by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings Click above to view 1 Kg 17: 17-24 Psalm 30 Gal. 1: 11-19 Lk. 7: 11-17 In our readings today we see the power of God in action. Through his power the prophet Elijah brings a little girl back to life, St. Paul is supernaturally given his commission to be Apostle to the Gentiles, and Jesus raises the widow’s son from the dead. Each can gladly proclaim the psalm antiphon: “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me!” After the raising of the widow’s son the crowd has an amazing, yet also apt, response: “fear seized them.” Seeing supernatural power in action is frightening. The power of God, creator and sustainer of all that is, is frightening in its glory and immensity. Here we go beyond the “rainbows and sunshine” version of Christianity that is often promulgated today into slightly murkier waters. God has real, immense power, and his glory is something that we should be in awe of. God is as intimate to us as we are, which is simultaneously comforting and frightening. The fear of the crowd gives way to joy, however, as they immediately began to “glorify God.” Imagine the joy of both the widow and her son for this miracle. Imagine how much they loved and appreciated Jesus – and the new life that they were given through him! We should have this same overflowing love and joy, for Jesus raises us to new life each day through intimacy with him. The raising of the widow’s son is miraculous, but the exact same miracle is given to us every day when we give our lives over to God. If we live for ourselves, justifying the wrong that we do, just going with the cultural flow of selfishness and hedonism, we are dead. We are made fully alive, newly each day, by the loving God who amazingly (and freely) gives us his love. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email.
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by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Readings Click above to view 2 Tm. 4: 1-8 Psalm 71 Lk. 2: 41-51 What does it mean to be “relevant”? If Christianity is true – and why believe in it if it isn’t? – it should be universally relevant. The living reality of God in Jesus Christ should relate intimately at the very core of every human being who allows him to be in charge of their lives. The teachings of the Bible should answer the fundamental questions, longings, and desires of the human heart. If true, Christianity should do all these things, and thus be intimately relevant to every living person. And indeed, praise God, it is. Christianity is inherently relevant because it teaches timeless truths revealed by God, especially in Jesus Christ, God himself become man. Living in the light of Christ helps us fulfill God’s greatest desire for us: to become the best possible version of ourselves. This is far different from the desire for Christianity to be “relevant” to our particular contemporary times. It is the Church that is called to lead the culture, not the other way around. Every culture is fashioned by temporary fads and trends, and often destructive ones that go against the Christian message, or at the very least undermine it. We are called as Christians not to take this passively, or to change to please our environment, but to defend the timeless truths that God revealed to us. As St. Paul says in his second letter to Timothy: Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching II Tm. 4:2 This is a clear teaching against changing with the times simply because it’s convenient. We should be unafraid, when it’s necessary and always in love, to “convince” and “reprimand” those who are in error. It is important for us to dialog with the culture, to try to understand it, and interact with it in constructive ways. But we are not to stray from the truths that God has revealed to us, even if it is inconvenient. Paul warns explicitly that there are erroneous ways to be a Christian: For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. 2 Tm. 4: 3-5 We are indeed living in times of doctrine that is not sound and people “following their own desires and insatiable curiosity” over the revealed truth of the faith that they profess. Christians are called to correct errors with love, as this is the “work of the evangelist,” whether it is always comfortable or not. Being relevant as a Christian doesn't mean conforming to the whims of culture. It means bringing the ultimately relevant message – that of Jesus Christ – into the lives of those around us, no matter what the cost. Devotion to Mary, whose Immaculate Heart we celebrate today, helps us immensely in this fight. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Readings Click above to view Ez 34: 11-16 Psalm 23 Rom. 5:5B-11 Lk. 15: 3-7 Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus can sometimes be confusing. What exactly does it mean? A look at each of today’s readings brings us close to some answers. The Sacred Heart of Jesus represents his divine love. What does this divine love look like? The prophet Ezekiel tell us: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly. Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 16 The love of God through Jesus Christ has the kindness, patience, and tenderness of a good shepherd. God reaches out to us, gathering us back to him. He shows his love in concrete ways in the world, by helping the injured and healing the sick. As the Gospel shows us, the fate of each sheep is of the highest importance to God. This divine love is also self-sacrificial: The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Romans 5: 5B-6, 8-10 In his sacrifice Jesus gave us an example to follow and showed us the depths of divine love. Devotion to the Sacred Heart brings us closer to Jesus, our good shepherd who loves us and saves us. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Thursday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time Readings Click above to view 2 Tm. 2: 8-15 Psalm 25 Mk. 12: 28-34 It is clear throughout the Gospels that Jesus is asking his followers to live in a certain way. We are saved and sanctified freely by his grace, yet being grafted into his kingdom also comes with certain expectations. Read the Sermon on the Mount. They are not just pious words, or, as some have argued, an impossible bar to reach meant to remind us of our need for grace. These interpretations strain credulity to the highest degree, ignoring the entire context of the Gospels and writings of the New Testament. They consistently hold followers of Christ to the strictest lives of self-sacrificial love of God and neighbor, a life that Christ lived out in his life, death, and resurrection. When the scribe asks Jesus which is the first of all commandments, he doesn’t say “ignore the commandments, you’re saved by grace.” Instead he emphasizes the two commands that the Judeo-Christian program are founded on: love of God and love of neighbor. Personal peace and joy – and intimacy with God – come when we submit ourselves in childlike love to God. From that will flow genuine love for our neighbor. Notice that love of self is not found in this context at all. Christianity, especially Catholicism (with its rich tradition of enjoying the physical and personal pleasures in life), is not self-loathing. However it is important to live an ordered life, and that order puts both God and those outside of yourself in the position of primacy. Far from unhealthy or degrading, this emphasis outside of the self brings inner peace and makes one truly free. Self-absorption is crippling. The inability to look outside of one’s self, or putting one’s self ahead of everything else in life, is bound to end in disappointment. It is the foundation of all sorts of anxiety and mental instability. It makes it practically impossible to love others, because we are so busy thinking of ourselves and how we feel that others become wholly secondary. In turn we become isolated from others and from the world, turning the world in on ourselves, and living in desolation and loneliness. We are only truly free and at peace when we let go of this self-absorption. Jesus shows us that a life oriented to God, through self-sacrificial love for God and those around us, is the way to true peace with ourselves and with the world. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr Readings Click above to view 2 Tim 1: 1-3, 6-12 Psalm 123 Mk. 12: 18-27 St. Paul’s letters to Timothy contain insightful teachings on Church doctrine and leadership. Early in his second letter he says “I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands” (2 Tm. 1:6). This is a clear reference to the tradition of ordaining priests and bishops by the laying on of hands. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches are the only Christian dispensations that can trace their lineage back to the apostles in an unbroken chain of succession. The Apostles laid hands on and ordained men like Timothy, and they in turn ordained others, and this tradition was sustained throughout the history of Christianity and is still practiced to this day. Paul continues with some practical, universal words: “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self-control” (2 Tm. 1:6). The ways of God are not the ways of the world. Courage and power are not found in competition and warfare but in love and self-control. It takes courage to actually love, especially those who are the least worth loving, as Jesus calls us to do. True power is found not in warfare and competition but in love and self-control. Those who think that Christianity is an “easy way out” are sorely mistaken, as it is far more difficult to love and have self-control than it is to hate and follow our individual whims and passions. If anything, the ways of culture – of a hedonism that tells us to just do whatever we feel like that makes us temporarily happy – is the actual easy way out. Although far more difficult, this Christian ideal is the only thing that can truly give us personal peace, a peace that can come only through radical love. