Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26 FEELING BLESSED Congratulations! Welcome to the Kingdom! Rejoice and leap for joy! Sounds a little like Easter, doesn’t it? Well, in a very real way, it is. This Sunday, the scriptures remind us that we are blessed and beloved, especially…
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8; Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11 THEOPHANIES Today’s readings recount three theophanies, or particular manifestations of God’s presence. The prophet Isaiah is caught up in a dramatic scene of heavenly worship, with a royal throne, burning embers, and seraphim singing, “Holy, holy, holy.” Isaiah is overwhelmed. In…
Sunday’s Readings: Nehemiah 8:2-4, 5-6, 8-10; Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 15; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 GOD’S LAW Scripture has always held God’s law to be the path to human happiness. In today’s first reading, Ezra the priest reads the scroll of the law to the people returned from exile. They weep—then are joyful. Israel’s…
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalms 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11 REVELATION OF GOD’S PRESENCE Today’s first reading from Isaiah arises out of the ordeal of the people of Jerusalem and Judea as they anticipate the end of seventy years of exile in Babylon. Their sufferings and their oppression will end, and they…
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10; Acts 10:34-38; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 BAPTISMAL DEATH AND RESURRECTION As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, we also honor our own baptism as our initiation into the Christian life and community. In the Gospel, the baptism of Jesus, with his immersion and then emergence from…
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12 JOURNEY TOWARD GOD In our celebration of the Epiphany, two interwoven themes are present in the readings today. God is beginning something new, and God gathers all of humanity to participate. For Isaiah, God’s bright light, manifested in the people of…
Sunday’s Readings: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Colossians 3:12-21; Luke 2:41-52 FAMILY LIFE Christmas celebrates the Incarnation, the “enfleshment” of God as a human person. In Jesus, God is bodily present in the human story. Today we honor the Holy Family, helping us to see that God is active in daily family life. God…
Sunday’s Readings: Zephaniah 3:14-18; Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18 REJOICE! The prophetic writings we hear in today’s scriptures call us to rejoice and celebrate the goodness of God. Zephaniah, Isaiah, Saint Paul, and John the Baptist in Luke’s Gospel all follow the rich tradition of the Biblical prophets, a tradition that reaches full…