What Do You Want from Me?

Three pastors--a Methodist, a Presbyterian and a Lutheran--walk into a coffee bar …

Sorry.  No joke here.

They just sit down with a Baptist pastor and me, to plan an interfaith Thanksgiving service.

But I did learn something interesting in our conversation.

We all use almost identical Lectionaries for our Scripture readings.

Our Mass readings follow a general pattern that may date back to the time of Moses.

Each day we read multiple passages drawn from different books of the Bible.

During the early years of the Church, those passages were selected and arranged.

And eventually became the book that we call the Lectionary.

On any day, the different selections might have a common message.

But then again, they might not.

Sometimes the readings just track along sequentially in the book they’re following.

This week, our First Readings are tracking along in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews.

And our Gospels are tracking along, independently, in Mark, Chapters 3 and 4.

But it doesn’t take a particularly keen eye or ear

To sense that, today, those two readings have a common message.

And today's Psalm was chosen to go along with that message.

In fact, that Psalm is the very Scripture that Paul was quoting in his letter.

And that Psalm was also one that Jesus clearly took to heart.

And probably had in mind when he spoke in today’s Gospel.

He was the personification, the fulfillment, of that message.

If repetition is the mother of learning, we should learn something today.

We hear the message repeated eight times.

We hear it twice in Paul’s letter.

We repeat it five times as the Psalm response.

And then we hear Jesus reference it again in the Gospel.

Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.

Jesus tells us how he feels about people who adopt and act on those words.

He embraces them as his immediate family.

His brother and sister and mother.

So we need to do only two things.

Know what God wills for us to do.

And do it.

But how can we, as individuals, know what God wills for us to do?

All we can really do is keep asking Him.

Tuesday, Third Week of Ordinary Time

MK 3:31-35   HEB 10:1-10                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org