Today’s readings Today’s first reading always fascinates me. Paul and Silas are in a terrible situation, not for the first or last time, I might add. But just look at how their vibrant faith allows God to do things in and through them that are nothing short of miraculous. First, there’s the earthquake that brings… Continue reading Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Category: Liturgy
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Today’s readings It’s interesting to me that some of the first things we ever learn about God are also some of the most foundational, most important things we learn about God. One such notion is that God is love. We’ve learned that, probably, when we were small children. But theologically, it bears out and serves… Continue reading The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Religious Education and Confirmation Program Closing Mass)
Today’s readings In our first reading this evening, we have from the Acts of the Apostles a rather defining moment for the early Church. Jesus hadn’t given them a precise rule book of how to make the Church develop: he simply sent them out to baptize. But he also told them to make disciples of all the… Continue reading Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Religious Education and Confirmation Program Closing Mass)
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Today’s readings When I was growing up, I often helped my parents trim the shrubs around the house. We did it so that we could trim off the over-growth and make the shrubs look neater, but also to keep the shrubs healthy and growing. But when I did it, I often thought about the fact that… Continue reading The Fifth Sunday of Easter
The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)
Today’s readings Jesus uses an image in today’s Gospel that would have been very familiar to his hearers, and with it, he illustrates the significance of following one’s vocation in life. In a basically suburban place in the modern world, this image loses some of its clarity, since we don’t regularly have contact with people… Continue reading The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)
Friday of the Second Week of Easter
Today’s readings Our first reading today is filled with kind of intense drama. The disciples, ever since Jesus rose from the dead and sent them the gift of the Holy Spirit, have been going around and preaching in the name of Jesus. This is obviously attracting the attention of the religious leaders, and they’re not… Continue reading Friday of the Second Week of Easter
Second Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy)
Today’s readings I always like to say that today, this octave day of Easter Sunday, this Sunday of Divine Mercy, is the feast day for those of us who sometimes question things, and the apostle, Saint Thomas, is would then be our patron saint. And so today we can give Thomas a hard time for… Continue reading Second Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy)
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord
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… Continue reading Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord
The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
Today’s readings Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡Él ha resucitado! ¡Aleluya! If anyone’s counting, this has been a very long Mass so far. And I don’t mean just the blessing of the fire and the candle, the singing of the Exsultet, and the rather extended Liturgy of the Word that… Continue reading The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord
Today’s readings I think if we had to sum up the Liturgy today with a contemporary quip, it might be, “Well, that escalated quickly!” In the first Gospel we heard, during the blessing of the palms, Jesus triumphantly enters into Jerusalem for the festival. He enters in humility, on a colt, not a horse signifying a warrior… Continue reading Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord