August 23, 2020 Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) The Gospel for today (Mt. 16:13-20) is a splendid example of the relationship between the Old and New Testaments with imagery borrowed from the Book of Isaiah in an event of tremendous significance for the Church. The First Reading (Isa. 22:19-23) is taken from a chapter in Isaiah written as a threat of judgment against the people of Jerusalem. Because they have sinned against God through idol worship and social…..
August 16, 2020 Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year (Year A) The Gospel for today from Matthew (Mt. 15:21-28) contains some of the harshest and most disturbing words that we could possibly hear from Jesus. But they contain a great lesson on faith and prayer for us. Jesus has left the Jewish region of Gennesaret with his disciples and entered the area of Tyre and Sidon, a territory of Gentiles, people who are not Jews. A Canaanite woman approaches Jesus…..
August 09, 2020 Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) In the First Reading for today (1Kngs. 19:9a, 11-13a) we hear a passage about the prophet Elijah who served during the reign of King Ahab in the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the nation split into two kingdoms. This particular story, in conjunction with today’s Gospel of The Walking on the Water (Mt. 14:22-33), can shed light on the meaning of faith. King Ahab, who ruled over Israel in Samaria,…..
August 02, 2020 Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In the Gospel from Matthew for today we hear the story of The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Mt. 14:13-21). Jesus has just heard of the death of his cousin and baptizer, John the Baptist. He seeks solitude for his grief and withdraws in a boat to a deserted place. But, as always, the crowds learn of his whereabouts and follow Jesus, intent on listening to his teaching and, perhaps, witness a…..
July 26, 2020 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Gospel for today (Mt. 13:44-52) is a continuation of the last two Sundays with parables from Matthew which describe the kingdom of heaven as Jesus explains it to his followers. Two weeks ago, we heard about the seeds that fall on different types of soil, representing those who hear the word of God and respond in various ways, both good and undesirable. Last week we heard about the weeds among the…..
July 19, 2020 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Gospel for this week, known as the Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat (Mt. 13:24-43), is a continuation of the Parable of the Sower from last week which describes the cultivation of the word of God on different types of soil. Like last week, Jesus first tells the parable to the crowd which has gathered (Mt. 13:24-30), then later offers a full explanation of the weeds among the wheat to…..
July 12, 2020 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time The readings for today contain a common theme, one which uses a metaphor to compare the sowing of a seed to the spread of the word of God. The first reference is from the prophet Isaiah, one of the most influential prophets throughout the history of Israel in whose name prophecy extends for several decades. The Book of Isaiah is believed to be the work of two or three different authors. The…..
July 5, 2020 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Among a list of words to describe Jesus one might find adjectives such as compassionate, forgiving, kind, loving, merciful, or righteous. The readings for today offer another example, one that we might not consider for the divine Son of God. It is the word “humble.” We hear it first in the reading from the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9:9-10). This book was written during the postexilic period in biblical history when the Israelites…..
June 28, 2020 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In the Gospel from last Sunday we heard Jesus reiterate some of the words of the prophet Jeremiah found in the First Reading. The readings for today take on a similar tone as the words of Jesus echo events in the life of Elisha, another prophet from the Old Testament. Elisha is strongly associated with his predecessor and mentor, Elijah, both known as “non-writing” prophets because they have no books recorded in…..
Since the first century AD and the time of the early church countless Christians have been persecuted in the name of Jesus. Still today, Christians throughout the world are suffering for their faith: facing ostracism, imprisonment, and death. Even in the United States, where we enjoy religious freedom and the liberties of free speech and freedom to worship, Christians are being persecuted. This harassment occurs in more subtle ways in our secular society which values individual autonomy and personal choice…..