Category: Reflections

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 Psalms 78:3-4, 23-25, 54 Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 John 6:24-35 Over the last few week’s worth of gospel readings we see crowds that are remarkably persistent, even robbing Jesus and His disciples of the quiet time they so desperately sought and needed. Today those same crowds, buoyed… Continue reading EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

Readings:2 Kings 4:42-44Psalms 145:10-11, 15-18Ephesians 4:1-6John 6:1-15 The large crowds in last week’s and today’s gospels were not following Jesus because they were hungry. You will recall that in our lectio continuum from Mark a similar “vast crowd” followed Jesus across the lake, arriving at the place of retreat even before Jesus arrives. They were… Continue reading SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 2021

We offer our petitions to the Father knowing that the hand of the Lord feeds us, and he answers all our needs. That Pope Francis may be healthy in body, mind, and spirit as he prophetically leads the Church in search of unity and truth.  We pray to the Lord.That the leaders of nations and… Continue reading Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 25, 2021

Readings:Jeremiah 23:1-16Psalms 23:1-6Ephesians 2:13-18Mark 6:30-34 Jeremiah says something in the First Reading that is all too familiar for those who have been playing close attention over the last nearly five years. Indeed, the story is as old as humankind, and since sin entered the world, and since all people share in that first sin of Adam… Continue reading SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

Readings:Amos 7:12-15Psalms 85:9-14Ephesians 1:3-14Mark 6:7-13The readings for this Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time link the First Testament’s prophetic tradition with Jesus’ ministry and with His active choosing of disciples, the “Twelve,” to be sent out on missionary work. Jesus speaks to the Twelve just as Moses spoke to the Israelites preparing for their departure from… Continue reading FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - FOURTH OF JULY (2021) Readings:Ezekiel 2:2-5Psalms 123:1-42 Corinthians 12:7-10Mark 6:1-6 We, and, if we are lucky enough to have children baptized, were anointed at our baptisms to be like Christ, “priest, prophet, and king.” All Christians share in those three dimensions of Christ’s mission, and today’s liturgy largely focuses… Continue reading FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – FOURTH OF JULY (2021)

Readings:Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24Psalms 30:2, 4-6, 11-132 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 We are treated in today’s gospel to a miracle story within a miracle story. Last week’s gospel had the disciples being tossed about in a boat, and we saw Jesus perform His first nature miracle in the gospel of Mark. Today the disciples… Continue reading THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021) Readings:Job  38:1, 8-11Psalms  107:23-26, 28-312 Corinthians  5:14-17Mark 4:35-41 The abbreviated portion of Job’s discourse with God which forms our first reading does not do justice to the virtually sarcastic nature of God’s response. At the beginning of this section in Job, God does address Job “out of the storm,”… Continue reading TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

Readings:Ezekiel 17:22-24Psalms 92:2-3, 13-14,15-162 Corinthians 5:6-10Mark 4:26-34 Agricultural images are familiar throughout the entire Bible, and from the beginning of the Bible, when God said “let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees that bear fruit” (Genesis 1:11), we are accustomed to viewing God as the loving gardener who tends His garden the earth,… Continue reading ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2021)

SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI-2021) Readings:Exodus  24:3-8Psalms  116:12-13, 15-18Hebrews 9:11-15Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Embedded in my childhood memories is the recollection of the possibility of becoming “blood brother” to someone. While there were no Sharks or Jets in my neighborhood, most young boys carried very small pocket knives, knives never capable of… Continue reading SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI-2021)