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Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings I am an over-packer. As hard as I try, I pretty much always pack way too much. So I always wondered why Jesus ordered the disciples to take nothing with them for the journey. No walking stick or second tunic or any kind of money. Well, I think there’s two reasons. The first…
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St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist
Today’s readings How wonderful for us to celebrate the feast of St. Matthew. Because Matthew was qualified to be a disciple of Jesus in much the same way that we are qualified to be disciples of Jesus-which is to say, not at all. Matthew was a tax collector, working for the Roman occupation government. His…
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Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time [B]
Today’s readings Nobody ever becomes rich and famous by being righteous. We may never forget who interrupted an awards show or a presidential press conference with an immature comment, but the most truly righteous people will hardly be remembered. How many people even care about the idea of being righteous? The world is so often…
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Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today’s readings are a kind of blueprint for the life of the disciple. We see that those who surrounded Jesus as his core group were but a few selected people. We have the Twelve, of course, but also some women. Common to all of them is that nowadays we would probably not see…
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Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Simon the Pharisee had committed a grave error in hospitality, and a serious error in judgment. In those days, when a guest came to your home, you made sure to provide water for him or her to wash their feet, because the journey on foot was often long and hot and dirty. But…
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Ss. Cornelius and Cyprian
Today’s readings St. Cornelius was ordained as the Bishop of Rome in 251. The Bishop of Rome is what we now call the Pope, so you can see the significance of his position. His major contribution was to defend the faith against the Novatian schismatics, a group who denied the readmission of those who had…
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Our Lady of Sorrows
Today’s readings: Hebrews 5:7-9; Psalm 31; John 19:25-27 Stabat Mater (Sequence) When I was growing up, I saw statues and pictures of Mary in our house and in the houses of my grandparents. It was hard to relate to her, because she always seemed so radiant, distant, and glorified. And there is truth to the…
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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today’s readings Theologian Robert Barron tells about an interreligious dialogue between Catholics and Buddhists. At one point, one of the Buddhists said to him, “Why is that obscene image on every wall in your buildings?” He was, of course, referring to the Cross. The Buddhist explained that it would be considered a mockery in his…
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Saturday of the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings I think the readings from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy the last couple of days have been so wonderfully challenging. Today, in our first reading, he admits his sinfulness, relying on God to save him: he says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.” This,…
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Memorial of 9-11-01
Today’s readings I think many of us will never forget where we were eight years ago today. People say that about the day that President Kennedy died, or the day when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. But in a particular way, I think we will never forget September 11, 2001, because it was a day…
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