Sunday’s Readings: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Psalms 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9; John 2:1-5; Luke 24:35-48 FULFILLMENTIt is interesting that during the Easter season, when we do not hear a reading from the Old Testament, it becomes so important. This is particularly true today. Peter’s speech begins with a prayer formula familiar to Jews: “The God of Abraham…
Sunday’s Readings: Acts 4:32-35; Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31 DOUBTThe desire to be able to prove the existence of a divinity has troubled humanity since human consciousness first became aware of the divine. To this very day we are fond of saying that any number of things—from sunsets to hot fudge sundaes—are…
Sunday’s Readings: Acts 10:34, 37-43; Psalms 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 REJOICE AND BE GLADDuring the first three or four centuries of Christianity, if you asked a Christian to name the feast days of the church, your answer would have been a puzzled stare, for there was only one feast: the Resurrection of the…
Sunday’s Readings: John 12:12-16; Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 15:1-39 HOLY WEEK For the Palm Sunday Gospel, we return to the Gospel according to Mark. The account of the Passion takes up nearly one-third of Mark’s entire Gospel and, of all the evangelists, he is the one who presents the details…
Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33 THE NEW COVENANT Today’s first reading is an enormously important passage, not only in the history of the Jewish people, but also for us as disciples of Jesus, who see in it a foreshadowing of the Christian dispensation. The prophet announces that God has…
Sunday’s Readings: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Psalms 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21 GOD’S MERCY Today’s reading from the second book of Chronicles contains a sort of “mini-history” of Israel. It highlights God’s mercies in choosing Cyrus the Persian to be an instrument of deliverance when the people were in captivity in Babylon. Despite…
Sunday’s Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25 TOTAL ALLEGIANCE In previous weeks we have seen how the theme of covenant—as a preparation for the baptismal covenant celebrated at Easter—occupies an important place in our cycle of Lenten readings. The notion of covenant as a relationship between two parties carries…
Sunday’s Readings: Genesis 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18; Psalms 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19; Romans 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10 HISTORY OF SALVATIONThe first reading today continues the “history of salvation” narrative that we hear throughout Lent this year. Today’s story was among the best-loved in the Jewish tradition (surely Joseph told the story to young Jesus as he…