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The Solemnity of All Saints (Evening Masses)
Today’s readings I think we all bristle, mistakenly, at the idea of being a saint. Saints are those super-holy folks who are depicted in artwork and glorified in amazing stories. We are just ordinary people who struggle with our holiness, at best. But today, the Church is asking us to think about saints in a…
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The Solemnity of All Saints (Morning Mass)
Today’s readings Today, the Church militant – which is all of us – rejoice with the Church triumphant – which is all the Saints in heaven – because of the great glory of God. This glory they can already see; we hope to see it one day. And we will see it if, please God,…
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Monday of the Thirty-first Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings “In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.” I believe that one of the goals of all our lives is to find true peace. And unfortunately, we spend time looking for that peace in too many of the wrong places. We might think we can find peace in wealth, or status, or…
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Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings The injunction for wives to be submissive to their husbands, given in our first reading, certainly offends our modern ears. That’s just not the kind of thing we say in this society –now. Yet this was the norm in the society in which Saint Paul ministered. So that command would hardly have raised…
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Monday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings The leader of the synagogue had it all wrong, and he of all people should have known what was right. God always intended the Sabbath day to be a day of rest, yes, but also of healing, also of mercy. There is no way that we can rest if we are in need…
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The Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings The thing is, you know, the Pharisee was quite right. His righteousness was beyond reproach. He has been innocent of greed, dishonesty and adultery. He has been more pious than even the law requires. Fasting was only required once a year, on the Day of Atonement, but he fasts twice a week. Tithes…
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Saint Ignatius was a convert to Christianity who eventually became the bishop of Antioch. During his time in Antioch, the Emperor Trajan began persecuting the Church there and forced people to choose between death and denying the faith. Ignatius would have none of that, so he was placed in chains and brought to Rome for…
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The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Prayer is one of the most important elements of the Christian life, of the life of a disciple, and yet it is also, I think, one of the most difficult to master. Still, it’s something that we work at every day of our lives, and the working it out should be one of…
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Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings I think it’s a pretty common experience for people to look for a sign from God. So many comedies have that premise somewhere in the story line. Don’t we all look for signs from God to make sure we’re doing the right thing? Well, yes, signs are necessary and helpful events in our…
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Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Satan uses all sorts of things to trip us up, and he can be seen front and center in today’s readings. In the first reading, he has this curious dialogue with God about Job, who will suffer much in the readings to come this week. Satan points out that it is no big…
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