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Readings Click above to view Zep. 3: 14-18A Is. 12 Lk. 1: 39-56 The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth came alive for me when I began to do the Rosary. Until then it was simply a pious story, fine for what it was, but I never felt the full weight of its reality. Even today, whenever I meditate on the Visitation – or any mystery of the Rosary – each event comes alive, just as it does in the liturgies that celebrate them. I imagine the reality of it, pregnant Mary packing her things and beginning her journey, depending on blessed St. Joseph for care and compassion, finally seeing her house in sight and knocking on the door, weary from travel. Then, finally, that blessed moment when they walk in the door and John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb. This coming Messiah, God as a real human being in the shelter of Mary’s womb, is a cause for the highest celebration, as the forerunner John the Baptist is the first to grasp. The first reading from the prophet Zephaniah emphasizes this: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! Zeph. 3:14 What will this Messiah do? Zephaniah continues: The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. Zeph. 3:15 The people of Israel had endured misfortune and fear throughout their history. With the coming savior, God removes his judgment and turns away the enemies of his people. The most important enemies are sin and death, which Jesus deals with definitively in the cross. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Readings Click above to view 2 Pet. 1: 2-6 Psalm 91 Mk. 12: 1-12 In the beginning of his second letter St. Peter says “May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (I Pet. 1:2). Grace and peace are difficult to find in the contemporary world. We want to feel forgiven, we want to feel okay, but grace has to come from someone, and so we “go it alone” and can never feel the grace that leads to true peace. Instead we look for acceptance from our peers and from the world, and look for moments of peace in our leisure activities. Yet this is always ultimately a dead end. We try desperately to be happy, running from one temporary pleasure to another. We try to fill ourselves up, and to find peace, but it always seems out of reach. We fill our free time with whatever temporarily makes us happy, whether it’s with sports, television, movies, video games, working out, sex, alcohol, or whatever else. We never feel satisfied, always having to move on to the next thing to keep feeling okay in a never-ending cycle. Worldly pleasures like those listed are absolutely fine when ordered well and not abused. Humans are made to work hard and then to enjoy their leisure time. The Incarnation – God caring enough about the world to become a member of the world, a human being – proved definitively that the physical world is good and that it is sanctified in him. However, nothing outside of a relationship with the God who created us will give us true peace. We know that we are forgiven, as a free gift of grace, when we have “knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” On our own we are left on an island, and anyone who is honest for a second knows that they aren’t big enough solely in themselves to find true peace, as though it is something that we have in our own little selves, something that we can tap into and know as easily as it is to turn on a lightbulb. This is unrealistic hubris of the highest regard. Only when we humble ourselves do we realize that we need something, someone, outside of ourselves to find and know true peace. The radical teaching of Christianity – that God himself is humble, humble enough to become one of us and face all of the evil in the world head on – is what separates it from every other religion. Christianity teaches us to be humble, not as a vague rule, but with God himself becoming humble as an example for us all. This humility leads to acceptance of something outside of ourselves, which opens us up to receive God’s grace and peace. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Readings Click above to view Gn. 14: 8-20 Psalm 110 I Cor. 11: 23-26 Lk 9:11b-17 Melchizedec is one of the most mysterious figures of the Old Testament. He is the king of peace and righteousness, has no mother or father, and offers the great patriarch Abraham a meal of bread and wine. Sound familiar? The priest Melchizedec, without beginning of life or end of days, is what scholars call a “type” of Christ – that is, someone who prefigures him. Today as we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, remembering the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we marvel that his sacrifice was clearly foreshadowed in the earliest writings of scripture. God works. The three main pillars of the earliest Christian faith were the crucifixion of Christ, his resurrection, and the Eucharist. This is laid out plainly in the letters of Paul, the earliest writings of the New Testament. He doesn’t talk much about Jesus’ teaching or preaching. Instead he emphasizes God’s great work of salvation, the cross and the resurrection, and the new reality that ratifies God’s new covenant: the Eucharist. This emphasis on the Eucharist is shared by the authors of the Gospels, the New Testament, and Christians writing in the decades immediately following. Deep study of these writings is essential to understand what early Christians thought and how they acted. De-emphasizing the importance of the Eucharist – or worse yet, eliminating it – is taking away the very foundation of Christianity, a foundation as basic as the cross and resurrection. Nothing earthly can compare with the heavenly food of receiving and being filled by the author of life. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. by John Morton
