EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year A)
Opening Prayer: Prov. 9: 1 – 6 Isaiah 55:1 - 3 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. Over the past few Sundays, we’ve heard the Gospel of Matthew speak in various ways about the kingdom of God. This Sunday, we experience a taste of God’s kingdom in action. I hope you found last [...]
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year A)
1 Kings 3:5, 7 - 12 Over the past few Sundays, we’ve heard the Gospel of Matthew speak in various ways about the kingdom of God. Five weeks ago, on the 12th Sunday, we heard Jesus assure those who acknowledged him would be acknowledged before God in his heavenly kingdom. The next week, we heard Jesus declare that “whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” But, “whoever receives a prophet…will receive a prophet’s reward” which is, ultimately, union with God [...]
THE WINDOWS OF ST. KATHARINE OF SIENA CHURCH
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic forced private Masses throughout the archdiocese, many of you have joined in our Sunday Mass celebrations virtually as we live streamed our 9:30am Masses. In order to enhance our celebrations, we have taken the opportunity to highlight appropriate stained glass windows, leading to an increased interest in them. In fact, anyone who visits this church during the day is immediately impressed by its stained glass windows. The floor-to-ceiling windows allow the sun to light up the entire body of the church! But, they are also [...]
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year A)
Wisdom 12:13, 16 - 19 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. As we celebrate the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we address an issue that is certainly on our minds today as we continue to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic: does evil exist? This virus certainly seems to be a force of evil. [...]
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 [...]