘news-worthy’ event that elicited a miracle from Jesus, but the portrayal of the Church symbolized by the boat in turmoil, beyond the steering ability of its seasoned occupants.

As we journey on in the ordinary time of the Liturgical year, we have these readings that form a threshold for the spiritual pilgrimage. Jesus in His career as a teaching rabbi, seemed especially fond of using parables. In its form, the ancient Middle Eastern parable is a simile, that is, an explicit comparison of one item to another. Jesus' parables tell His listeners what God is like by comparing God's being or behavior to something familiar and known in the culture. The reason why parables have a ‘riddle like personality’ and are difficult to interpret is because they point out how things are similar but also different. In other words, God is similar to, yet different from, whatever is presented as the point of comparison. While there is an eagerness to arrive at the like answer, the parable also works to mold and fashion the listener’s mind and soul.

A casual reading of this Sunday's passage from Mark without background reflection is bound to shock and puzzle us. The first shock comes from Jesus' surprising response to His relatives when they come after Him to seize Him, apparently to bring Him back to Nazareth from Capernaum, where His healing ministry has stirred up an extraordinary following among the people and a concerned scrutiny on the part of the authorities who have blotched plans to kill Him. We can understand that the family of Jesus does not understand Him.  Jesus is so different!  Jesus is completely caught up in doing the work of His Father and pays no attention to anything else including his skilled practice and family trade of being a craftsman.  This looks like insanity to any normal person from a Mediterranean perspective.  Jesus is not getting enough to eat. He probably is not getting enough sleep.  He seems obsessed with healing people.  All in all, His family decides that Jesus has lost His mind.

The ancient world had a keen eye for the obvious: lifesustaining substances are carried in blood. The loss of blood is the biological equivalent of death for an animal. The sacrificial offering of animal blood in the ancient world represents gratitude to God for the gift of life. The Old Testament records many pacts that God made, with human beings. At Mount Sinai, Moses performs a covenantal act by sprinkling the blood of young bulls on the people after having poured some of it on the Altar representing the invisible God. At the Last Supper, Jesus consciously builds on the covenant at Sinai when he takes the cup filled with wine and says, "This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of his" (Exodus 24:8). Everyone at the table would have understood the significance of the blood sprinkling. Both the human and divine aspects of life are shared in this covenant of promised ties between the people and their God.

Today is Trinity Sunday. Our faith tells us there is but one God, and in the one God there are three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three persons are really distinct: the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. Each of these persons is really and truly God, and still there is but one God. We cannot understand it, we could not believe it if God had not told us.