To proclaim the Culture of Life requires that we be prophetic. We realize as the first readings both from the Vigil Mass and the Mass during the day tell us, that the message we proclaim, and the motive for which we proclaim it, are given to us from God. They do not derive from us.…
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As we continue in Ordinary Time, our reading today is taken from the Gospel of Mark, the primary Gospel reading in Lectionary Cycle B. Mark’s Gospel presents a vivid portrait of Jesus, whose words and deeds show that he is the Son of God. Today’s Gospel describes the end of a day of teaching in…
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Two kingdoms are at war. One has already been defeated, yet still exercises a harmful though limited power. The strife between the kingdoms is described in the first reading, as is the outcome. The serpent is striking against the heel of the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman is Christ, into whom…
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Imagine a person who receives Communion, accepts the Host when the priest says, “The Body of Christ,” says “Amen,” and then breaks off a piece, hands it back, and says, “Except this piece, Father!” This is what the person who rejects other people may as well do. In receiving Christ, we are to receive the…
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Praise the Holy Trinity. Some truths, like the very existence of God, can be known by human reason alone. Other truths, like the fact that God is One in Three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – can only be known if God reveals them to us. We could never conclude on our own…
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Fifty days after the Passover, the People of Israel celebrated “Pentecost,” observing the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, when God wrote the law with his own finger on the tablets of stone. The feast was originally rooted in the celebration of the harvest. It was on that Pentecost Day that the apostles reaped…
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We are witnesses. Just as in the first reading we see that the apostles were witnesses to the Resurrection, and just as we learn from the Gospel passage that we are consecrated in the truth of God’s word, so we must stand before the world and testify to Christ (2nd Reading). What is this truth…
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The readings this Sunday teach us that God’s love for us takes precedence over our love for Him and that his choice of us takes precedence over our choice for him. “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us” (First reading); “It was not you who chose me,…
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The Lord’s words in the Gospel passage for today speak about what Easter has accomplished: a new human community that takes birth from the Spirit and is filled with the very life of the Risen Christ. We all descended from Adam on a natural level; we all are built into Christ on the supernatural level.…
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The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. This theme is found also in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, a man fell in with robbers. A priest and a Levite came by, but did not stop to help. Despite their knowledge of the…
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