Sunday’s Readings: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalms 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 Jubilee Year of Mercy October 23, 2016 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel graces us with a beautiful prayer that can make every day of our lives a jubilee of mercy: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Religious Israelites…
Sunday’s Readings: Exodus 17:8-13; Psalms 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8 Jubilee Year of Mercy October 16, 2016 Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Though Jesus told today’s parable more than two thousand years ago, human nature hasn’t changed: we recognize both characters instantly. The merciless judge represents the corruption that has shortcircuited justice throughout history; the distraught widow,…
Sunday’s Readings: 2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19 Jubilee Year of Mercy October 9, 2016 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jubilee of Marian Devotion This weekend, the Jubilee honors Mary under the title Pope Francis suggests, “Mother of Mercy.” Recall the Good Samaritan Gospel. Priest and Levite saw suffering but showed no mercy. Recall…
Sunday’s Readings: Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10 Jubilee Year of Mercy – October 2, 2016 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Jubilee of Marian Devotion begins next Saturday “How long, O LORD?” (Habakkuk 1:2). With Habakkuk’s question echoing across twenty-six hundred years, Respect Life Sunday finds all life claiming sanctuary in our hearts:…
Sunday’s Readings: Amos 6:1A, 4-7; Psalms 146:7, 8-9, 9-10; Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31 Jubilee Year of Mercy – September 25, 2016 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time –Jubilee for Catechists Amos castigates religious people who, “comfortably complacent” (6:1, 5), ignore the unfolding collapse of culture, nation, religion (6:6). In Jesus’ parable, such complacency becomes the rich man’s undoing. He neither hurt nor…
Sunday’s Readings: Amos 8:4-7; Psalms 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8; Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13 OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHERS The Second Vatican Council has called us to envision the Church as the people of God. As a community of believers we are responsible for our brothers and sisters, their salvation, their journey of faith, their physical well-being. Many of the documents of Vatican II…
Sunday’s Readings: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32 Jubilee Year of Mercy September 11, 2016 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time When religious people complained that Jesus welcomed and ate with sinners, Jesus challenged them to change their image of God. Imagine God as a shepherd, abandoning ninety-nine obedient sheep to seek the stupid…
Sunday’s Readings: Wisdom 9:13-18; Psalms 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33 Jubilee Year of Mercy September 4, 2016 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time “If anyone comes to me without hating . . . father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his [or her] own life” (Luke 14:26). Hating? Can anyone imagine a…