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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Youth Version)
This was for the afternoon youth ministry Mass. Today’s readings Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, sometimes called the Triumph of the Cross. On the face of it, this is a rather strange feast. How could something as awful as the cross ever be triumphant, exultant, or glorious? It’s been…
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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today’s readings Chicago priest and theologian Robert Barron speaks of what he calls a “beige” Catholicism. This is how he describes the Church during the years following the second Vatican Council. It was a time, he says, when “Christianity’s distinctive qualities and bright colors tended to be muted and its rough edges smoothed, while points…
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Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Luke’s treatment of the Beatitudes is a little different than Matthew’s. While Matthew lists the blessings, it is only Luke who lists the woes. Whether we are looking at the blessings or the woes, it is clear that God’s wisdom is different than ours. How many of us would choose to accept hunger,…
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The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s readings Reading the genealogies isn’t my favorite thing to do, and often because there is a choice, I choose not to proclaim them at Mass. I did proclaim it at Mass today for a reason. Matthew’s genealogy is unusual for many reasons, but most notable among those reasons, and the reason it was chosen…
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CNS STORY: No ‘Yahweh’ in songs, prayers at Catholic Masses, Vatican rules
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In the not-too-distant future, songs such as "You Are Near," "I Will Bless Yahweh" and "Rise, O Yahweh" will no longer be part of the Catholic worship experience in the United States. At the very least, the songs will be edited to remove the word "Yahweh" — a name of God that…
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Thursday of the Twenty-second Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings You may have heard the saying, as I have, that “If you want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans.” It’s so easy for us in our arrogance to think we have everything all figured out. And then maybe God taps us on the shoulder, or shouts into our ear, and…
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Labor Day
Today’s readings: Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:1-3; Psalm 90; Matthew 25:14-30 “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come share in your Master’s joy.” These are the words that we all want to hear one day, on that great day, the judgment day, when God gathers us all in to bring us to the reward for which…
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Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings When I was in high school, I went on our youth group’s senior retreat. On that retreat each of us seniors was given a paperback New Testament in which a verse had been highlighted. They were given out randomly, with trust that the Holy Spirit would speak to us in some way through…
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