The renewal of the liturgical calendar took two feasts from the old calendar to create the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. On the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, the Church celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ) while on July 1 the Church celebrated the Feast of the Most Precious Blood. These two feasts were joined together; and, while most of...
At my Bible Study class this past Friday, one of the participants recalled a bumper sticker he had seen lately. It read: “We all know John 3:16; does anyone pay attention to 3:18?) Now that’s a powerful question. Just to recall: John 3:18 reads: Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not...
The 2014 calendar is doing us a favor. This year, as we move into the second half of Ordinary Time, the Gospel reading for the coming weeks will be that of St. Matthew. Today’s reading starts us off with the Sermon on the Mount.
I have been asked sometimes whether the Beatitudes are Jesus’ commandments. I suspect that this notion is born from the fact...
I just got my computer back from the repair shop yesterday, just in time for me to write a blog entry for Pentecost Sunday.
Why did God send the Holy Spirit? The Scriptures for this Sunday give us one clear reason, a reason that we hear about each and every time that we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance. When the priest gives us absolution, we hear these words: “God, the Father of...
The Scriptures which describe the event which we call the Ascension are slightly troublesome for those who read them in a very literal sense. Of the evangelists, only two record the actual event, and they disagree about the location of the event. Matthew places the event in Galilee on a mountaintop. Luke tells us that Jesus led the disciples outside of Jerusalem where he then ascended out...