-
Saturday of the Third Week of Easter
This particular Gospel reading has a very special claim on my spiritual life. On those occasions when I have questioned my faith or my vocation, those words of the disciples come to mind: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Those words remind me that turning from the path…
-
Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
Today’s readings Being in the right place at the right time isn’t usually a coincidence. Far more often than we realize, I think it’s the work of the Holy Spirit. Certainly that has to be the case in today’s first reading. How else would we explain an angel directing Philip to be on a road…
-
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Today’s readings At our core, we all want peace and security in our lives. We don’t want rough waters, or pain, or discord in our families, and that’s all understandable. I think it’s that sentiment that is behind our Scripture readings today. The Jewish people, the elders and the scribes, the religious establishment of the…
-
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord: Mass During the Day
Today’s readings There’s certainly a flurry of activity in today’s readings, isn’t there? Especially in the Gospel, we see Mary Magdalene run from the empty tomb to get the Apostles. And then Peter and the “disciple whom Jesus loved” ran to the tomb. This flurry of activity centers around a crisis in their faith, a…
-
The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
I have to let you in on a little secret tonight. Very often, when we preach a homily, the message ends up being for us preachers. It’s not that we set out to do that; actually if we thought about it I’m pretty sure we would avoid it at all costs. It’s just that when…
-
Good Friday: The Reproaches
The Reproaches, known in Latin as the Improperia, are suggested to be chanted during the Veneration of the Cross during the solemn liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday. They’re not often done, unfortunately, but I think they are worth our reflection. They come partly from the book of the Prophet Micah, who laments the…
-
Holy Thursday: Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Today’s readings We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. That is the proper entrance antiphon, also known as the introit, for this Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. It is taken from Paul’s letter to the…
-
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today’s readings Caiaphas had no idea how prophetic his words were. Actually, as far as the intent of his words went, they were nothing but selfish. The Jews didn’t want to lose their standing with the Romans. As it was, they had an uneasy peace. The Romans pretty much let them practice their religion as…
-
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today’s readings The story is quickly coming to its climax. Jesus’ claims of divinity are really starting to rile the Jews. They have placed their hope in Abraham and the prophets – great men to be sure – but seem to have forgotten about the promise of a Messiah, and so they totally miss the…
You must be logged in to post a comment.