We know from reading the Gospels that the Pharisees and Scribes regularly looked for opportunities to test Jesus. Jesus would answer with the truth that originated from God, was expressed in the Scriptures, and was brought to fulfillment by Jesus, the Word made flesh. The antagonist in this Gospel passage is identified as a scholar, […]
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Two strikingly different images confront us immediately this week: first, Isaiah uses the image of a nursing mother gently tending to her child to describe the Lord’s care for his people Israel (Isa 66:10-14). Contraposed to this beautiful scene we find Saint Paul extolling and finding strength in the cross of Christ, yet at the […]
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The readings today are about call and mission. The message of the “call” begins with the reading from the First Book of Kings in which Elisha is called to follow Elijah, and when he says that first he wants to say “good-bye” to his parents, Elijah tells him to follow immediately. In the Letter to […]
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On the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—Corpus Christi—the Gospel opens with the words: “Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:11). After Jesus first proclaimed the Kingdom he then did something remarkable: he fed the multitude. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking […]
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This solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is one that we celebrate after completing ninety days of Lent and Easter during which we recalled and entered more deeply into the Paschal Mystery. The mystery of the Trinity has been written about for two millennia and numerous attempts have been made to try to explain it. […]
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This weekend we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit whom we worship as the third person of the Holy Trinity is given our full attention and devotion. Perhaps we can understand the fact that the Spirit receives less attention than the Father or the Son since the Church took longer to […]
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As we near the end of the Easter Season we hear with a reading describing the martyrdom of Saint Stephen. His story is one that shows the paradox of suffering and embracing the Cross of Christ as a way that leads to the glory of Easter. He is considered the first of the martyrs in […]
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On the feast of the Ascension we are presented with a fascinating glimpse into the human dimension of revelation in the same moment that we hear about the one who is its divine source and subject—Christ Jesus himself. This glimpse is given to us in the opening verses of the Acts of the Apostles, where […]
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This Sunday’s date, May 26th, will always have a powerful meaning for me since it is the date of my father’s death. He died in 1985 and that year as in 2019 May 26th fell on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend: my memory of his death has been forever linked with our national holiday […]
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In the Acts of the Apostles we hear of the travels of Paul and Barnabas. These two men were not part of the original twelve Apostles, but the experience the Apostles had with Jesus was not limited to the chosen twelve, and was passed on to those who followed them. We are told that Paul […]
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