TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year A)
Sirach 27:30 – 28:9 This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of Sirach, one of the very last books of the Old Testament. It was written between 200 and 175BC by a man who identifies himself as Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sira (cf. 50:27). Some of your Bibles identify the book as The Wisdom of Ben Sira. This is actually the earliest title of the book; the “ch” was added when the book was translated into Greek. It is an excellent example of Wisdom literature, filled with [...]
TWENTY-THIRD 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. Ezekiel 33:7 - 9 This Sunday, we will hear from the prophet Ezekiel. As you will recall from our previous encounters with this book, he is a most exciting prophet, the first to prophesy in Babylon; his prophecy is directed to the Jewish community still in Jerusalem. As [...]
NINETEENTH 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. 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11 – 13a This Sunday, we will hear again from the first book of Kings, as we did two weeks ago. You will recall that it is one of the historical books. 1 Kings was written before the fall of Jerusalem and finally [...]
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 [...]