Pigs and Sirens

Icon of Jesus Healing the Demoniacs

13th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday (Year II)

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24; Matthew 8:28-34

After Adam lost his one-pointedness, the single eye (Matthew 6:22) split in two and revolved in every direction like strobe lights in the theater of the world.… Read the rest

What Sort of Man is This?

13th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday (Year II)

Matthew 8:23-27

“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

The cry of the storm-tossed disciples was the cry of mortal Adam thrust into a broken world full of dangers and out-of-control tempests. Adam’s son Jesus, unbroken by sin, slept like a baby on a cushion in Edenic tranquility. … Read the rest

Signs of the Kingdom

Icon of Jesus and the Centurion

12th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday (Year II)

Matthew 8:5-17

Jesus’ fame as a healer spread far and wide in Palestine, attracting not only lepers but foreigners like the Roman centurion. Jews did not associate with either group; one was “unclean,” the other was “Gentile.”… Read the rest

Jesus and the Leper

Jesus Heals the Leper, by Rembrandt (1655-60)

12th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday (Year II)

Matthew 8:1-4

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 

The leper represents all of us in need of divine mercy. In the eyes of Jesus there are no untouchables, pariahs, outcasts or rejects.… Read the rest