The Fellowship of St. Columbanus

Numbers 11:25-29 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 This week's Old Testament and Gospel lessons are focused on the theme of the Holy Spirit, and how it often works through unexpected people. Both Moses and Christ are clear that this is not to be suppressed: that God will work through whom He will work, and we should not reject these good works simply because they come from outside of our cherished institutions, or without proper training. The work of God is to be encouraged wherever we discern it. But the Gospel subtly ties this idea to another one. Christ quickly shifts from "whoever is not against us is for us," to "Whoever gives you a cup of cold water in my name will not lose his reward." But this develops even further to "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." It is tempting to think of this as a disorganized collection of sayings, but there is a connection. Casting out demons in Christ's name becomes giving a cup of water in Ch...

If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and fed," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. St. James, 2:15-17 (RSV) These verses are from the text that Sarah and Cody Johnson call their "prerogative and mandate." Sarah and Cody operate a small sustainable farm called The Missions Ranch on the edge of Littlefield, Texas, a small town situated forty minutes from Lubbock. Carrie and I were fortunate enough to visit the ranch two years ago. There, on the windswept high plains of West Texas, the Johnsons are working hard to cultivate the faith, a family, and a crop. Cody nursing a baby goat rejected by its mother "Sustainability, according to the UN, is a balancing act of meeting our needs today without compromising our ability to meet those needs in the future," Sarah told me in a recent interview....

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 Psalm 54:3-4, 5-6, 8 St James 3:16-4:3 St Mark 9:30-37 Every one of our readings this week sets up a dichotomy between righteousness and a specific sort of wickedness. This wickedness is described in our Psalm as haughtiness, and in James as "selfish ambition", and in our Gospel an implied desire to be greatest. Commentaries in the New American Bible suggest that in our Gospel reading, Mark is drawing particular attention to the disciples' lack of understanding. Why would the Son of Man, the actual greatest, the warrior-king, be handed over to die? Why should I not strive to be the strongest in God's Kingdom? This lack of understanding seems to be a lesser theme across our readings, as in the book of Wisdom, the wicked have the same confusion-- they do not understand what it means for God to be with the "just one", and do not realize that the shameful death he must undergo is his glory and victory. "The Mocking of Chri...