Today’s readings It’s a frightening thing, I think, to hear Jesus say in today’s Gospel reading, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” It’s frightening because of the havoc a statement like that could cause in our spiritual lives.… Continue reading Monday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Tag: repentance
The Second Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings What would you give up for love? That’s the question I want us to focus on today because I think it is, perhaps, the question of the spiritual life. What is it that we are willing to give up for love? And I’ll be honest: this set of readings gets me every time,… Continue reading The Second Sunday of Lent
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Today’s readings “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.” That’s advice I wish I’d taken sometimes when I’ve been coming down with something and think, “oh, it’ll pass.” The sick need a physician! How often have we had what we thought was a little cold or seasonal illness end up being… Continue reading Saturday after Ash Wednesday
The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Repentance, friends, is a highly underrated activity. I remember back in 2012, just after we started using the new translation of the Roman Missal, on Ash Wednesday, I was giving folks their ashes. As I usually do, I used both of the little instructions as I gave the ashes. One of them says this: “Repent,… Continue reading The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
Tuesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings One of the television shows that I like to watch sometimes is called “Chopped” on the Food Network. If you’ve ever watched the Food Network, you’ve probably seen it because they seem to run it about 18 hours out of the day. On this show, they start with four chefs, and they give them a… Continue reading Tuesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time
The Second Sunday of Advent: Be Reconciled
Today’s readings This week, I looked back in my homilies to the one I did a few years ago on this Sunday, and I had to chuckle just a little bit. I talked about the fact that it’s hard to listen to the news in those days. Ha! There was sure some sadness in those days: unrest in… Continue reading The Second Sunday of Advent: Be Reconciled
Thursday of the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Our worshipping in these last days of the Church year is often difficult, I think, because these readings are just hard to hear. The readings from Revelation this week have been confusing, to say the least, and maybe even a little frightening. And even if we could ignore the fright of the Revelation, well the… Continue reading Thursday of the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time
The Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings If this isn’t a difficult Gospel passage to understand, I don’t think there is one! What are we to make of such a convoluted story? Surely we are not supposed to think that the king is God, are we? I mean, why would Scripture portray God in such a terrible manner? Do we want to believe in… Continue reading The Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
The Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Whenever I start to hear this Gospel reading, I usually think, “Oh yeah, I know this one, about the Prodigal Son…” and then the story unfolds and that’s not it at all. But reflecting on the story, there are certainly similarities. The prodigal son certainly wasn’t wanting to do his father’s will. He ran off on… Continue reading The Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Today’s readings “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” That would be, I think, the most reassuring thing we could hear from our Lord! To know that you’re on the right track — that your thoughts and heart’s desires are in line with God’s will — that would be a wonderful thing to… Continue reading Friday of the Third Week of Lent
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