Father Kevin A. Codd

In this first of our Lenten Mission Reflections, we come to know to whom Jesus was speaking these very special parables found together in Luke 15. We then take a closer look at the stories of the Good Shepherd and the Good Housewife. 

So our Lenten Mission at St. Therese Parish in Albuquerque, NM begins with the Sunday homily for the Second Sunday of Lent (B). We here the powerful story of Jesus' transfiguration in front of the very eyes of Peter, James, and John. The words of Peter, "It is good that we are here...!" resonate still and remind us that as we begin this Lenten Mission we are reminded that, indeed, it is very good that we are here, too! 

"Forty" is one of the big numbers in the Scriptures...it comes up time and time again. It makes its first big splash in the story of Noah: the rains fell for forty days and forty nights! It makes its appearance again in the story of the Exodus: the Hebrew people spend forty years wandering in the desert. And finally, Jesus spends forty days in the desert following his baptism in the Jordan River. 

And then there is "our forty"...the forty days of Lent we have begun in earnest...

The bubbly optimism of that old Coke jingle, "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony," doesn't offer a real picture of hard it is to make the world the place it should be. Christianity faces the same conundrum: "If we are a people of such great hope and the Gospel brings us salvation...why is the world still such a mess? Today's sober Gospel reading tips the reason in one word repeated over and over again: "Hipocite!" 

Today's Gospel passage highlights Jesus' healing grace as he tenderly takes the hand of Peter's mother-in-law and restores her to health. It is the perfect image for our continuing ministry of healing as celebrated in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the celebration of which in our parish follows this homily.

Mark's Gospel is similar to one of those Hollywood movies that begin with a big battle scene and then holds your attention until the last big battle scene! 

Today we are treated to a front-row seat at the big cosmic battle that almost opens Mark's Gospel: the battle between Jesus and the power of God verses the impure spirit and the powers of darkness. Hold on to your seats!

Mark's version of the story of the call of the first disciples by the Sea of Galilee seems most improbable? Is it possible that he no more than shows up, calls, and they follow...leaving behind everything in an instant? 

Maybe Mark is trying to teach us some important things about Jesus...and us! 

He has something which attracts us like "love at first sight"...what it is?

He finds us...we don't find him.

He meets us right where we are at in our daily lives, at home, at work, at school.

Homily delivered at Sacred Heart Church, Othello, WA. (Apologies again for the raspy voice!)

Each of the popular names given to today's Gospel characters adds its own nuance to the Epiphany story, but the mostly fogotten name is the most important: The Three Strangers!

(Apologies for the raspy voice...recovering from the Great Flu Epidemic of 2018!)

Renaissance artists often pictured John the Baptist and Jesus as cute-as-can-be-infants together as cousins. Mark has none of it! In his gospel, John is a full-grown, wild-eyed prophet with divine fire in his heart!

As our human imagination fails us in picturing that which we have not yet seen, as with our earth before the Apollo missions or the universe before Hubble, so it is with God. Our images of God were so feeble compared to the reality of "God Among Us", Jesus Christ.