Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalms 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23 FRUIT OF THE WORD The seed is the word of God. The agricultural meta-phors in all of today’s readings give richness to the message that the word of God, cultivated in our hearts, bears much fruit in our lives. Creation itself awaits the…
Sunday’s Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalms 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30 A HUMBLE KING Like a tonal center in music, the note to which we keep returning in today’s readings is humility. We wait in joyful expectation for the coming of our Lord as King. But what we are told to expect and…
Sunday’s Readings: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16A; Psalms 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42 THE RICHNESS OF LIFE IN CHRIST Today we have the beautiful story of the woman promised a child, the wonderful exhortation about life in Christ, and a powerful instruction from Jesus. An embarrassment of riches? Not if we take Jesus’ words…
Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalms 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33 FEAR NOT How do people find hope in the face of suffering and death? That is the question addressed by today’s scriptures. We hear of the suffering of Jeremiah and the psalmist. We hear of the death that “reigned from Adam to Moses”…
Sunday’s Readings: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; Psalms 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58 TRUST IN JESUS Today’s feast celebrates another central mystery of our faith—the mystery of the Eucharist. Like the mystery of the Trinity, the real presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist can never be fully under-stood, but can…
Sundays Readings: Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9; Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18 THE INEXPRESSIBLE MYSTERY The God of the universe is mysterious. Science has not been able to solve the mystery of how the universe came into being or explain exactly what continues to give it creative energy and masterful design. No…
Sundays Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23 SEND OUT YOUR SPIRIT Last week we heard that, following the Ascension, the disciples, Mary, and other followers of the Lord retreated to the upper room in prayer. This week we hear that, while praying in that room, the Holy…
Sunday’s Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20 THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM This seventh Sunday of Easter is somewhat like the proverbial “calm before the storm.” The Lord Jesus has ascended into heaven and Pentecost has not yet occurred. Rather than immediately taking up Jesus’ command to go out to all…