Reflections for

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sep 27, 2015

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Psalm 124; (Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Psalm 19:7-14;) James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50

Features

Accidental lessons

My encounter with a chainsaw

Apr 21, 2009 by William H. Willimon

This past Christmas, I wished for and received a chainsaw. On New Year’s Eve, while I was engaged in a woodworking project, the chainsaw slipped, grabbed my left sleeve, threw me to the ground, and in a matter of seconds dug into my arm, cutting my hand and wrist to the bone for about six inches. I began bleeding profusely.

Living by the Word

Search and restore

Mark 9:38-50; James 5:13-20

Sep 19, 2006 by Stephen Fowl

If you are reading this column hoping to get some insight into Mark 9:49-50, you can stop now. These verses are intensely obscure; the commentaries offer little help; neither I nor anyone I know has received a special revelation explaining the text. Let us simply agree to move on to other matters. By this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has started to speak openly about his impending death.

Living by the Word

Life-giving law

Psalm 19

Mar 08, 2003 by Fred Craddock

Lent carries in its bosom a seductive danger: excessive inwardness. The seduction is this: a season of prayer, repentance and preparation for Good Friday and Easter necessarily involves trips to the heart, but tarry there too long and repentance can stall out as melancholy. The danger is this: self-examination may spawn attempts at self-improvement, with the result that looking at self replaces looking to God, and small measures of merit replace the immeasurable grace of God.

M.E.M.O.

Nominalism

Oct 24, 2001 by Martin E. Marty

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Psalm 19:12 KJV.

I confess to almighty God . . . that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Translated from the mass in Latin.

Living by the Word

The millstone

Sunday, October 1

Mark 9:38-50

Sep 13, 2000 by Joel Marcus

Eternal punishment. Like it or not, it is a biblical concept, albeit a late-blooming one. In the Old Testament, the afterlife is rarely spoken of, and when it is, it is usually pictured as a shadowy, wraithlike existence.

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Revised Common Lectionary © 1992 the Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.