This blog follows the daily bible readings of the catholic Church

Reading 1, Isaiah 1:10-17

10 Hear what the Lord says, you rulers of Sodom; listen to what our God teaches, you people of Gomorrah.

11 ‘What are your endless sacrifices to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I am sick of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of calves. I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come and present yourselves before me, who has asked you to trample through my courts?

13 Bring no more futile cereal offerings, the smoke from them fills me with disgust. New Moons, Sabbaths, assemblies — I cannot endure solemnity combined with guilt.

14 Your New Moons and your meetings I utterly detest; to me they are a burden I am tired of bearing.

"When you stretch out your hands I will turn my eyes away"

15 When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away.

You may multiply your prayers, I shall not be listening. Your hands are covered in blood,

16 wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease doing evil.

17 Learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the violent, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.

This looks like a good text for the Church of England Synod, or for that matter, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The anger of people who are offended by homosexual people or women being treated as equals, is made worse by the acts of solemn worship which accompany their commitment to inequality. “But there are four biblical texts”… yes, but it’s still inequality. “But Jesus chose only men”….not true, but even if it was, it would still be inequality. “But the tradition of the Catholic Church….” Yes, but it’s still inequality. Avoidable inequality is evil. So cease to do evil, learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the violent (including the verbally violent), be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.

Well, I’m not sure that the above is completely fair. It overlooks, for example, the issue of whether homosexual people, and women wanting to rule men, are engaged in unnatural acts, contrary to the revealed will of God. But I wrote it so that anyone who opposes the equality of gays or women in the church could feel for a moment the anger they feel when they are (with whatever theological delicacy) described as evil.

The default position of the church of Jesus, on eligibility for ordination or consecration, should be complete equality of all Christian people. Any other proposal bears the burden of proof and must be advanced with trepidation.

And don’t keep the orphans waiting, please!

Gospel, Matthew 10:34—11:1

34 ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law; 36 a person’s enemies will be the members of his own household. 37 ‘No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me. 38 Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. 9 Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

40 ‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 ‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. 42 ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.’

1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

Mind you, those who criticise church gatherings for divisive debate, must reckon with Jesus’ words. His gospel will divide households, even the households of faith. Jesus was saying an appalling thing: that there is something more important than family peace or even church peace, namely his mission, whose exponents speak proudly of a Roman punishment for terrorists, the cross.

This is kind of pythonesque, but it's faithful to the text

Jesus prophetic words (perhaps edited at a time when the church was persecuted), assume that his disciples will be under pressure, and that open commitment will be dangerous. Welcoming prophets, upright persons and little ones, should be seen in this context. This is the case in Zimbabwe today, where the Anglican church is persecuted, because it won’t declare unqualified support for Robert Mugabe.

We, who are luckier in our place of residence, should consider whether we are worthy of our brothers and sisters there, and how we can carry the cross in a more law-abiding society.