Father Denny Dempsey

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time B February 8, 2009

This is being sent out a week early since I'll be visiting our sister parish in Mexico for ten days.

Gospel, Mark 1:29-39  This took place in the synagogue at Capernaum. As I mentioned last week, Capernaum had a population of around 1,500 people, nearly all Jewish. Jesus had cast an evil spirit out of a man in the synagogue. It was the Sabbath when Jewish people were not allowed to do unnecessary work, so no one had asked Jesus to perform any healings right after the service. Instead, they went to their homes, in every one of which what Jesus had done in the synagogue was the topic of discussion. If he could cast out an evil spirit, people thought, he could surely heal grandma or Uncle Jacob. The Jewish day ended at sunset. People waited. After sunset they headed for Peter’s house, perhaps surprised that everyone else in town had the same idea. These were the first healing that Jesus did in Capernaum.

Glance through the gospels and you’ll find a great number of healings recounted in the four gospels took place in that village. Jesus went out on several tours of the surrounding region, but always returned to Capernaum to find both townspeople and those who had come to await his return gathering in great numbers. The people of Capernaum understandably wanted Jesus to stay around. In addition to physical healings, how else could a person with such God-given power bless their lives? Lots of people were unemployed and didn’t know how they were going to feed their families and take care of their basic needs. Jesus met lots of needs, but how many people only saw him as a miracle worker rather than a prophet and teacher of the ways of God? How many crossed the bridge from favors received to faith in Jesus as spiritual guide? Much later in his public ministry, we’ll hear some of Jesus’ frustration expressed right there in Capernaum after crossing from the other side of the Sea of Galilee where 5,000 people had filled their stomachs on bread and fish: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled (John 6:26)”. Jesus’ desire to move on to other villages carries a hint of this tension he will experience throughout his ministry.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time B February 1, 2009

Gospel, Mark 1:21-28  Capernaum became the headquarters of Jesus’ public ministry. A prominent fishing village on the Sea of Galilee with a population of around 1,500, Capernaum was also the home of five of Jesus’ apostles (Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew). According to archaeological evidence, the town had a long breakwater (waves coming off the lake during big storms could reach eight feet in height) and several piers with moorings for fishing boats. Houses were constructed of black basalt rock commonly found in the region, roughly shaped if worked at all, built into walls using pebbles for leveling the stones, and mortared over with mud. An outside wall would be built enclosing a property and individual rooms constructed inside along the wall around courtyards where they cooked, cared for animals, and planted a few grapevines. Several related families might have lived in such a compound, forming several smaller courtyards and room arrangements within the larger outer wall, a way of building still common in many countries of the world today.

The house thought to be Peter’s house, based on archaeological evidence at the site run by the Franciscans, was the second such compound in from the sea and breakwater. Simon’s mother-in-law lived there and whatever other family Peter had including Andrew, as well as families of other relatives or partners in the fishing syndicate. Jesus took up residence there during his time in Capernaum. The synagogue, the only building in the village from that period with shaped stones, was about 150 feet further up the same street that passed by Peter’s home. In the synagogue service, an official of the synagogue (later in the gospel we will hear about Jairus, one of the officials at the Capernaum synagogue) invited someone, usually a guest or noted person if present, to do the reading. That person would then be given the first word in saying what he thought the reading meant. The others present would then enter the discussion, giving their opinions on the passage’s meaning. Jewish men were accustomed to quote various rabbis when giving their interpretations. Jesus taught with “authority”, meaning he taught both with power and as the “author” of his interpretation of the meaning of the scripture. Jesus brought that same authority to his action in casting the spirit out of the man. Jesus, Son of God, is “author” of all good for us as he was that day in Capernaum.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time B January 25, 2009

