First Sunday of Lent – A The Spirit leads Jesus into the desert after his baptism to be tested by the devil. This highlights two important aspects of faith. First, recall that one of Lent’s twofold characters is baptismal (see … Read More
Ash Wednesday – Year A In the 2021 movie “Don’t Look Up,” a news anchor rebuffs his guest astronomers. Apparently, their announcement of a comet on course to destroy the Earth in six months is too depressing for his TV … Read More
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A On this last Sunday before Lent, we come to the climax of the “antitheses” in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. It is a fitting prelude to the penitential season in preparation for … Read More
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A We come to a section of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that scholars call the “antitheses,” marked by the rhetorical pattern, “You have heard that it was said … But I say … Read More
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A Following on his underlying teaching of the beatitudes from last week, Jesus says to the crowd and to us this week: You are salt and light meant to glorify God by being … Read More
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A You’ve seen wall art and throw pillows displaying the word “blessed.” “Grateful and blessed,” “Too blessed to be stressed,” or just plain “Blessed!” It’s good to feel blessed, but that’s not the … Read More
3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A Last week we looked at why you should celebrate the Rite of Reception now so baptized Christians becoming Catholic can be brought to the eucharistic table without delay. In these Ordinary Time … Read More
2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – A With only five and a half weeks before Ash Wednesday, you will want to make sure some important things get done now before you take a quick breather. One of these is receiving … Read More
Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year A Homilists and music ministers will constantly have to fight the human urge to think sequentially and impose a historical lens upon the liturgical year, treating the seasons as a diary of Jesus’s life. … Read More
Third Sunday of Advent – Year A “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Mt 11:3). If John the Baptist had doubts about Jesus, what hope is there for us to believe? For … Read More