The King's Corner

  Jesus taught with parables.  Some of us "teach" with puns or play-on-words.  I guess I do the latter.  This Stephan Pastis "lesson" reminds us to be thankful for what we receive especially when we are in need. For example, when we pray and beg for mercy, we never know how that request will be received.  We beggars don't get to choose.  God provides, and what we may receive can be an unexpected surprise making us happy rather than sad.  Deacon David Pierce

The LORD said to Moses, “These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate at their proper time with a sacred assembly. The Passover of the LORD falls on the fourteenth day of the first month, at the evening twilight. The fifteenth day of this month is the LORD’s feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first of these days you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work. On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD. Then on the seventh day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work.” The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap your harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest, who shall wave the sheaf before the LORD that it may be acceptable for you. On the day after the sabbath the priest shall do this. “Beginning with the day after the sabbath, the day on which

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.”  The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:38-42) The better part is to listen to Jesus.  However, listening without serving consistent with Jesus’ teaching and commandments falls short of required action.   These M&M sisters go with one another.  They are a duo.  One is not better than the other.  Jesus’ words melt in our mouths, not in our hands needed to serve as part of the Body of Christ helping the anxious and the worried deal with their sorrow and despair. Deacon David Pierce

Jesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,  which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.  When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” (Matthew 13:44-46) Never throw pearls of great price before swine.   It’s far better to read pearls before swine, as this fan believes.   Enjoy the day!   Hope it rains. Deacon David Pierce

What follows is from a recent Father Richard Rohr blog entry.  It's about loving our enemies, a topic very relevant to our political climate and destructive divisions.  It's also relevant to our world that seems overcome with anger and hatred: My good friend, the life-long peacemaker John Dear, has recently founded The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus. Today he expounds on Jesus’ surprising commandment to “love your enemies,” calling it “the climax of the Sermon on the Mount.” John writes: We have this revolutionary commandment: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your countrymen and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons and daughters of your heavenly God. . . .” (Matthew 5:43–45).

The Far Side cartoons are some of my favorite which is why I post one now and then.  This cartoon reminds us that the wolves in our lives are clever and prone to tempt us to look the other way or be distracted from our roles as protectors of those less fortunate than us.  They are the vulnerable among us and find themselves as prey for predators lacking empathy and morals based on love our neighbors. Too many "sheep" go missing when we "Sheps" seek the company of "wolves" simply for recognition and status.  Let's focus on what is right and just, and shepherd wisely. Deacon David Pierce 

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, and fresh grain in the ear.  Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?”  Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat.” “For thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’” And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said. (2 Kings 4:42-44) Our readings often are connected in some way, and the link can be enlightening.  For example, today’s first reading from Kings, obviously was the basis for John’s story about Jesus feeding the 5,000.  With a firm faith in Jesus as the Christ, John embellished the story of Elisha (“the man of God”) and the barley loaves.  The Gospel reads:

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” (Matthew 13:24-30)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.  The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.  The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 

  God's wrath or forgiveness?  Such a choice.  The latter is our preference.  Perhaps we should reflect on which coffee pot and blend God uses when God considers the day (and night) ahead and pours that first cup.  Sure, we are all worth more than a few sparrows, but we'd better have more than bird brains.  Heaven forbid we drain the forgiving brand leaving God no taster's choice but the alternative. Deacon David Pierce

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:  “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Matthew 13:1-9) We all make choices.  Where will we sow our seeds?  Do we choose good or evil?  Which wolf do we feed [refer to Sunday blog]?   Do we sow in rocks knowing there is little chance of fruit with our hard-headed decisions?  Do we sow in thorns by making conscious choices about usin

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50) Honor the knowledge and wisdom of your predecessors or stated another way: honor your father and mother. There is an attitude prevalent among certain Christians that the Holy Spirit will guide our reading [of the Bible], so whatever you may glean from a biblical text is actually God interpreting and dictating it directly to you.  This is a dangerous abdicating of one’s God-given intellectual capacity and replacing it with lazy ignorance.  I’m reminded of the story of a monk and the garden he

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.  At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”  (Matthew 12:38-42) We have been in the belly of the whale for well over a year.  That “whale” has been the coronavirus shutting out the light for many people – causing death and despair for thousands of families.  W