Gospel, Mark 1:14-20  Last Sunday we heard about the call of Peter from the gospel of John. This week we read the better-known account from Mark. Herod Antipas had been tetrarch of Galilee since shortly after the death of his father, King Herod the Great, in 4 B.C. Building the city of Tiberius, his jewel on the Sea of Galilee, and maintaining a full retinue of government officials, soldiers and construction workers required a substantial income. Herod’s government licensed fishing rights on the Sea of Galilee to fishermen who partnered together to form a syndicate large enough to make purchase of the license feasible. I have read that, for the best fishing techniques, two boats were needed for stretching the nets. Such boats were expensive, but business loans could be arranged with Herod’s government (a second source of income). Each day’s catch was also taxed according to the take (a third source of income). They would need a minimum of eight workers to help with fishing each night and hire others for during the day when the boats were used to transport cargo and passengers around the lake. By keeping the boats busy all the time, they could make ends meet. It is possible that Peter was head of the syndicate and title holder of at least one of the boats. If that were the case, leaving the nets behind was more complex than pulling a little runabout up on the shore. Peter would have had to figure out how to keep the business going, pay expenses, take care of his workers, and delegate out responsibilities while he, his brother Andrew and friends James and John dedicated their lives and much of their time to becoming disciples of Jesus. The reality of how Peter would have had to organize his responsibilities with priority to following Jesus is a good example for us today who must learn to do the same given the various responsibilities of our lives.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time B January 18, 2009

Gospel, John 1:35-42  We read a lot about John the Baptist during Advent and again at the Baptism of Christ. I suggested that John the Baptist received so much attention in the gospels because a significant number of people throughout the regions the apostles were evangelizing had received the baptism of John, either directly at his hand or through his disciples. The evangelists used the person and ministry of John as a bridge to that of Jesus. The fact that the fourth gospel, traditionally believed to have been written at a much later date than the other three, gave so much attention to John, even to having him state directly of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God”, indicates how strong and enduring was the effect of John’s ministry. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, Peter first meets Jesus while putting nets in order down at the lakefront, at which time Jesus calls Peter to follow him. Luke presents a similar lakefront call, but has the initial encounter take place following the synagogue service with Jesus going to Peter’s house to heal his mother-in-law. John’s gospel gives a different scenario with Andrew, previously a disciple of John the Baptist, coming to Jesus first and then bringing Peter to Jesus. His question on meeting Jesus, “Where are you staying?” let Jesus know Andrew wanted to spend more time with him than just a quick interview on the spot. The mention of it being about “four in the afternoon”, literally “the tenth hour”, would have special significance if they were approaching the beginning of the Sabbath which began at sunset or around the twelfth hour. Since Jewish people were not to do unnecessary work on the Sabbath, Andrew and his companion would spend the day in prayer and conversation with Jesus…a wonderful encouragement for us to honor the Day of the Lord by spending time with Jesus in prayer /conversation. Regarding the name used for Simon Peter, “Cephas” is the Hebrew word for “rock”, the same as “Petros” in Greek.

Baptism of the Lord B January 11, 2009

Gospel, Mark 1:7-11  All three persons of the Trinity are present here. The Father speaks directly to Jesus (in Matthew’s gospel the voice speaks to the other people present saying “THIS is my beloved Son”). The Spirit does not depart (although perhaps no longer visible), for the next verse tell us that “at once the Spirit drove him out into the desert”. The descent of the Spirit, then, was not merely symbolic but empowering. But wasn’t the Spirit already with Jesus? Consider for a moment the text of Philippians 2:6-7. When the Son of God became man, he set aside all the divine gifts and attributes while retaining the divine identity. As a child he had to learn to walk and to speak. He had to study and learn to read and write as did other children. He “grew in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). He had to pray, even during the years of his public ministry, to discern the Father’s will. It seems that, having taken on human nature, the Son of God as Jesus only received from the Father what he needed at each moment to complete his mission…no more, no less. Some theologians believe that Jesus only became aware of his identity at the moment of his baptism (not that he received divinity at the time…merely became aware of it). Regardless of when Jesus became aware of his divine identity, the baptismal moment gave him both clarity and power for what lay ahead.