Avoiding “small-minded” discipleship
26th Sunday Ordinary Time Today, Jesus’s disciples complain about an outsider driving out demons, something they had failed at earlier in the chapter. But their complaint is not that this person was healing... Read More
Bulletin Shorts for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 26 September 2021 Numbers 11:25-29. Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14. James 5:1-6. Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48. The More the Merrier. Who cares if other Christians are also... Read More
A shift in focus
25th Sunday Ordinary Time To get the full irony of the disciples’ argument today—who among them was the greatest—we need to know what happened in the section before and what we’ll hear in... Read More
Bulletin Shorts for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 19 September 2021 Wisdom 2:12, 17-20. Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6-8. James 3:16–4:31. Mark 9:30-37. “I’m Better Than You.” Our lives are filled with all manner of put... Read More
Bulletin Shorts for The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Feast – Tuesday, 14 September 2021 Numbers 21:4b-9. Psalm 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38. Philippians 2:6-11. John 3:13-17. The Cross of Christ. We say: “We adore you, O... Read More
At the Crossroads
24th Sunday Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel reading is the turning point in Mark’s narrative, where we hear for the first time since Mark 1:1 Jesus referred to as “Christ” and the cost of... Read More
Bulletin Shorts for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 12 September 2021 Isaiah 50:4c-9a. Psalm 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9. James 2:14-18. Mark 8:27-35. Deny. Take. Follow. On the long journey to Jerusalem, Jesus clarifies that following... Read More
Messy but Life-Changing
23rd Sunday Ordinary Time “Be opened,” Jesus says to the man who was deaf and mute. But be opened to what? First, be opened to fullness of life. The man’s inability to hear... Read More