Sunday Dive

Katie is swamped preparing for Lent at her parish so she offers a pared down version of the podcast. Don't worry, though, it still packs a punch! Together we'll spend the episode exploring the tree and fruit analogy that Our Lord offers in our Gospel, bringing in the work of Catholic counselor Bob Schuchts to explore at greater length the healing needed to truly rid ourselves of bad fruit and repl...

Our Gospel picks up where we left off last week in Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Last episode we explored the theme of a universal “Law for Mankind” and we contrasted that to the Law of Moses given specifically for the Israelites. In this episode, we’ll look closer at another aspect of Jesus’ teaching and the Law of Moses: the idea of separation. We’ll explore the Hebrew word for holiness which impl...

Jesus is preaching beatitude in our Gospel today and, though Luke’s version makes some clear diversions from the more famous form of the sermon in Matthew’s Gospel, the message at hand remains consistent. Employing the Old Testament connections offered by the lectionary, we’ll compare and contrast the law of the Mosaic covenant with the universal law of the Davidic covenant and we’ll make the case...

Jesus is teaching beside the Sea of Galilee when the crush of the crowds prompts him to climb aboard St. Peter’s boat and request the soon-to-be-apostle to shove off from shore. Little does Peter know that this is only Our Lord’s first request. We’ll spend our episode exploring the ins and outs of fishing on the Sea of Galilee and we’ll get our hands dirty in the original Greek so as to immerse ou...

Our Gospel continues where it left off last week in the synagogue in Nazareth. There Jesus’ honorable reception quickly turns to contempt. We’ll spend our episode looking deeper into the Greek of the text in order to make sense of the mixed reaction of the assembly and we’ll also dive into the broader context of the Isaiah quote in order to uncover the why behind the wrath of the town’s residents....

We take a detour from our Year C Gospel of Luke in order to explore the Wedding Feast at Cana. This is a Scripture text awash with meaning. From Our Lady’s intercessory role to Our Lord’s seemingly callous response, we’ll unpack the deeper meanings hidden within the text and the abundant Old Testament parallels that reveal a nuptial and new covenant theme. We’d also be remiss to ignore the fact th...

Jesus is lost and found in today's Gospel. In it, the evangelist describes Jesus as having "understanding", an Old Testament characteristic of the Davidic kings. Luke also clearly links Our Lord with the prophet Samuel and by this connection we discover Jesus as the firstborn consecrated to God and the prophet who will speak condemnation on the corrupt Jerusalem priests. We end our episode explori...

We turn our attention once more to our Gospel reading and to the figure of John the Baptist. People from all walks of life are coming to him, repenting, and asking for spiritual advice. John exhorts people not to a life of intense asceticism and separation but rather to lives of holiness in the midst of worldly endeavors, a radical idea for the time period. Exploring further John the Baptist's bac...

This week we continue in the spirit of Jeremiah with our first reading from Baruch, the man who served as Jeremiah's scribe. In it we find many parallels with the Old Testament and contemporary prophetic literature, specifically the Book of Isaiah. We explore the three covenant types of Ancient Near Eastern culture and link Baruch to Genesis 22 in which God himself is the covenant guarantor. Lastl...

As we enter into the Advent season, the Church offers us a series of prophetic texts in our first readings. This week we find ourselves in the prophet Jeremiah and we spend most of our episode situating this reading in its historical context, an exercise that proves helpful for understanding the text itself but also for understanding the season of Advent. As the apocalyptic theme continues in our...

The Church points us to the Gospel of John for our feast today, looking specifically at the exchange between Pontius Pilate and Our Lord at the latter's trial. The question at hand is kingship: is Jesus a king and, if so, where is his kingdom? Looking at the literal translation of the Greek we discover how emphatic Our Lord's answers are. He reigns indeed but his reign does not flow from human aut...

Our Lord leaves the Temple for the last time. On the way out his disciples comment on the Temple's beauty and Jesus takes the opportunity to direct their hearts from an earthly worldview to a heavenly one, foretelling the destruction of that beautiful structure. Our Gospel picks up toward the end of this exchange and in it we find an abundance of allusions to a new creation, the ingathering of the...

