Time for Transformation

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine the “isms” that separate us from being workers in the field of Christ where all people are loved.

Transformation Time

The Reading from the Prophet Isaiah proclaims the Day of Midian: when God used the judge Gideon to deliver the northern territories from Midianite oppression.

 

* [8:23–9:6] The meaning of 8:23 is somewhat uncertain, for example, whether the expressions translated “once” and “now” refer to times or to individuals, and also whether the verbs speak of degrading and glorifying the territories. If this traditional translation is correct, the passage would seem to promise the former Northern Kingdom of Israel deliverance from the Assyrians and might relate to Hezekiah’s program of trying to reincorporate the northern territories into the kingdom of Judah and thus restore the boundaries of the country as it was under David.

* [8:23] The territories mentioned in this verse are those which the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III took from Israel and incorporated into the Assyrian provincial system as a result of the Syro-Ephraimite War of 735–732 B.C. (2 Kgs 15:29). Zebulun…Naphtali: regions of the former Northern Kingdom of Israel. The way of the Sea: the area along the Mediterranean coast south of Mount Carmel which became the Assyrian province of Dor. Land across the Jordan: the province of Gilead east of the Jordan. Galilee of the Nations: the territory north of Mount Carmel which was incorporated in the Assyrian province of Megiddo. Galilee apparently had a large non-Israelite population. Mt 4:15–16 cites this verse in the context of the beginning of Jesus’ public mission in Galilee. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

* [9:3] Day of Midian: when God used the judge Gideon to deliver these northern territories from Midianite oppression (Jgs 6–7). (Isaiah, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 27 asserts boundless hope that God will bring rescue and the climax of the poem comes with “I believe”.

* [Psalm 27] Tradition has handed down the two sections of the Psalm (Ps 27:1–6; 7–14) as one Psalm, though each part could be understood as complete in itself. Asserting boundless hope that God will bring rescue (Ps 27:1–3), the psalmist longs for the presence of God in the Temple, protection from all enemies (Ps 27:4–6). In part B there is a clear shift in tone (Ps 27:7–12); the climax of the poem comes with “I believe” (Ps 27:13), echoing “I trust” (Ps 27:3). (Psalms, PSALM 27, n.d.)

In the Reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul warns of the division caused by Groups and Slogans. 

* [1:10–4:21] The first problem Paul addresses is that of divisions within the community. Although we are unable to reconstruct the situation in Corinth completely, Paul clearly traces the divisions back to a false self-image on the part of the Corinthians, coupled with a false understanding of the apostles who preached to them (cf. 1 Cor 4:6, 9; 9:1–5) and of the Christian message itself. In these chapters he attempts to deal with those underlying factors and to bring the Corinthians back to a more correct perspective.

* [1:12] I belong to: the activities of Paul and Apollos in Corinth are described in Acts 18. Cephas (i.e., “the Rock,” a name by which Paul designates Peter also in 1 Cor 3:22; 9:5; 15:5 and in Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14) may well have passed through Corinth; he could have baptized some members of the community either there or elsewhere. The reference to Christ may be intended ironically here.

* [1:13–17] The reference to baptism and the contrast with preaching the gospel in v. 17a suggest that some Corinthians were paying special allegiance to the individuals who initiated them into the community. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Beginning of the Galilean Ministry and The Call of the First Disciples leading to Jesus Ministering to a Great Multitude.

* [4:12–17] Isaiah’s prophecy of the light rising upon Zebulun and Naphtali (Is 8:22–9:1) is fulfilled in Jesus’ residence at Capernaum. The territory of these two tribes was the first to be devastated (733–32 B.C.) at the time of the Assyrian invasion. In order to accommodate Jesus’ move to Capernaum to the prophecy, Matthew speaks of that town as being “in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali” (Mt 4:13), whereas it was only in the territory of the latter, and he understands the sea of the prophecy, the Mediterranean, as the sea of Galilee.

* [4:17] At the beginning of his preaching Jesus takes up the words of John the Baptist (Mt 3:2) although with a different meaning; in his ministry the kingdom of heaven has already begun to be present (Mt 12:28).

* [4:18–22] The call of the first disciples promises them a share in Jesus’ work and entails abandonment of family and former way of life. Three of the four, Simon, James, and John, are distinguished among the disciples by a closer relation with Jesus (Mt 17:1; 26:37).

* [4:20] Here and in Mt 4:22, as in Mark (Mk 1:16–20) and unlike the Lucan account (Lk 5:1–11), the disciples’ response is motivated only by Jesus’ invitation, an element that emphasizes his mysterious power.

* [4:23–25] This summary of Jesus’ ministry concludes the narrative part of the first book of Matthew’s gospel (Mt 3–4). The activities of his ministry are teaching, proclaiming the gospel, and healing; cf. Mt 9:35.