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Saturday of the Eight Week in Ordinary Time Readings Click above to view Jude 17, 20B-25 Psalm 63 Mark 11:27-33 We can find Truth only in God. But do we really “thirst” for God? Do we really hunger for that Truth? Today’s readings remind us of our need to thirst for God. They encourage us to place Truth ahead of ourselves and ahead of victory. We are also asked to be merciful to those who teach error, but to guide them whenever possible. Catholics in America are asked to abstain from food and drink (with the exception of water) at least an hour prior to partaking in the Eucharist. This proscription has been relaxed in recent years, as the faithful used to be asked to abstain the entire morning before receiving, not just an hour prior. While both practices are acceptable, if you are able I would recommend practicing the older tradition. The feeling of hunger and desire to eat that grows deep in the pit of your stomach will be all the more noticeable, and therefore all the more beneficial. The practice of abstaining from food prior to the Eucharist gives us the opportunity to feel a real hunger, a necessary hunger. The desire for food becomes tangible and immediate. This reminds us that our own hunger for Truth, and our own thirst for God, should be as real and immediate. I don’t often feel that desire, I don’t always seek the Truth in the same fashion I seek nutrition when famished, and that’s all the more reason to keep up the practice. In the Gospel the Pharisees and Scribes question the authority of Christ. But when questioned in return by our Lord they do not seek the Truth, a Truth which was evident from the miracles he performed. Instead they seek victory. They are so blinded by their goal that they ignore that truth which would seem so obvious. No one could have performed such miracles except by God, but following the evidence was not their concern. We ought to always be concerned with seeking the Truth, for it is in the Truth that we find the glory of God (by his grace). The epistle of Jude tells us to “build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God…” This is something we must do, something we must work at constantly. Everyone struggles to do so, which is why the Holy Spirit has guided the Church in prescribing traditions to remind of us the very real and immediate importance of this desire. John Morton is a writer and amateur historian from the Twin Cities. An avowed atheist for 15 years, he converted to Catholicism in 2015 after a long discernment process. He continues to study and write on early Christian history, theistic apologetics, and his own personal conversion experience. by Erik Ritland
The Word and the Church Bible commentary following the Catholic Lectionary (which gives an overview of the entire Bible) by the Fully Alive staff Friday of the Eight Week in Ordinary Time Readings Click above to view I Pet. 4: 7-13 Ps. 96 Mk. 11: 11-26 The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and sober-minded so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. I Pet 4:7-8 The first words of Jesus’ ministry are telling: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk. 1:15). The kingdom of God is at hand – it is here! The ministry of Jesus – which drives out demons, gives the blind their sight, and teaches the ways of God – shows us that he inaugurates the kingdom of God. The ultimate sign, of course, is his crucifixion and resurrection. When St. Peter says “The end of all things is at hand” he is saying that we are living in this kingdom moment, a completely new era brought to fruition by Jesus through his life, death, and resurrection. This kingdom, as Peter reminds us, is deeply rooted in prayer and especially in an "intense" love. The long Gospel reading tells us of the gathering storm around Jesus before his arrest. The curse of the fig tree represents the coming destruction of Jerusalem. The current system of the Temple wasn’t bearing good enough fruit – as indicated by Jesus’ need to cleanse it – and because of that it would face the same fate as the fig tree. Note: the kingdom perspective in my commentary on Peter is largely indebted to the writings of N.T. Wright, especially his books Jesus and the Victory of God and Simply Jesus. Erik Ritland is a writer and musician. He is the lead staff writer and podcast host of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, which features commentary on music, sports, and an intellectual ragbag. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blogs Curious North and Hometown Hustle. Reach him via email. |
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Erik Ritland received his MA in Theology in 2017. He's the founder and content manager of Fully Alive Christian Media and Rambling On, copy editor and writer for Music in Minnesota, and an acclaimed songwriter. Archives
April 2019
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