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The Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time (Bread of Life Discourse V)
Today’s readings Life calls us to make some very difficult decisions sometimes. Who will we vote for? What school will we choose for our children? Is this the person I should marry? Is this job the right one for me right now? In today’s readings, though, the players are making a very basic choice: whom…
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Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot and doctor of the Church
Today’s readings Learning to follow the path of perfection is the most important goal of the spiritual life. How do we get our relationship with God right so that we can live with him forever in heaven? That was certainly the goal of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, whose feast we celebrate today. In the year…
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The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s readings The tradition of the Assumption of Mary dates back to the very earliest days of the Church, all the way back to the days of the apostles. It was known that Mary had “fallen asleep” and that there is a “Tomb of Mary” close toMountZion, where the early Christian community had lived. The…
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The Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s readings One of the most important things we can know about the Blessed Virgin Mary is summed up in the simple statement: “As Mary goes, so goes the Church.” Mary is the Mother of the Church, and so, through her intercession, we hope to follow the path she followed. We certainly celebrate and hope…
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Monday of the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Things are starting to get real for those first followers of Jesus. Jesus speaks to his disciples at the beginning of today’s Gospel reading about his impending demise. He foretells that he will be handed over and killed. And the disciples are overwhelmed with grief. Certainly we can resonate with their grief. They’ve…
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The Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time [B] – Bread of Life Discourse III
Today’s readings There’s an awful lot of murmuring going on in today’s readings. First, the prophet Elijah, fleeing for his life, takes refuge under a broom tree in the desert, pleading that God would take his life rather than let his enemies catch up with him. Then the Ephesians have apparently been displaying enough bitterness,…
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The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Today’s readings How do you picture Jesus? We’ve never seen him face to face, but we have seen artwork depicting him. That artwork can be very inspiring. But that artwork can also give us a false, overly-familiar look at Jesus our God. I tend to think Peter, James and John also had a kind of…
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The Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time [Cycle B]: Bread of Life Discourse II
Today’s readings My niece, Molly, wants to open a restaurant when she grows up. She said that she is going to call it, simply, “Hungry.” Seems like a good enough name for a restaurant to me. Where are you going to go when you’re hungry? Well, to “Hungry,” of course! Based on what Molly likes…
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Monday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings These parables that we have today regarding the nature of the Kingdom of God are head-scratchers for sure! I am sure we can all understand how the people were confused by Jesus’ description of the Kingdom, since it even seems foreign to our ears. One might wish that he would just say: “Okay,…
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Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Today’s readings Bishop Kaffer, of happy memory, used to say that every celebration of the Eucharist was a greater creative act than the creation of the universe. Now I think greater theological minds than mine would likely debate that, but what Bishop Kaffer gets at is worth considering. The Eucharist is an incredible miracle, and…
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