* [4:23] Their synagogues: Matthew usually designates the Jewish synagogues as their synagogue(s) (Mt 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54) or, in address to Jews, your synagogues (Mt 23:34), an indication that he wrote after the break between church and synagogue. (Matthew, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

 

Rev. Kent Beausoleil, SJ, comments that even though we may think we don’t or refuse to recognize them we all have our filters, our biases, our ‘isms’.   ‘Isms’ are dangerous because they filter certain things out that lead us to make certain people somebodies and others nobodies, certain factions within Christianity holier than others, and that is exactly what Paul’s warning to those darn Corinthians is all about. 

The evangelist Matthew, thank God, is a filter remover. In our gospel for the day, Matthew takes the lowly of the Galilean society, the gruff fishermen, and places Christ, in all his glorious light and sound before them. Jesus calls them and asks them to follow. And they left everything, their profession, their boats, and their fathers to follow. (Beausoleil, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “The true light of revelation to the Gentiles,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).

"The Evangelist commemorated in this passage the prophet's words: 'Beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light' (Matthew 4:15-16) In what darkness? Certainly in the profound error of ignorance. What great light did they see? The light concerning which it is written: 'He was the true light that illumines everyone who comes into this world' (John 1:9) This was the light about which the just man Simeon in the Gospel declared, 'A light of revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people Israel' (Luke 2:32). That light had arisen according to what David had announced, saying, 'A light has arisen in the darkness to the upright of heart' (Psalm 112:4).

"Also, Isaiah demonstrated that light about to come for the enlightenment of the church when he said, 'Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you' (Isaiah 60:1). Concerning that light also Daniel noted, 'It reveals the profound and hidden things, knowing those things which are in darkness and the light is with it' (Daniel 2:22), that is, the Son with the Father, for even as the Father is light, so too is the Son light. And David also speaks in the psalm: 'In your light shall we see light' (Psalm 36:9), for the Father is seen in the Son, as the Lord tells us in the Gospel: 'Who sees me, sees the Father' (John 14:9) From the true light, indeed, the true light proceeded, and from the invisible the visible. "He is the image of the invisible God," as the apostle notes (Colossians 1:15)." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 15.1)

 

[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."] (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 comments that Paul understood that divisions happen when we focus too much on our own opinions and selfish desires and not enough on Jesus. We might favor one church leader over another (1 Corinthians 1:12). We might prefer our wealthy brothers and sisters over those who are struggling (11:18-22). Or we might be more impressed with those who seem spiritually gifted and less so with the ones who seem “ordinary” (12:4-7). But in each case, one crucial truth gets obscured: “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,” the body of Christ (12:13).

Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, former preacher to the papal household, once said, “If we will turn to Christ and go forward together toward him, we Christians will draw closer to each other” (Sermon, March 18, 2016). The closer we get to Jesus, the more he heals our wounds and leads us to repentance. And the more we are healed and forgiven, the easier it becomes to love and reconcile with each other.

No, Christ is not divided. So let’s all draw closer to him and ask him to make us one!

“Jesus, heal every division! Lord, bring us together!” (Meditation on 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17, n.d.)

 

Rev. David Gierlach offers a weekly sermon: “the way of the cross”. Full video:

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the reading from Isaiah speaks about the northern land blessed and living in darkness under threat by the Assyrians. People could be drawn to worship the God of the questionable territory. In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks about divisions in Corinth and these are slogans and some claim a special knowledge of the Spirit but Paul speaks with the Spirit of God and he especially speaks of the call to the cross, a call to total surrender not superiority. Matthew quotes the Hebrew Testament to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets. Galilee is not considered a “good” place by the Jewish authorities. The great light from Galilee had been foretold according to Matthew and Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus asks them to transform from fishers to fishers of men and we are called to transform our existing talents to build up the Kingdom.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, encourages us to read the Bible seeking an inner experience instead of authoritative answers. Outside of our own inner experience of this kind of God, most religions will remain merely ritualistic, moralistic, and doctrinaire.

If we believe in inspiration, and trust that the Spirit was guiding the Bible’s listening and writing—but, like all things human, “through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12), we will allow ourselves to be led. We will trust that there is a development of crucial divine wisdom inside this anthology of books we call the Bible. Woven amidst these developing ideas are what I have called the “Great Themes of Scripture.”

Just as the Bible takes us through many stages of consciousness and salvation history, it takes us individually a long time to move beyond our need to be dualistic, judgmental, accusatory, fearful, blaming, egocentric, and earning-oriented. The text in travail mirrors and charts our own human travail and illustrates all these stages from within the Bible. It offers both the mature and immature responses to almost everything—and we have to learn how to recognize the difference.(Rohr, n.d.)

We implore the Spirit to guide us to transformation as we are painfully aware of the divisions in our society that have created violence and hatred that is opposed to the Love that we are called to bring as “fishers of people”.

References

Beausoleil, K. (2026, January 25). Daily Reflection January 25, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-january-25-2026 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/8?23 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/9 

Matthew, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/4?12 

Meditation on 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/01/25/1486981/ 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/1?10 

Psalms, PSALM 27. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/27?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/reading-for-transformation/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). From Darkness and Death to Light and Life. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Theophany then and now

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the signs in our life that point to God with us in our journey.

