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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 Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today’s Gospel is a very interesting one. And I say that in the sense that it is often the kind of Gospel reading that gets people riled up. Because we can probably agree that this vignette portrays Jesus in a rather unflattering light. Was he really going to snub this poor woman’s request? Was he really going…
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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s readings The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Solemnity in the Church because, in a real sense, it is a matter of life and death. Death is a reality in this world, and we see it all the time. But, because Our Lord assumed his Holy Mother into heaven, we can see that death…
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Saint Clare, Virgin
Today’s readings Whoever becomes humble like this childis the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Today’s Gospel paints the picture of humility that we need to appropriate in our lives in order to be led to heaven. This is a virtue that Saint Clare, whose memorial we celebrate today, strove to possess. Clare refused to marry at…
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The Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings I have to tell you, we have two of my very favorite readings in today’s Liturgy of the Word. I like them because they both show God interacting with us, his creatures, in powerful ways. In the first reading, we see the prophet Elijah literally running for his life. He has just embarrassed, and then put…
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The Transfiguration of the Lord
Today’s readings When I was in Israel last fall, we were able to visit Mount Tabor, the traditional site of the transfiguration of the Lord, the feast we celebrate today. We went up several mountains on that pilgrimage, and the thing about being on top of a mountain is that it’s like you can see everything. And…
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Monday of the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings “Give them some food yourselves.” That’s what Jesus says to the disciples. Yes, it would be easier to send the people away so they can fend for themselves. But that’s not how God wants to feed them, and Jesus won’t hear of it. “Give them some food yourselves.” That had to be more…
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The Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Saint Paul asks a very important question in his letter to the Romans: “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” Then he lists a number of rhetorical examples of what one might think would do that: anguish, distress, persecution, famine, the sword and many others. Lest we let that little list run right…
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Thursday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today’s readings present us with two very interesting images. The first is that of a potter working at the wheel. When the object turned out badly, the potter re-created the object until it was right. Jeremiah tells us that just so is Israel, in the hand of the Lord. Not that God couldn’t get it right the first…
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Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings This morning, the prophet Jeremiah is urgently reminding the people Israel – and us too! – that every good thing we have, every blessing we receive, all of it comes from the Lord God Almighty. Israel was trying to find blessing in the strange gods of the peoples around them, forging alliances with…
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