Liberation Lectionary

This week, Francisco and Jaime look at Mark 9:38-50. "Whoever is not against us is for us." This was Jesus' response to his disciples who were worried about somebody being Jesus-like but not a card-carrying member of "The Way." Instead of check ID's and affiliations, though, Jesus was more interested in emphasizing the common actions of healing and liberation.

And, once again, Jesus is focused on the least of these or the little ones in our midst, those who are invisible, expendable, and forgotten by our society. Last week, it was the little child Jesus took up in his arms who represented these classes of people. Anyone who trips up or causes to stumble these folks is working against the grain of Jesus' purposes. So don't do it or else, Jesus shocks with no small amount of hyperbole.

This week, Francisco and Jaime continue "on the way" with Jesus and the disciples in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9:30-37. The disciples still ain't getting what Jesus is talking about. Faceplant! Jesus has to sit the whole bunch of them down to explain. I don't know if Jesus gets paid enough for all the work he's doing. Then he took a child and put the child among the disciples. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Radical hospitality. Preferential option for the most vulnerable and disempowered. Communing with God. Do you get it now? ... sigh ...

In this latest episode of Liberation Lectionary, Jaime and Francisco explore Mark 8:27-38, the gospel reading for this coming Sunday, the 16th Sunday after Pentecost. In it, Peter puts on his big boy pants and "rebukes" Jesus for telling him and the other disciples that the kind of messiahship Jesus is living into not only looks a lot different than what Peter has in mind, but Jesus' version (a.k.a., the Son of Man or the Human One,) comes with some significant consequences, e.g., great suffering and death. Francisco reminds us that liberation theologian, Jon Sobrino, said that the cross is anything but a metaphor. Uh oh, that could be trouble for a lot of us.

This week, Jaime and Francisco, for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, excavate Mark 7:24-37 in search of the good news of liberation and discuss ways that this passage might intersect with our understanding and celebration of Labor Day. “The woman was a Gentile.” “For saying that … the demon has left your daughter.” “Then looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed.” A few hints at what we get into, hopefully enough to coax you into the conversation.

"I'm not looking for religion. I'm looking for relation." Quoted from Francisco's mom's Book of Wisdom. After having escaped from the Gospel of John, Jaime and Francsico dive back into Mark, Chapter 7, in search of liberation. What they find is Jesus criticizing the religious leaders of his day for putting the external practices of religion ahead of a relationship with God, God's justice, God's inclusiveness, and God's love. This episode is for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost.

This week, Francisco and Jaime look at John 6:56-69, the Gospel reading for 13th Sunday after Pentecost. And, yes, we are still in the sixth chapter of John. Wow! We try to squeeze a little more blood out of this turnip. (That might qualify as an unintended pun.) “Does this teaching (logos) offend you?” Today, Jaime and Francisco discuss how this reading might be a call for us to be offended by the “logos,” a.k.a., Jesus in John’s gospel, and offensive to others because we are trying to be like the logos in this world. Come take a listen and let us know what you think.

Bread. Dark bread. Yeasty. The whole-grain type. With real crust. The kind of bread you need to chew, to work at a little, in order to appreciate its deep, deliciousness. The kind of bread that takes a little bit longer for the body to digest, to break down. This is the kind of bread Jesus had in mind as a symbol of his life, as a representation of his mission of justice and love, as a sacrament of his spirit still being present in our lives and in the world.

Francisco and Jaime look at John 6:35, 41-51, the Gospel reading for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost this week. Once again, the gospel scandal is not so much what Jesus does but who he is and where he hails from. ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Well, Jesus does say that, and Jaime and Francisco dive in to explore and unpack what Jesus, perhaps, might be getting at.

This week, Francisco and Jaime explore John 6:1-21 (What! Where did Mark go!) for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost. Coming out of COVID (maybe) makes us realize that the true miracle in the feeding of the 5000 just might simply be that a crowd gathered. We're missing the crowds because that's usually where our best work and miracles happen. Come take a listen and let us know what you think.

Rest. Who deserves it? Are sabbaths just for the professional class? Jesus apparently didn't think so. Even when there appears to be an unlimited need, everyone deserves a break. Come join Francisco and Jaime as they explore the gospel passage for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.