TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Have you have watched any of the television series entitled “Chosen”? I’m sure you’ve heard of it; it’s a powerful depiction of the life of Jesus – now in its second season – and, if you haven’t watched it yet, I strongly recommend that you do. It presents Jesus, his disciples and friends and the milieu in which he lived in a very compelling manner. One of the most remarkable aspects of this series is that it presents Jesus as just an ordinary man of his day, poor, sometimes even […]
THE WINDOWS OF ST. KATHARINE OF SIENA CHURCH
Last summer, while we were in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, I began a series of presentations in my Parish Bulletin articles on the beautiful stained glass windows of our church. This was in response to an increased interest in them that had resulted from a highlighting of some of the stained glass windows during our live streamed Masses that began when all public Masses were prohibited due to the pandemic. Beginning in July and ending in December, I offered explanations on all of the windows in the nave, […]
ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Today, we will join with the universal Church in celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, into heaven. It is not often that we actually celebrate it on a Sunday. It is the principal feast day of the Blessed Mother, so I would like to offer you some reflections on it.
The commemoration of the death of Mary is known as the Assumption because of the tradition that, shortly after her death, Mary was raised up, body and soul, into heaven. In the Eastern Church, it is […]
JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE
If you have been paying attention to the Sunday Gospels over the past two weeks, you might have noticed that they were taken from the Gospel of John. If you noticed that, you might have thought it odd since this year, when we are in Year B of the three year Liturgical cycle, the Sunday Gospel is ordinarily taken from the Gospel of Mark. Since Mark’s Gospel is rather short, however, we have more Sundays than we have Marcan pericopes so periodically throughout the year, readings are taken from other […]
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard about Jesus feed a crowd of more than five thousand, and how the people, in their amazement, exclaimed, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” The prophet they were speaking about may have been Elisha who, as we heard in last week’s first reading, fed a crowd of 100 people with just 20 barley loaves and some fresh grain in the […]
