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Exploring the word

19 Feb 2012 - Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

It’s helpful to take a map along when you read the New Testament. Most of the time in the gospel stories, Jesus moves forward. He goes from town to town, teaching and healing and being the “repo man” for souls ensnared by dark spirits. If you had to be possessed by someone, wouldn’t you rather it be Jesus, especially because belonging to him is the only real freedom the world has known? Rarely in the synoptic gospel storyline does Jesus retreat into territory he’s visited previously. Before we ascribe some spiritual significance to that, let’s consider a more practical reason: Look at what happens when he shows up in the same place twice! The return to Capernaum brought out the crowds to be sure, but some members of that same eager audience tore the roof off the house where he was staying. Do you suppose his hosts will want to show him hospitality again on his next visit? Architecturally speaking, the roof-removal incident was not the disaster it sounds like. Houses in the Near East had removable roofs for seasonal adjustments. But it would have been highly irregular for someone else to take your roof off. We get the sense that there was a little bit of “Jesus fever” that followed him around as his ministry became better known. It was the one fever he didn’t bother to cool. The Crucifixion would take care of that. Prophecy had long noted that something new was on the way. God had a purpose that wouldn’t be stopped: the rescue of a people who seemed particularly attracted to being in jeopardy. Through slavery in Egypt, exile in Babylon, and every other national calamity into which Israel descended, God found a way to throw them a lifeline. The community that had grown used to divinely commissioned kings and prophets, however, never saw Jesus coming. A savior who freed the nation from bondage to foreign powers? Sure. A savior who offered freedom from sin? Well, that was a little too new. Jesus crossed a line when he assured the paralytic he enjoyed the forgiveness of God. So long as it wasn’t the sabbath, no one would have raised an objection to another miraculous healing. Israel had had its healers before: Moses, Elijah, even Isaiah had summoned divine healing when necessary. The prophets, however, never dared to cover the sins of the people without some sort of quid pro quo: a season in sackcloth, fasting, and sacrifice. That, frankly, was blasphemy. Jesus was assuming an authority only God could have. Those who objected understood him quite well. Those who glorified God that day, though, understood Jesus even better. God’s enduring purpose—to rescue a people perennially in danger—had just found an astounding new fountainhead. Salvation would now and always be there for the asking. Related scripture links Sins of the fathers: Exod. 20:5-6; Jer. 31:29-30 New heart, new spirit: Ezek. 11:19 New creation: 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1 Forgiveness of sins: Psalm 130:4; Luke 1:77; 1 Col. 1:13-14 Catechism links Salvation: CCC 430; 1421; 1441; 1484; 1500-1502 Taking offense: CCC 574-576; 587-591 Newness: CCC 711-716

Authors Alice Camille

Salvation hospitality Prophecy savior maps

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China center stage on Jesuit’s rare map

21 Feb 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Moses reminds the people in this Sunday’s first reading that before the Lord led them out of Egypt they had “lived there as an alien.” A rarely seen 400-year-old map of the world drawn by another “alien,” Italian missionary Matteo Ricci, S.J., is on display through April at the Library of Congress. In the early 1600s Ricci was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the map in 1602 at the request of the Chinese emperor. The map places China at the center of the world. The map identifies Florida as “the Land of Flowers.” It includes pictures and annotations describing different regions of the world. Africa was noted to have the world’s highest mountain and longest river. The brief description of North America mentions “humped oxen” or bison, wild horses, and a region named “Ka-na-ta.” Several Central and South American places are named, including “Wa-ti-ma-la” (Guatemala), “Yu-ho-t’ang” (Yucatan), and “Chih-li” (Chile). Ricci gave a brief description of the discovery of the Americas: “In olden days, nobody had ever known that there were such places as North and South America or Magellanica,” he wrote, using a label that early mapmakers gave to Australia and Antarctica. “But a hundred years ago, Europeans came sailing in their ships to parts of the sea coast, and so discovered them.” The Ricci map gained the nickname the “Impossible Black Tulip of Cartography” because it was so hard to find. It measures 12 feet by 5 feet and is printed on six rolls of rice paper. The Library of Congress rarely exhibits artifacts it does not own because its holdings are so vast, but curators made an exception for the Ricci map. It is being shown publicly for the first time in North America. An article by Brett Zongker for the Associated Press

china maps matteo ricci jesuits library of congress
Google Maps rolls out new feature for cyclists

