WELCOME NEW RCIA MEMBERS
Easter is the time in our liturgical year when we celebrate the new life that our Lord has offered us through his Resurrection. As a Church, we rejoice in this promise of new life and are eager to share this Good News with everyone. So, we ordinarily welcome into our Church those adults who have undergone the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) at our Easter Vigil. Unfortunately, like so many other important events in our personal and parish lives, this had to be postponed due to the coronavirus [...]
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year A)
Isaiah 55:10 - 11 Welcome to my annotated commentary on Sunday’s readings. The purpose of my commentary is to give you the background for each reading, a little better understanding of its message and the message that all of the Sunday readings together provide us. This Sunday, we will hear just two verses from Isaiah, chapter 55. Since it is from one of the chapters between 40 and 55, we know that it is deutero-Isaiah, a prophecy dating to the time of the Babylonian Exile (587 – 539BC). As [...]
UNDERSTANDING TRUE FREEDOM TODAY
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Mt. 5:43-45) As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we rejoice in the freedom God has provided us in this country as the result of a hard battle [...]
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Welcome to my annotated commentary on Sunday’s readings. The purpose of my commentary is to give you the background for each reading, a little better understanding of its message and the message that all of the Sunday readings together provide us. ZECHariah 9:9-10 We hear from the Book of the prophet Zechariah only twice in the entire three-year Sunday readings cycle: on the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time in year C and this Sunday, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time in year A. So, let’s review who Zechariah is, [...]
GOING GREEN!
As you surely know, we joined with other counties in southeastern Pennsylvania on Friday in moving to the Green Phase. More businesses are allowed to open and more industries are allowed to resume operations as we slowly and carefully emerge from a near-total lockdown required to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The only difference for churches and other houses of worship, however, is that we are now allowed 75% occupancy rather than 50% occupancy, as was allowed during the Yellow Phase. Maintaining a 6’ distance between those of different households continues [...]
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year A)
2 Kings 4:8 – 11, 14 – 16a Welcome to my annotated commentary on Sunday’s readings. The purpose of my commentary is to give you the background for each reading, a little better understanding of its message and the message that all of the Sunday readings together provide us. This Sunday, we will hear one of Elisha’s miraculous pronouncements, one of a series of miracles performed at his hand. It prepares us for the Gospel. We haven’t read from 2 Kings for a long time, so let’s place [...]