Mary van Balen

In his book, "Dictionary of Biblical Theology," Xavier Leon-Dufour points out that in the OT, the Israelite understanding of divine kingship differed from that of other ancient Eastern kingdoms in an essential way: Yahweh has a covenant with his people. He desires his reign to be recognized by obedience to the Law. His reign is of the heart, a moral code, not a political one. (p 292)

In today's gospel, after his baptism, Jesus has moved to Capernaum, on the Sea of Galliee and beings his public ministry by declaring the "Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Then he began teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom, and curing people. A sign, it seems, that the kingdom had indeed come in the person of Jesus. It has broken into history, into time and space.

People came from all over to see and hear Jesus. They brought the sick, the mentally ill, the suffering, and he cured them. They may have been simply curious. They may have been desperate, unable to find relief from suffering and giving this guy a chance. I doubt many believed he was the Christ at that moment. Maybe after a cure. Maybe not. Maybe they thought he was a wonderworker or magician. Read More 

I have fallen into some bad habits: Eating too much junk food; staying up late; skipping exercise; watching tv; missing prayer time and blog posts. I am not sure what precipitated my "fall." Splurging on some Easter treats and then not being able to stop? Grocery shopping when I was hungry and buying comfort foods I should have passed by? Weeks of almost incessant rain; Odd work hours?

Whatever the causes, I have paid for the slips with inability to fall asleep, restless nights, and an couple of added pounds. Headaches and lethargy often follow my bouts of sweets eating and those have made an appearance as well.

A friend of mine who struggles with weight issues said when she slips off her regimen and eats too much of the things she shouldn't, she tells herself, "Today is a new day," and gets back on track.

Well, today is my new day.  Read More 

But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. Mt 6:6







I slid into the pew at my old parish church, choosing to sit where mom and dad had in the latter years their life. Looking over the sparse congregation, I smiled realizing that I had become one of the "gray-hairs," a euphemism we had used as teenagers to indicate the preponderance of older people in the church.

When Mass began, I looked to discover who was responsible for the emotive singing and powerful notes pouring from the piano. After Mass I learned he is a student soon entering law school.

"He is wonderful," my old friend said. "He is looking at different schools and will probably go where he gets the most financial aid. We want to keep him here, though. He is the choir director now..."

For the parish's sake, I hope a local university makes him an offer he can't refuse. The hymns he chose were familiar and I enjoyed the feeling of pushing strong, clear notes out from my heart. Most of the people were timid when it came to singing, but that didn't stop me. I belted out the notes, hanging them in the air with abandon. Read More 

PHOTO:Bernard Gragnon Statue of Saint Paul,Damascus




Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.
Mark 16,15





Today is the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. You may remember that, while on his way to Damascus to round up more Christians to take back to Jerusalem for punishment, Paul was knocked off his horse by a blinding light and confronted by the risen Lord: Why do you persecute me? The event and its aftermath changed Paul forever.

I have a friend who said he would like to have a "knocked off my horse" experience, something that would help him know with surety what direction to go in his life. Wouldn't we all? With all due respect to Saint Paul, making a drastic life change would be easier to do if Jesus Christ flooded me with light and we had a heart to heart about what he wanted me to do. Of course, Paul needed courage and faith to follow his road which was fraught with conflict, persecution as well as success. His conversion and mission eventually led to his death.

Most of us do not have a "knocked off my horse" moment, but rather discern God's presence and direction in our lives bit by bit. Here our path is similar to Paul's.
 Read More 

IMAGE: The Baptism of Jesus by He Qi

As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’ Mt 3, 16-17

In his book, "The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan," Kilian McDonnell OSB calls Jesus' baptism a boundary event. It was a "...bridge-burning event - the boundary cannot be recrossed- representing a radically new orientation in the life of Jesus." p4-5.

In the gospels, Jesus came to the Jordan an unknown, or as McDonnell says, "an anonymous face in the crowd." After the baptism, he is singled out as "the one who is to come," "My beloved Son," "the servant of Yahweh." Some scholars hold that his baptism was the moment when Jesus came to understand who he was. Others say he came to his baptism already knowing his identity and mission.

Either way, the direction of his life changed from that moment. No longer a carpenter from Nazareth, he was a prophet, teacher, healer, preacher. His path was set before the water dripping from his body had dried.

As I pondered this feast and Jesus' message of repentance with forgiveness already manifest in his being, I considered my own life. What have been my boundary events?  Read More 

PHOTO: The Living End
I weep and my eyes dissolve in tears, since the comforter who could revive me is far away. My sons are in despair, the enemy has proved too strong. Mid-morning reading Lamentations 1:16

This feast was always difficult for me, offended as I was by the injustice of these senseless deaths: countless young boys killed because they were born at the wrong time and place.

The birth of Jesus, Love incarnate, occasioned this slaughter, which is both foreshadowing of fear-induced violence engendered in some by his message, and a metaphor for those throughout history who suffer because of circumstance rather than consequence.

Who are today's Holy Innocents?  Read More 

PHOTO: Mary van Balen
As the messengers were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces. Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? MT 11


Taken from today's gospel reading, these words challenged me. Sometimes when I pray and try to discern where God is in my life and what I am called to do, I am surprised by what I discover. I don't always like what I "hear." For example, as I continue to look for full time employment with no luck, I don't want to hear "trust in me." I want to hear "We'd love to have you!"

But trust is what I am asked to do. Work hard, apply for jobs...and trust.

Or, when I am faced with something I would rather avoid but must meet head on and no amount of prayer makes it any easier, I wonder...why do I pray?
 Read More 

PHOTO:Hamilton CA Habitiat for Humanity
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest.’
He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.’ Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8


Jesus was moved by the people he saw. He needed help to address their needs, but looking around he wondered,"Where is everybody?" His disciples received the commission: Give freely what you have been given. There is a hurting world out there. Heal it. Change it.

With global communication today, we are excruciatingly aware of suffering around the world as well as at home. In addition to truly noteworthy news, as soon as we turn on our computers we are bombarded with stories-just a click away-about a movie star's speeding ticket, who wore what on the red carpet, and healthy food choices at the mall.

PHOTO:Philanthromedia.org
Who wouldn't be overwhelmed? Easier to stay home cocooned in one's close circle of family and friends and let the world fend for itself. We have enough problems of our own. After all, what difference can one person make? Read More 

Once again, I spent part of my day substitute teaching; this time it was language arts. The students were quiet as they took a long vocabulary test and then opened “With Every Drop of Blood,” a Civil War novel by James and Christopher Collier, reading until the period ended. I took advantage of the time and read the novel myself. It tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a Southern boy, Johnny, and one of his captors, a Black Union soldier named Cush Turner. As the boys become friends, they realize the erroneousness of many stories and stereotypes about Blacks and Southerners they had learned growing up.

At one point, after Cush ‘s fierce desire to learn to read and his reverence for Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address surprised Johnny, he began to rethink his assumption that Black slaves were inherently inferior to their white masters, and realized that he had never considered anything from the point of view of the slave. Read More 

PAINTING ON CANVASS BAG: RICHARD DURATE BROWN
Is this the manner of fasiting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That one bow his head like a reed,
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
realeasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Is 58, 5-7

Fasting desired by the Holy One is more demanding than giving up chocolate, texting, or movies. While the author of this section of Isaiah carries on the theme of social justice central to the earlier chapters of the book, he goes further, challenging us to expand our vision of just WHO is "our own."  Read More