“Didn’t Jesus teach us about forgiving and loving our enemies? But we are not in charge, are we? It goes round and round as we struggle with what God’s ultimate will for us is.”
“We have a lot of weapons against evil, if we use them. Once the person recognizes a spirit as a demon and takes part in banishing it, they are turning again toward God. The person may find peace.”
“And it is a way where what the Jews called the yoke of the Torah is replaced by the yoke of Jesus, one easier in terms of simplicity than the Law. Today we see it in terms of Jesus abiding love for his own.”
“I find it a hard truth that not everybody is going to like me, and what I find most painful is the periodic insight that people whom I have loved and trusted don’t know me at all and I feel like a projection of their reality, thus diminishing my own.”
“The Holy Spirit takes us from where we are, and yet as she turns us and transforms us, she uses the material we brought to the table.”
“And that is what Jesus is saying when he says don’t worry, be happy. God has it all worked out, and God’s mind is higher than ours (Isa. 55: 8), and the supernal beauty of an ordinary field is beyond the imagination of the best artist.”
“This passage, and probably the whole Sermon, has been used by biblical literalists as a tool of oppression, judgement, and punishment. Is that what Jesus had in mind with all the warnings about being tried before the Council? He, himself, was victim of such literal understanding of the Law.”
“I think these three temptations are a prophecy of Jesus’ entire ministry. First there is the earthly nourishment – bread, healing, banishing demons. Then there are the challenges by the Temple Authority, which Jesus answers as often as not with a parable turning around the challenge to challenge the challenger. And finally, the true power, the power to accept the word of his Father even unto the Cross.”
“Sometimes we have to speak out. It is dangerous, but it is righteous. It was Jesus’ time to fulfill his task, not Joseph’s time to sway the council. But Joseph did what he could and risked all for a proper burial. Hard tasks are hard but need to be done.”
“Isaiah 53, especially verses 4-10, lays bare the prophecy of the Suffering Servant who dies for our sins, who is an innocent to be led like a lamb to the slaughter and in silence. It is from this that commentators have dubbed Jesus’ silence as the Majestic Silence, the fulfillment of prophecy and proof of his status as Son of God.”