14 Mar 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from 2 Corinthians, Saint Paul speaks of a new creation where "new things have come." Biking enthusiasts were celebrating Wednesday because of a new feature that comes from Google: Bicycle maps are now included in 150 cities on the popular Google Maps service. Biking directions and extensive bike trail data are now available, giving cyclists a way to customize their trips, figure out the most efficient routes, make use of bike lanes, and avoid big hills. "When I need to get off the trail to cross town, biking directions makes sure to keep me on bike-friendly roads and avoid some of the city's busiest intersections," Google product manager Shannon Guymon explained in a blog post early Wednesday morning. Bike trails, bike lanes, recommended routes, uphill slopes, downhill slopes, and busy roads and intersections are all accounted for in the new bike feature. Source: An article by Katherine Noyes for TechNews World

shannon guymon biking bicycles google maps
For January 1: Looking back at high-tech lows

23 Dec 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

On this Octave Day of Christmas, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we recall the amazement all felt when shepherds first announced the good news of the birth of the savior. We’re used to being amazed by news of the latest breakthrough in technology and the niftiest new social networks and apps, but as a fresh calendar year begins let’s pause for a glance back at some of the most stunning high-tech flops of the past year.Apple Maps. The company Steve Jobs built may be a juggernaut, but even the mighty Apple makes mistakes. Apple Maps was such a fantastic disaster that CEO Tim Cook publicly apologized for it.When Apple revamped its mapping software to replace Google's maps, it looked good, and early reviews were positive. Users, however, quickly discovered it was broken. The internet buzzed with stories of Apple Maps suggesting routes that would intersect with a 747 at Dulles Airport or send a car careening off the Brooklyn Bridge.Apparently the years it took Google to assemble and fine-tune their product could not be replicated on the fly by Apple's cleverness. Fancy new features such as 3D imagery and spoken turn-by-turn directions couldn't save what was a product riddled with errors.BlackBerry 10. BlackBerrys used to be known as "CrackBerrys" for their addictive quality—there was a time when they were everywhere and people couldn't put them down. Even President Barack Obama was seen obsessing over his Blackberry during his first campaign. But those days are over.The Blackberry 10 is one of the year's biggest busts because it was never released as promised. This was supposed to be a comeback year for the Blackberry brand, but with the holiday season behind us, the new release day—January 30—may have the dwindling Blackberry faithful excited, but have the rest of us lost interest?Red-faced Facebook.Facebook's fumble of the process of selling stock to the public was daily news as the share price tumbled. But Facebook's “Reach Generator” bombed as well. A product that would have filled your news feed with more ads, it was killed after six months.And just this past week Facebook's heavy-handed attempt to commercialize photos that users share on the popular Instagram service suggests continued tone-deafness. Users reacted with outrage and canceled accounts when they learned of changes in the company’s terms of service that would apparently allow a user’s personal photos to be used in paid advertisements.Eric Goldman, an associate professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law, said the latest skirmish between Facebook and its users was part of the sometimes uncomfortable dynamic between companies offering free online services and their eventual need to turn a profit from them. “The interest of the site is never 100 percent aligned with the users, and the divergence inevitably leads to friction,” said Goldman. “It’s unavoidable.”Homily hint: The awe felt by many of us years ago on first hearing the Christmas story in all its gospel glory can fade over time as we get used to it each year and get distracted by all that glitters in our high-tech world. Take a moment on this special day in both sacred and secular calendars to invite all in attendance to pause and bring to mind the scene of the Nativity as it was witnessed by the shepherds. We can, and should, go to that place in our hearts to touch the feeling of wonder once more. Sources: Articles by Eric Jackson for Forbes, Victor Paul Alvarezfor Digital Crave, and Jenna Worthan for the New York Times

Technology eric goldman instagram reach generator apple maps blackberry high tech apple inc facebook nativity scenes