Numbers 21:4-9, Philippians 2:6-11 and John 3:13-17 for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 14 September. How odd to speak of the Exaltation of the Cross that is a tool of humiliation, torture and execution! How odd all the Word of the Lord is today! In today’s three readings, all upside down and backwards. Moses lifted up the lifeless image of a serpent on a pole to heal the people... Read more
Matthew 18:15-20 for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. What is it to be two or three gathered in the name of Christ? Today in his Gospel, Christ is speaking not to a crowd, but to his disciples only; and he uses the word church. Speaking to his disciples as his church, he expects them to act and pray as those who are gathered together in my name. We begin every Mass by having gathered together and invoking... Read more
Matthew 16:13-20 for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time This day in the Gospel was the SECOND time that Christ spoke of building upon rock. The FIRST time was at the end of his Sermon on the Mount, where he said: Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who BUILT his house upon the ROCK; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it... Read more
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6a, 10ab. 1 Corinthians 15:20-27. Luke 1:39-56. Today’s solemn feast of Mary’s entry into heaven lets us celebrate the destiny that God offers to all of us. Actually, we celebrate our destiny every time we are at Mass. In every Mass, God sends the Spirit upon our offerings of bread and wine that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The same... Read more
Matthew 14:13-21 for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time John the Baptist, a true prophet, suffered death for speaking the truth against the sins of King Herod. John also raised the hopes of the people for a messiah, pointing them to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus in today’s Gospel reading, having heard of John’s death, withdrew … to a deserted place by himself. That is something he often... Read more
Matthew 13:24-43 for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Inside each of us are seeds and weeds of sin. However, God tells us, the Church tells us and our faith tells us that in baptism God with his own almighty hand and eternal Spirit has planted within each of us the seeds of righteousness, holiness and much more. By baptism and the Holy Spirit, God has planted his own Son within us and has planted us in... Read more
Truer Than the Red, White and Blue “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the NATIONS, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the SHEEP from the GOATS, and he will place the SHEEP at his right hand, but the GOATS at the left. Then the King will say to those at... Read more
Carrying a Cross by Carrying a Cup. On the Readings at Mass on the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time: 2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16a; Romans 6:3-4,8-11; Matthew 10:37-42. In today’s Gospel, Christ speaks dangerously. False messiahs, false prophets and religious cults lead their followers to destruction, suicide and murder by demanding loyalty as fierce as Christ demands in today’s Gospel. Only God would have a right to call for such steadfast faith. So, Christ is speaking as one who knows he is truly... Read more
This single post contains two separate articles: “The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ” and “His Racist Priests.” THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST John 6:51-58 The night Jesus first gave us to eat and drink Holy Communion in his Body and Blood, he himself ate and drank a holy communion of agony and death. He agonized that night in prayer over holy communion with his Father’s will. The next day... Read more
Newly arisen from the dead, Christ gave us his body and his breath, which is the Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. For Pentecost Sunday: John 20:19-23 Today in the Gospel, we return with the first disciples, the whole Church and the Spirit to the day of the Resurrection itself, the first Easter Sunday. Newly arisen from the dead, Christ shows to us HIMSELF and the power of the Holy Spirit. First, he shows us his BODY— with... Read more
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