Category: Reflections

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023) Readings: Zephania 2:3, 3:12-13 Psalms 146:6-10 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Matthew 5:1-12 Matthew, writing to a Jewish audience, very much wanted Jesus to appear as the new Moses.  Just as the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments were brought down from the mountain by Moses, Jesus ascends a mountain in… Continue reading FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023)

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023) Readings: Isaiah 8:23-9:3 Psalms 27:1, 4, 13-14 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 Matthew 4:12-23 Although not particularly obvious, there is a very intimate connection between our first reading from the prophet Isaiah and our gospel reading from Matthew. Let’s parse the reading from Isaiah first in order that we might understand the… Continue reading THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023)

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023) READINGS: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-10 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 John 1:29-34 The Christmas season ended abruptly on Monday, with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Usually, Christmas season extends for an entire full week, where the Sunday-going faithful are treated to the full story of… Continue reading SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023)

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY (2023) Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalms 72:1-2, 7-6, 10-13 Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 Matthew 2:1-12 How far would we go to follow our dreams? Would we put whatever wealth we had at risk for a glimpse of that which we dreamed of? Would we take on a physically arduous task that would test… Continue reading FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY (2023)

SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE - THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY, THE FEAST OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD Readings: Numbers 6:22-27 Psalms 67:2-3 5-6, 8 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:16-21 We begin a New Calendar Year, with all that lies hidden from our eyes, by celebrating Mary, the Mother of God. Theologians view Mary in this way:… Continue reading SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE – THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY, THE FEAST OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST (2022) Readings: Isaiah 9:1-6 Psalms 96:1-3, 11-13  Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14 [The readings can be found in your Magnificat, Give Us This Day, and Lector workbook, under the Nativity heading, Christmas Mass During the Night. While there is nothing wrong with the other readings assigned for Christmas… Continue reading THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST (2022)

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - GAUDETE SUNDAY (2022) Readings: Isaiah 35:1-6,10 Psalms 146:6-10 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 We should immediately see the difference between the tenor of this third Sunday of Advent, “Gaudete” (Rejoice!), and the previous Advent Sundays. There is no urgency as there was in the earliest letters of the New Testament, those… Continue reading THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – GAUDETE SUNDAY (2022)

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (2022) Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-12 Prophets are called to bring comfort to people who are frightened. They are meant to provide, by their very presence, the closeness of God, and they are, of course, meant to call an erring people back to the… Continue reading SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (2022)

Readings: 2 Samuel 5:1-3 Psalms 122:1-5 Colossians 1:12-20 Luke 23:35-43 The actual feast day was created during the reign of Pius XI, but if a liturgical reform had not wisely made it the very last Sunday of the liturgical year, we might not be celebrating it at all. I say “wisely” deliberately, for it is a… Continue reading SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING (2022)

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2022) Readings: Malachi 3:19-20 Psalms 98:5-9 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 Luke 21:5-19 Our first reading from the book of the Prophet Malachi seems timely, and could just have easily been written today. In spite of how ominous it appears, there are moments when the age we are living in can seem rather… Continue reading THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2022)