Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26 BLESSED When we think of the word “Beatitude” we think of today’s discourse from Luke’s Gospel, or the more familiar one from Matthew (which begins “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . ”). Actually, beatitudes occur throughout the…

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 GOD’S SUMMONS Confronted with God’s power and majesty, the first response of the prophet Isaiah was to acknowledge his sinfulness. “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips,” he said aloud. Likewise, with his empty…

Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; Psalms 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30 AN ONGOING MISSION In his hometown synagogue, Jesus’ neighbors are amazed by his words. Nevertheless, they remind each other, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” Surely the people know who he is. The carpenter’s son. The young man who had learned 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 TIME The holidays are well behind us; the year stretches out ahead. And what sort of year will it be? To judge by the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, it will be “a year acceptable to the Lord.”…

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 A VISIBLE GOD We find it difficult to convey ideas to people unless we can actually show them something, demonstrate what we mean. God, who is invisible and truly beyond human understanding, apparently faces the same difficulty. People want to see, not…

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 CALLED TO SERVE For many weeks now, we have been celebrating the appearance of the divine presence in human form. As a child, he came to Mary and Joseph, was seen by the shepherds, and then by some wandering magi from…

Sunday’s Readings….Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Ephesians 3:2-3A, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12 FINDING GOD The splendid magi, all sparkle and dash and solemnity, march right up off the pages of Matthew’s Gospel and into our churches today. Matthew alone tells us this grand and seductive story so that we might see the light and…

Sunday’s Readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6 AWAITING THE SALVATION OF GOD The world does not seem big enough to contain the jubilation of the first reading. In the Gospel reading, the Roman empire isn’t big enough, either. The great powers of Rome are named and made to stand…