THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Deuteronomy 6:2-6 This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of Deuteronomy. It is again clear that this reading was selected to complement the gospel reading this Sunday, which also speaks of the great commandments. This reading is taken from the section in the Book of Deuteronomy that presents the law that Moses relates God has presented to his people. They are to continue to follow this law as they enter into the Promised Land. After presenting the Ten Commandments, and recalling how God had given them to the [...]
MISSION SUNDAY and STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY
“Go, make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19). After Jesus overcame death by his Resurrection, he did not just return to heaven to sit at the right of the Father. Before ascending to the Father, he commissioned those who had come to believe in him to make disciples, that is, others who would come to believe in the one, true God and his son, Jesus, who came to save us. That is the ongoing mission of the Church; we are the [...]
THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Jeremiah 31:7 - 9 This Sunday, we will hear from the prophet Jeremiah. As is usually the case, this passage was clearly chosen to prepare us for the Gospel. It contains an oracle of consolation regarding the restoration of Israel, which is fulfilled in Jesus. Since it has been a while since we heard from the prophet Jeremiah, let’s quickly review the “who, what, when, where, why and to whom” of this book. Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in 627BC during the reform that King Josiah initiated and ended it [...]
TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Isaiah 53:10 - 11 This Sunday, we will again hear from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. It is from chapter 53 so we recognize that it is from deutero-Isaiah, which dates to the time of the Babylonian exile. We will hear two verses from the last of four “Servant-of-the-Lord” also known as “Suffering Servant” oracles. Because he fulfilled the divine will by suffering for the sins of others, the Servant will be rewarded by the Lord. I invite you to read from 52:13 to fully understand the two verses [...]
ANNUAL EUCHARISTIC DEVOTION
“The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life. …For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our Passover and our living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to all.’ Consequently, the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love.” In this opening paragraph [...]
TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Wisdom 7:7-11 This Sunday, we will again hear from the Book of Wisdom. This book is known as the Wisdom of Solomon in the LXX manuscript and the Book of Wisdom in the Vulgate. It was 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 with Greek philosophy and culture, probably a native of Alexandria. The purpose of the author was to [...]