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Jesus

The Passion

The passion and death of Jesus are moments of high drama and everything that happens has its own significance. Philip Fogarty SJ tries to put us in touch with each of these meanings.

1999.11.30.

The miracles of Jesus

Over 30 per cent of the verses of St Mark’s Gospel is taken up with stories of miracles. The Latin word ‘miraculum’ means something that causes wonder. James McPolin SJ says the miracles of our day are those which speak to our world of liberation, of human dignity, health, justice [...]

1999.11.30.

What’s in a month?

Why is June known as the Month of the Sacred Heart? – Róisin.

1999.11.30.

Through the eye of a needle

Philip Fogarty SJ shows how in Mark’s Gospel the critical and paradoxical nature of Jesus’ message is gradually revealed to the disciples .

1999.11.30.

The meaning of parables

The wonderful thing about Jesus’ parables is that they nearly always have an element of surprise, of counter-culture, which he uses to force the listener to make a decision about accepting or rejecting the kingdom of God in their heart. Jim McPolin SJ explains.

1999.11.30.

Family and friends

Family meant something different in ancient Palestine from what it means in today’s society. It was so radical when Jesus looked around him and said of his community of faith, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” [...]

1999.11.30.

Take up thy cross

Jesus wasn’t an instant success. He had to endure the triumph of failure. Paul Andrews SJ shows haw we can do the same.

1999.11.30.

Fishers of men

This second article by Philip Fogarty SJ on the Gospel of Mark shows how the call of the disciples, his teaching with authority, heaing on the sabbath and forgiving sins brings up the question: Who is this man?

1999.11.30.

Would you believe?

Amanda writes: How sure can we be that there will be second coming of Jesus Christ and a bodily resurrection of all the dead at his coming? I find that I cannot believe this at all because a return of Jesus with a Universal Resurrection gives rise to many questions. [...]

1999.11.30.

Constant companions

Philip Fogarty SJ in his commentary on Mark’s Gospel deals with the questions: What does following Jesus mean? Did he have women followers? Were they different from “the Twelve”? These questions left people guessing. And we who read the gospel today are left with these questions too.

1999.11.30.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is well known as being the central teaching of Christianity. It seems both eminently desirable and well-nigh impossible. Jesus’ teaching in the ‘Our Father’, his parable of the unmerciful servant and his encounter with Zacchaeus bring out how serious he is about this teaching. James McPolin SJ explains.

1999.11.30.

Confronting power and sex in the Catholic Church: reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus

Retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson critiques the Church’s use and misuse of power, from the Pope to any preacher at the pulpit. He also proposes a new model of exercising authority in the Church where all the members are treated as responsible adults.

1999.11.30.

Be compassionate

Jesus seems to have deliberately provoked conflict with the dominant social vision represented by the religious authorities by his compassionate healings on the Sabbath and his table-fellowship with outcasts. James Mc Polin SJ tells the story.

1999.11.30.

Nazareth to Bethlehem

The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem would probably go via Samaria and Jerusalem and take about four days on foot. It is quite likely that Joseph would have a donkey to carry pieces of wood and other tools of the carpenter’s trade, so surely as Mary was heavily pregnant with [...]

1999.11.30.

The way it was: the narrative of the birth of Jesus

Matthew Byrne focuses on the biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus and the leading personalities involved – not just Joseph and Mary, but Zachariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the wise men, Simeon and Anna, and, of course, Herod. Each has a great human interest.

1999.11.30.

Friend of sinners

Central to Jesus’s life is his befriending of sinners. This was one of the central criticisms of his behaviour and the cause of much confrontation with the Jews and especially with Scribes and Pharisees. James McPolin draws out what the Gospels tell us.

1999.11.30.

Women in the ministry of Jesus

James McPolin S.J. looks at Christ’s attitude to women during the years of his public ministry. Christ certainly did not see women only to have value in relation to men, McPolin affirms.

1999.11.30.

Jesus at prayer

Jesus himself prayed in times of emergency and wanted others to pray along with him. His prayer shows him in a very intimate relationship with the one he calls “Abba”, Dada. He urges us to pray in like manner. James McPolin SJ introduces us to Jesus at prayer.

1999.11.30.

Resurrection

What is resurrection? Looking at the last chapters of Mark’s gospel, Phil Fogarty SJ starts from what it recounts and then goes on to give us some idea of what the resurrection of the body might mean for us. “The Good News of Christianity is that for those who die, [...]

1999.11.30.

Religion in the time of Jesus

James McPolin S.J examines the nature of religious life in the Holy Land at the time of Christ, specifically at the four groups which most feature in scripture: the Pharisees, the Saducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots.

1999.11.30.

Jesus the merciful saviour

The word ‘saviour’ was a title applied to the gods of the Greek and Roman world but also to kings, philosophers, emperors, physicians and statesmen. James McPolin SJ gives us some idea of what it means to call Jesus ‘the merciful saviour’.

1999.11.30.

Jesus of Nazareth

This book by Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is the first in a series. It is an attempt to give an inspiring account of Jesus. It looks at his baptism, his temptations, his proclamation of the kingdom of God, the sermon on the mount up to when he declares [...]

1999.11.30.

The Holy Land in the time of Jesus

According to James McPolin SJ, we come to know Christ better when we understand more about the nature of Jewish society – its politics, economics, religion, and so on – during his lifetime.

1999.11.30.

Why was Jesus killed?

Right from Jesus’ first preaching he was in conflict with his fellow townspeople, with the Jewish leaders and was executed by Pilate as a political rebel. Each gospel shows different points of view about Jesus. James Mc Polin SJ explains.

1999.11.30.

Jesus: a portrait

Gerald O’Collins SJ has written a theological portrait of Jesus using the best of current biblical scholarship.

1999.11.30.

Birth of Jesus

“Mary gave birth to her baby in a stable and wrapped in in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.” Although the stable would have been a bit smelly and not very clean, I’m sure Joseph and Mary did their best to make the place as cosy as possible [...]

1999.11.30.

Jesus’ family and conflict with the priests

What do we know of Jesus’ family life? What is to be said of those the Gospels call ‘his brothers and sisters’? Could he have not been married? Did he join the clergy? How did he come in conflict with the priests? James Mc Polin SJ tries answer these questions.

1999.11.30.

The last supper

Philip Fogarty shows us the meaning of the Last Supper in the light of Mark’s gospel.

1999.11.30.

The Lord’s Supper in the first Christian communities

Pierre Simson goes back to the scriptural accounts of the eucharist to see what exactly Christ meant by enjoining us to come together to celebrate his supper in memory of Him.

1999.11.30.

Jesus’ hidden life

What were the formative years of Jesus like? Is there anything we can really know about what they call “the hidden years”? Could he read and write? What level of education did he have? What languages did he speak? Jim McPolin SJ looks at these questions.

1999.11.30.
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