Sirach 15:15 – 20 

We don’t often hear from the Book of Sirach.  It is always the first reading on the Feast of the Holy Family but, other than that, we only hear from this book two or three times over the course of the year.  It is one of the very last books of the Old Testament.  If you look in your Bible’s Table of Contents, you will find it listed under The Wisdom Books.  It is, in fact, an excellent example of Wisdom literature, filled with moral teachings. It […]

Isaiah 49:3, 5 – 6

As we return to Ordinary Time, this Sunday we will hear the second of the four “Servant-of-the-Lord” oracles  (over the years, we have heard the First Song – 42:1-4; Second – 49:1-7; Third – 50:4-12; Fourth – 52:13-53:12).  Since it is found in chapter 49 of the Book of Isaiah, we know that it is from Deutero-Isaiah which dates to the time of the Babylonian Captivity.  As I have explained in the past, these servant songs never name the servant and, as we will see in […]

Isaiah 11:1 – 10

This Sunday, we will hear, once again, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah; last week, it was from chapter 2, this week, it will be from chapter 11.  The passage we will hear on Sunday is, perhaps, one of the best known prophecies of the coming of Jesus.  Since it is in the early part of the Book of Isaiah, we know that it is part of the prophecy of Isaiah himself, who prophesied 742 – 685BC.  Chapters 1 – 12 probably address the time of […]

Malachi 3:19 – 20a

As we come to the end of the liturgical year – next Sunday is already the last Sunday of the Year when we celebrate the feast of Christ the King – we are given an opportunity to reflect on the end of time.  All three readings speak of the end of the world and the final judgment.  This is a good time for us to reflect on how prepared we are for the coming of the Lord.

This Sunday, we will first hear from the Book of the […]

2 Maccabees 7:1 – 2, 9 – 14

This Sunday, we will hear from the Second Book of Maccabees. Again, we shall see that the passage was clearly chosen to prepare us for the Gospel – they both speak of the resurrection.  We haven’t heard from this book for a long time – we never hear from 1 Maccabees and we hear from 2 Maccabees only once in every 3-year cycle-this Sunday – so let’s review the “who, what, when, where and to whom” of the book.  There are four books […]

Wisdom 11:22 – 12:2

This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of Wisdom.  Like the Book of Sirach that we heard from last week, it is part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. The full name is the Wisdom of Solomon in the LXX manuscript; Book of Wisdom in the Vulgate.  Most probably originally written in Greek, not Hebrew, somewhere between 100 – 50BC, probably in Alexandria, Egypt, one of the largest centers of the Jewish Diaspora by an anonymous author.  He was a devout, Greek-speaking Jew, acquainted […]

Sirach 35:12 – 14, 16 – 18 (in the Catholic Study Bible: 35:15b – 17, 20 – 22a)

This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of Sirach. As is usually the case, this passage was clearly chosen to prepare us for the Gospel.  Let’s review the “who, what, when, where and to whom” of this book. The Book of Sirach is one of the very last books of the Old Testament.  It was written between 195 and 180BC by a man who identifies himself as Jesus, son of Eleazar, son […]