Category: Reflections

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (2021) Readings:Jeremiah 33:14-16Psalms 25:4-5, 8-10, 141 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 As predicted, we begin the Season of Advent, and commence the new liturgical year, with the apocalyptic tones that would be so familiar to the early Christians. Indeed, you might recall that the community of First Thessalonians, the oldest book in… Continue reading FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (2021)

THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING - THE FINAL SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:Daniel 7:13-14Psalms 93:1-2, 5Revelation 1:5-8John 18:33-37 Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, a world-renowned theologian and ecumenical teacher, makes an interesting point that, while it is meant to shock, it also proclaims something essential about the feast which closes our liturgical year. Note that… Continue reading THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING – THE FINAL SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:Daniel 12:1-3Psalms 16:5, 8-11Hebrews 10:11-14, 18Mark 13:24-32 As the liturgical year ends, and the season of Advent begins (November 28), the language of the Church becomes more Apocalyptic, speaking of the end times and Jesus’ second coming. The short parable of the fig tree in today’s gospel is overshadowed by… Continue reading THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:1 Kings 1:10-16Psalms 146:7-10Hebrews 9:24-28Mark 12:41-44 To speak of one’s own generosity is generally not done in polite company. Generosity is the kind of virtue which most often needs to be judged by others. To speak of one’s own generosity turns a virtue into a sin of pride, a sin… Continue reading THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:Deuteronomy 6:2-6Psalms 18:2-4, 47, 51Hebrews 7:23-28Mark 12:28-34 Oliver Twist, in the 1968 movie musical “Oliver,” plaintively sings: “Where is love? Does it fall from skies above?…. Who can say where she may hide? Must I travel far and wide?…. Where, where is love?” We might be tempted to echo… Continue reading THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

READINGS:Jeremiah 31:7-9Psalms 126:1-6Hebrews 5:1-6Mark 10:46-52 Few of us, blessedly, would know what it is like to be blind at the time of Jesus. With no social safety nets, it would reduce you to abject poverty, and make you completely dependent on the generosity of others. Whether he was blind from birth, or whether it happened… Continue reading THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:Isaiah 53:10-11Psalms 33:4-5, 18-20, 22Hebrews 4:14-16Mark 10:35-45 The ambition of the disciples was not unknown to Jesus. You will recall a recent gospel when the disciples were “arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.” One could imagine that by this point Jesus’ patience would be wearing very thin. After… Continue reading TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

A Homily for Respect Life Sunday Respect Life Sunday occurs each year in the United States on the first full weekend of October, or any of the Sundays during Right to Life Month. If there was any real benefit to the chaos that surrounded the last president’s final days, it was the postponement of the… Continue reading A Homily for Respect Life Sunday

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2021) Readings:Genesis 2:18-24Psalms 128:1-6Hebrews 2:9-11Mark 10:2-16 After a discourse about the lawfulness of divorce, purely contrived by the Pharisees, in what is an optional section of today’s gospel (which means, it does not have to be read at Mass), Jesus returns to a theme we heard proclaimed on the twenty-fifth… Continue reading Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2021)

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2021) Readings: Numbers  11:25-29 Psalms  18:8, 10, 12-14 James  5:1-6 Mark 9:38-48 If any of us, at a certain preordained time, were told to go out and choose twelve people who you want to spend every waking moment with for the next three years, I think we would find our powers of insight… Continue reading Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2021)