SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year B)
John 15:9 - 17 This Sunday, we hear a continuation from last week of Jesus’ address to the apostles at the Last Supper as presented in John’s Gospel. Whereas last week we heard Jesus provide a parable about the vine and the branches, this week, we hear Jesus speak of the Father’s love and his call to his disciples to love in the same way. As you will read in your footnotes, most scholars consider the section of 13:31 – 17:26 to be Johannine compositions, modeled on farewell discourses found [...]
FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year B)
John 15:1 - 8 Last Sunday, we heard Jesus speak of himself as the Good Shepherd. He used that image against the Jewish leaders, whom he, by inference, characterized as bad shepherds, mere hirelings who are in it for themselves. He, on the other hand, was the Good Shepherd who “lays down his life for his sheep.” As I mentioned last week, this is the only occasion in the Gospel of John where Jesus uses a human image as an analogy for himself. This Sunday, we hear Jesus speak [...]
GOOD SHEPERD SUNDAY WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also called Good Shepherd Sunday since the gospel every year focuses on Jesus, the Good Shepherd. For the past 58 years, the Church has called us to observe a World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Specifically, this day calls us to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, consecrated or religious life. The purpose of World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to publicly fulfill our Lord's instruction to, "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send [...]
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year B)
John 10:11 - 18 As we do every Fourth Sunday of Easter, we hear this Sunday a beautiful, symbolic presentation of Jesus as the Good Shepherd taken from chapter 10 of the Gospel of John. As it was last year, this year it is part of his discourse against the Pharisees. The good shepherd discourse continues the theme of attack on the Pharisees that ends John 9. We will recall the account of the man born blind whom Jesus cured. In this account, we recall the baptismal imagery of Jesus [...]
THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year B)
Luke 24: 35 - 48 This Sunday, we hear Luke’s presentation of the risen Lord’s appearances to the apostles that corresponds to John’s account that we heard last week. Like each of the other gospels (Matthew 28:16-20, which we will hear this year on the Sunday after Pentecost – Trinity Sunday; Mark 16:14-15, which we hear only at a weekday Mass; John 20:19-23), the Gospel of Luke focuses on an important appearance of Jesus to the Twelve in which they are commissioned for their future ministry. Matthew records the appearance [...]
DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
HAPPY EASTER! As we bring the Octave of Easter to its conclusion, know that I have kept you in my prayers all week, that you may experience the joy of the Resurrection! Today is also Divine Mercy Sunday. Heeding the call that our risen Lord gave to St. Marie Faustina Kowalska in the 1930’s, the Church decreed on 23 May 2000 that “throughout the world, the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine [...]