Today we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi and the presence of our Lord in the Body and Blood of Christ. The belief that Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist has been a long-standing tradition for Catholics. It is a belief which originated with the Israelites at the time of Moses and was carried into the land of Israel during the conquest of the Promised Land. It was later brought to fulfillment for Christians by Jesus. In…..
The readings for today help us stop for a moment and reflect on the immensity of God’s love for the world and how it has persisted throughout history. God so loved the world that He created it with goodness and made humans in His image and likeness to be co-creators and caretakers. But the man and woman sought with pride to obtain the knowledge of good and evil and sin entered the world. God so loved the world that He…..
Today, on the Feast of Pentecost, we read the stories of the disciples’ reception of the Holy Spirit in both the Gospel and the First Reading. This is an event which empowers them to become the first Christian leaders and establish the Church of Christ. But, as we will see, this event is much more than that. It is the completion of God’s plan to bring salvation to all of humanity from the very beginning of time. The Gospel for…..
On the last two Sundays we explored the way in which the Sacrament of Holy Orders evolved from the commission given by Jesus to the apostles through the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we get a unique glimpse of words prayed by Jesus to the Father knowing the peril they would face in their role as the first leaders of the Church bringing the message of Jesus to the world. The Gospel for this week (John 17:1-11a) is a…..
In continuation with the readings from last Sunday which introduced us to the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the liturgy for this week teaches us something about the workings of the Holy Spirit through the men who have taken on the role of serving the spiritual needs of the church. The Gospel from John (John 14:15-21) picks up the scene from last week where Jesus is speaking to the disciples at the Last Supper. He has promised to prepare a place…..
The readings for today hold the key to one of the most unique and meaningful aspects of our church. It is the Sacrament of Holy Orders in line with Apostolic Tradition in the form of the Permanent Diaconate. In the Gospel reading from John (14:1-12), the followers of Jesus, the twelve disciples, are still in the learning phase. There are a lot of things about Jesus that they do not know or understand. This passage is good example. Jesus is…..
They say, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and certainly the image formed from our liturgy for this Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, is a prime example. What picture could spur more emotions than that of Jesus holding a sheep or baby lamb? It is perhaps one of the most warm and comforting images of Jesus as our savior, helper, consoler, and friend: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs,…..
On this Third Sunday of Easter as we examine the contents of the First Reading and the Gospel, again in reverse order due to the chronology of events they represent, we can see the majesty of the stylistic writings of Luke and the way they serve to enhance our faith. One of the ways Luke does this is through his use of the Hebrew Scriptures of Jesus, what we know as the Old Testament. He does this in both his…..
On this Second Sunday of Easter, we observe what is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. This celebration is based on a private revelation made by Jesus to St. Faustina in 1931 stressing the forgiveness and mercy of our Lord and Savior. In 2000 Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina and declared this day as a remembrance of her vision. Like last week and for the next several weeks we will take a look at the Gospel and First Reading,…..
The readings for this Easter Sunday depict the key events for the establishment of the Christian faith and our Church – the Resurrection and the reception of the Holy Spirit. But taken in order these passages seem to be out of sequence chronologically, especially from what would have been the viewpoint of the disciples. So, let’s examine them in reverse beginning first with the Gospel and then going back to the First Reading. In John’s account of the Resurrection (Jn……