Signs of Presence

The passage from the Book of Exodus describes the theophany involved in the call and commission of Moses.

 * [3:12] Sign: a visible display of the power of God. The ancient notion of a sign from God does not coincide with the modern understanding of “miracle,” which suggests some disruption in the laws governing nature. While most any phenomenon can become a vehicle for displaying the purposes and providence of God, here the sign intended to confirm Moses’ commission by God seems to be the burning bush itself. Since normally the giving of such a sign would follow the commission rather than precede it (see Jgs 6:11–24), some see Israel’s service of God at Sinai after the exodus from Egypt as the confirmatory sign, albeit retroactively. It is more likely, however, that its mention here is intended to establish the present episode with Moses alone as a prefigurement of God’s fiery theophany to all Israel on Mount Sinai. Serve God: Hebrew ‘-b-d, “serve,” includes among its meanings both the notion of “serving or working for another” and the notion of “worship.” The implication here is that the Israelites’ service/worship of God is incompatible with their service to Pharaoh.1

In Psalm 103, the speaker begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all people.

* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22).2 

Jesus prayer in the Gospel of Matthew is praise of the Father for revealing truth to the simple and humble.

* [11:25–27] This Q saying, identical with Lk 10:21–22 except for minor variations, introduces a joyous note into this section, so dominated by the theme of unbelief. While the wise and the learned, the scribes and Pharisees, have rejected Jesus’ preaching and the significance of his mighty deeds, the childlike have accepted them. Acceptance depends upon the Father’s revelation, but this is granted to those who are open to receive it and refused to the arrogant. Jesus can speak of all mysteries because he is the Son and there is perfect reciprocity of knowledge between him and the Father; what has been handed over to him is revealed only to those whom he wishes.3 

Carol Zuegner shares we often search for signs, for some kind of indication that we are doing the right thing.

Moses isn’t sure he’s up to the task: Who am I to do this, he asks God. I do that too, sometimes when I know I should be doing the right thing, but peer pressure, habit can lead to the easier way. But, like Moses, I can’t use the excuse that I was just walking by and happened upon a burning bush.  I have to do the right thing and I can because God is with me.
The gospel is simple, yet powerful. It carries through the theme of how we each are chosen by God. You do not have to be the wise and learned – some things are revealed to the childlike.  To me, that means that I can be chosen by God as a leader in my own life, even as I continue to work on understanding and learning what that role should be and how I should live that life. My relationship with God evolves and changes as I evolve and change.4 

Don Schwager quotes “Revealed to babes,” by Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century).

"And he revealed these things to children. To which children? Not those who are children in age but to those who are children in respect to sin and wickedness. To them Jesus revealed how to seek the blessings of paradise and the things to come in the kingdom of heaven, because thus it was well pleasing before God that 'they should come from the east and the west and that they should lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but that the sons of this worldly kingdom should be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-12).'" (excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 26)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12 suggests we put ourselves in Moses’ shoes for a moment. He’s a fugitive from justice. A death sentence hangs over him for having killed an Egyptian. He’s a Hebrew, yet he is married to a Gentile who worships other gods. Would anyone take him seriously? This is likely what Moses was thinking when God commissioned him to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. Who, me? he must have thought. How is that ever going to happen?

Haven’t you felt like Moses at one time or another? We’ve all faced situations when it seems that God is asking us to do something that we don’t feel equipped or capable of pulling off. We protest, saying, “Lord, you’re asking the wrong person. I can’t do this.” And God gives us the same five-word message he gave to Moses: “I will be with you.” It can seem too simple. It can seem inadequate. But remember, this is almighty God who is making the promise. The One who defeated Pharaoh’s armies is with you. The One who created the universe is with you. The One who loved you enough to send his only Son is with you—always.6 

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the situation of Moses in Midian. Two responses to theophany are drawing closer and fear from our unworthiness. Friar Jude reminds that Jesus prayer points to simple trust and humility as conditions for surrender to God.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that when we honor and accept the divine image within ourselves, we cannot help but see it in everybody else, too, and we know it is just as undeserved and unmerited as it is in us.

Mystics are human like the rest of us, and none of us are perfect. We are inconsistent creatures with blind spots and cultural limitations. Outside of flashes of insight and unitive experience, mystics are products of their place in time. For example, they may have sexist, anti-Semitic, or other biases common for that period, as we see even in the much-idealized Desert Fathers. In spite of momentary glimpses of universal and unconditional grace, they may still be rooted in a retributive understanding of God. It takes more than a lifetime for us to grasp the Mystery that we experience during moments of deep presence and surrender. [1]7 

Our mystical experience of Christ in others is revelation that, like Moses, we can count on God with us.

References

1	(n.d.). Exodus, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 17, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/exodus/3
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 103 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 17, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103
3	(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 11 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 17, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved July 17, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 17, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved July 17, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/07/17/
7	(2019, July 17). Our Response — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 17, 2019, from https://cac.org/our-response-2019-07-17/