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. I hope you find it helpful!
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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 [...]
PENTECOST SUNDAY (Year A)
On Pentecost Sunday, you will see that different readings are prescribed for the Vigil Mass than for the Mass on Sunday. I will reflect on the readings for the Sunday Masses, so don’t be surprised if you attend the Vigil Mass and hear different readings. John 20:19-23 If this reading sounds familiar to you, it is because you heard it just a few weeks ago. On the Second Sunday of Easter, the Gospel reading is the same in all three years of the Liturgical Cycle – John 20:19 - [...]
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year A)
John 14:15 - 21 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. As you will remember from your footnotes, most scholars consider the section of 13:31 – 17:26 to be Johannine compositions, modeled on farewell discourses found in Greek and Hebrew literature of that time. As we quickly approach Pentecost – it’s only two weeks away – we hear Jesus speak of the coming of the Holy Spirit. I invite you to put [...]
FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year A)
John 14:1 - 12 This Sunday, we hear a portion of Jesus’ address to the apostles during the Last Supper as presented in John’s Gospel. In this Gospel, it is presented as our Lord’s farewell discourse to his disciples in anticipation of his death. Most scripture scholars consider this section (chapters 14 – 18) to be a Johannine composition, modeled on farewell discourses found in contemporary Greek and Hebrew literature. You will notice that the only action in John’s account of the Last Supper is the washing of the feet [...]
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Year A)
John 10:1 - 10 As I mentioned last week, most of the Sunday Gospels during Easter this year will be from the Gospel of John. We heard from the Gospel of Luke last week but we return to John’s Gospel. This Sunday, we hear a presentation of the Lord’s attack against the Pharisees. The good shepherd discourse continues the theme of attack on the Pharisees that ends John 9; let’s quickly review this chapter that recounts the incident of Jesus curing the man born blind. In this account, we [...]
PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION (Year A)
We begin on Sunday the week that we appropriately call Holy Week, when our Lord Jesus, the Holy Son of God, comes to Jerusalem where he is first hailed as the Son of David, and the Prophet and then is tried as a criminal in a sham trial orchestrated by the Jewish leaders, only to be scourged and crucified. For the Jewish leaders of his time, it was just to get rid of a trouble maker. But, as I hope you have come to learn, this was all part of [...]