Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
Though there is no question about the historicity of the entry into Jerusalem, the evangelists go to great lengths to make this Scripture passage highly symbolic:
Pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem would walk. Only the king or the Anointed would ride in.
Bethany and Bethphage lie to the east of Jerusalem. Jesus enters Jerusalem from the...
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
Whenever we read the Gospels, especially when we read them by dividing them up into short passages, we have to remember that the original intention of each of the evangelists was to tell a story, to write a narrative. Unless we read the Gospel straight through, that intention is oftentimes difficult to discern. I believe that is the case with...
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
To fully understand the passage which serves as the Gospel reading for today's liturgy, one has to go back to verse thirty-one where we read: Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him. . . (John 8:31) What follows is a rather lengthy and angry discussion between Jesus and these particular Jews about Jesus and Abraham. When first I read...
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
Today's first reading places the characters of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before us. Their Hebrew names are Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. (Curiously, the spell check on my computer knows their Persian names but not their Hebrew names.) These three figures have lived on in our history and in our tradition because of their stalwart refusal...
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
St. Joseph, Foster Father of Jesus and Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is spoken of only in the infancy narratives of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. In the former, he hears the angel's message about the impending birth of Jesus and is warned in a dream to take Jesus into Egypt to escape the treachery of King Herod. St. Matthew's...