Jesus takes aim at the scribes in our Gospel today, calling them out for their love of fine things and special treatment. In contrast, Our Lord offers the example of the widow at the Temple. While the opulent monetary contributions of the rich ring out for others to hear, the widow's quiet offering does not go unnoticed by God. Jesus explains that, contrary to appearances, this woman has offered m...

Jesus makes his final stop before reaching Jerusalem, passing through the ancient town of Jericho. On his way out of town the cries of a blind man reach his ears, compelling him to stop. Our Lord's encounter with and subsequent healing of the blind man are full of Old Testament resonances. In our Gospel we see the fulfillment of many prophecies announcing the arrival of the Messiah, we find fascin...

We leave Our Lord's words to speak for themselves in our podcast today, looking closer at the spiritual implication of his message rather than digging into scholarly insights on the text. The former exercise proves deeply important for our interior life, especially in periods of suffering. Understanding that the role James and John wish to possess is actually filled by two thieves leads us to reco...

We hear two of Jesus' favorite words in our Gospel today: Follow me! Where in the past these words were met with tremendous faith by the apostles, today they are met with sadness and rejection. We're talking about the rich young man who's unfulfilled longings bring him to the feet of Jesus. Diagnosing his restlessness, Our Lord calls him to leave behind his possessions, a cure that proves too burd...

Jesus travels to Judea where he is not always well received and is immediately confronted by Pharisees as regards his view on marriage and divorce. Referencing Deuteronomy, the Pharisees make the case that Moses allowed for divorce but Jesus moves earlier in the Biblical account to make his argument, citing two verses of Genesis. From Our Lord's words we glean a radical view of marriage, one that...

The apostles encounter a man performing exorcisms in Jesus' name though they do not know who he is. When asked his opinion, Our Lord's response points us to the outpouring of the spirit of God in the Old Testament and the prophetic words of Moses who longs for all of God's people to perform miraculous works. Continuing on in our Gospel we hear Jesus speak intensely about "stumbling blocks." Explor...

We find ourselves in chapter nine of Mark's Gospel, following on the heels on Jesus' Transfiguration. Jesus has shown his glory, now he takes some time away from the crowds to give instruction specifically to the Twelve. What does he teach them? He teaches them about the cross, predicting for the second time not only his passion but his glorious resurrection and having heard them arguing who is th...

Having cleansed foods and thereby abolished many of the ritual purity laws that served to separate Jew and Gentile, Jesus intentionally travels into Gentile territory. He performs several miracles like the one recounted in our Gospel. Exploring the healing of the deaf man we discover an explicit link with the prophecies of Isaiah that allude to an ingathering of the Gentiles and mincing Jesus' wor...

We head back into Mark in our Gospel today and into the thick of Pharisaic criticism. Jesus is asked why his disciples do not wash their hands before eating. To fully understand the Pharisees' charge we take a step back and explore the heart and history of the Pharisaic school of thought. What we find in the Pharisees are Jews zealous for the law of God but fixated on ancillary things, things that...

Provided with two sets of first readings, the Church beckons us to look both backward and forward to understand our Gospel and the feast of the Assumption at hand. Diving into Luke as well as our Old Testament first reading we see the evangelist draw clear parallels between David's reception of the Ark of the Covenant at Jerusalem and Elizabeth's reception of the new Ark just outside Jerusalem. Th...

Katie is doing something different in this "mega episode" of Sunday Dive. Instead of splitting John 6 into multiple episodes as we read through it over the coming weeks, we pack it all into one long episode. Yes, that means they'll be a break from the podcast but only for a couple of weeks. We'll be back for a special episode for August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin M...

The Twelve return from their initial missionary outreach, their success evidenced by the continually growing crowds. Unable to find time even to eat, Jesus invites the disciples to follow him to a place of solitude. The people, however, are undeterred and follow on foot, beating Jesus to his destination. What Our Lord does next shows the tenderness of his heart. Moved with compassion he provides f...

Jesus called the Twelve to himself in the beginning of Mark's Gospel. Now he sends them out two-by-two to do the very works that he has done. Exploring Our Lord's pre-departure instructions we discover several connections to not only the Old Testament but also first century culture. Through these connections we see Jesus distinguishing his followers from some (like itinerant Greek philosophers) bu...