Jeremiah was a bullfrog Was a good friend of mine I never understood a single word he said But I helped him drink his wine And he always had some mighty fine wine Singin' joy to the world All the boys and girls now Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea Joy to you and me Many of us may recognize these two verses from the 1970 popular “Joy to the World” sung by the band Three Dog Night. This Jeremiah – the bullfrog – sings of joy. However, the prophet Jeremiah in today’s first reading speaks of great woes and sadness. No joy for him and those to whom he prophesized in very dangerous times. Jeremiah lived through two sieges of Jerusalem. He saw the temple burned to the ground and destroyed, Jerusalem devastated, and his people marched off into exile in Babylonia.   He believed he had been sent by God to rebuke kings, criticize unworthy priests, and accuse his fellow Jews of infidelity to the covenant. He was scorned, held in contempt, and his hateful enemies wanted him dead. He spoke

The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the little ones. A crowd of mixed ancestry also went up with them, besides their livestock, very numerous flocks and herds. Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened, they baked it into unleavened loaves. They had rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey.  The time the children of Israel had stayed in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. At the end of four hundred and thirty years, all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date. This was a night of vigil for the LORD, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the LORD throughout their generations. (Exodus 12:37-42) We all know the story of Exodus and the children of Israel later receiving the 10 Commandments through Moses after his visit to the burning bush. Therefore, we pre

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8)

The following is not one of today’s readings.  I provide it because it describes each and every one of us in a rather remarkable way.  It also speaks to our obligation to God.  …For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.  If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire. 

Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.”  When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. The cry of the children of Israel has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. Come, now!  I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”  But Moses said

Responsorial Psalm 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34 R.   Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live. I am sunk in the abysmal swamp   where there is no foothold; I have reached the watery depths;     the flood overwhelms me. R.    Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live. But I pray to you, O LORD,     for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness answer me     with your constant help. R.    Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live. But I am afflicted and in pain;     let your saving help, O God, protect me; I will praise the name of God in song,     and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. R.    Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live. “See, you lowly ones, and be glad;     you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor,     and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.” R.    Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.

Larry Brown taught my boys at Cape Cod Academy for many years.  Here's his column from last Saturday. Considering the split in views at CTK on politics, and we all are guilty to one extent or another about not loving our neighbor, I thought I'd post his commentary at King’s Corner. Deacon David Pierce To my Cape Cod Times readers Recently, I wrote a column on race. It generated a lot of mail, some of it very angry. I’ll not respond to individuals here as I’m already doing that privately. But I’d like to talk to all of you.   We’ve just had our Fourth of July, America’s birthday. “Patriotism” means “love of country.” But what does it mean to say we love our country if we can’t stand half the people living in it?  

Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”  Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” (Amos 7:12-15) Amos was expelled from the northern kingdom of Israel where Bethel was located.  He was sent to Judah.  He was from the ranks of the poor.  He “spit disdain at wealthy men lying on ivory couches in their massage parlors” (6:3-6).  According the USCCB website with reference to Amos: “Israel could indeed expect the day of the Lord, but it would be a day of darkness and not light.  When Amos prophesied the overthrow of the sanctuary, the fall of the royal house, and the captivity of the people, it was more than Israelite officialdom c

Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! “Therefore, do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.  Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denie

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:16-23) Following Jesus can be quite risky.  The wolves howl wh

Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep.  Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” (Matthew 10:7-15) Jesus is implying that the grave sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of any towns that refuse his disciples, is that of inhos

Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.  Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 19:1-7) With all the above said, then what was the reason and motivation for the following story from the Gospel of John?

In the course of the night, Jacob arose, took his two wives, with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” The man asked, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed.”

Today’s responsorial psalm R.    In you, my God, I place my trust. You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,     who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, Say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,     my God, in whom I trust.” R.    In you, my God, I place my trust. For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler,     from the destroying pestilence. With his pinions he will cover you,     and under his wings you shall take refuge.  R.    In you, my God, I place my trust. Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;     I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;     I will be with him in distress.  R.    In you, my God, I place my trust. (91:1-4, 14-15) According to Wikipedia: "In God We Trust" (sometimes rendered "In God we trust") is the official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing E pluribus unum, which had been the

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.  Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:1-6) Jesus said prophets were honored except in their native places and among their own kin and in their own houses.  Prophets speak for God, so we don’t want to hear bad news and even warnings when to heed those warnings we must c

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:24-29) All of us are blessed because we have not seen and yet we believe.  That is faith.  It is faith in Jesus our Christ who enters our locked hearts to give us peace.  

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13) According to a June 22 New York Times article, “The concern in the Vatican,” said Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit priest and close ally of Francis “is not to use access to the Eucharist as a political weapon.”

After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”  At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”– he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men. (Matthew 9:1-8)