In the Gospel today Jesus asks a very difficult question. Who do we love most? If one were to pose this question to people on the street most would likely answer; my husband/wife, mother, father, children, fiancé’, etc. These are the people we have close contact with and hold close to our heart. Married couples […]
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In today’s first reading the prophet Jeremiah finds himself denounced and pursued on every side, though he does not lose heart, saying: “the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion” (Jer 20:11). […]
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Today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ and this Feast probably means more to us this year than anytime in the past. This is a year when we were not permitted to receive Holy Communion because of the restrictions necessary to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus. As the old saying […]
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As the seven glorious weeks of Easter end and the Church launches into the long season of “ordinary time” we are given several important feasts to remind us of the core elements of our faith. First, we note that the Easter season concludes with the feast of Pentecost, when we mark the birth of the […]
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The actual Pentecost event occurred on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. The Jewish Feast is also known as the Festival of Weeks which was the completion of the seven weeks following Passover. This was a time of Thanksgiving during which the harvest took place and the first fruits were brought to the Temple. The day […]
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Today’s scriptures reflect on the experience of the disciples following the Ascension; Saint Luke reports the Ascension of Jesus twice, once at the end of his Gospel (Luke 24:50-53) and again at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:6-12), which we hear today. In the dioceses of Pennsylvania we celebrated the Ascension […]
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This Gospel is part of what is known as the Last Supper Discourse. They had a difficulty understanding this when they heard it before the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. We hear it, not only after these events, but also after both the Ascension and Pentecost. We also have two thousand years of Christianity […]
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An important dimension of the life of the Church which has become visible in the last fifty years is the order of deacons. By now many Catholics are familiar with the kind of deacons who are married men serving as critical co-workers of priests in parish ministry and in other forms of specialized pastoral ministry […]
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This Sunday of the Easter Season is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. The Gospel is one in which Jesus teaches us about the Good Shepherd. This Sermon of Jesus took place while Jesus was in the area of Jerusalem teaching and performing great deeds. He was preparing to celebrate the Jewish Feast of the Dedication […]
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Today’s scripture readings open with the scene of Saint Peter preaching to a large group of people in Jerusalem on the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost was one of the three pilgrimage feasts that required Jewish men (often joined by their entire family) to make a trek to the Holy City, and so it was typical […]
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