For people like you and me who are exposed to the Scriptures every day, it is not uncommon for us to subconsciously say to ourselves when the reading begins, “Oh, I know this one. We just heard it a few days ago.” There is, however, a danger if we take that attitude about the Scriptures.
The readings for this feast of St. Philip and James the Less present us with this kind of...
Today we celebrate the second of the annual feasts of St. Joseph under the title of Joseph the worker. While the saint’s March feast dates back to the 10th century, his May feast wasn’t instituted until 1955. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, 1955 so that it would coincide with International Workers Day, also known as May Day — a secular...
Nothing comes from Jesus in the way that we expect it to come. This is a recurring theme throughout the Gospels, and again here, we see that the gift of peace the apostles receive from Jesus does not come in the way they expected. Human expectations are usually different than God’s intention.
After blessing them with peace, Jesus tells them that he is leaving and that they should...
During the Easter Season we celebrate the Paschal Mystery. We concentrate our attention on not only what the Paschal Mystery means, but also how we are to live out that mystery, how the power of that mystery can change our reality. The readings for this Sunday are intent upon this realization. They offer us a story, and exhortation, and a parable.
We find the story in the Book of the Acts...
The word “glorify” appears frequently in the Gospel of St. John. Glorifying God is the chief purpose for human life. When we glorify God, we recognize, admire, value, and extol God’s attributes and acts. It is a way of honoring God's holy, righteous character, creative brilliance, miraculous works and boundless wisdom. Glorifying God is not to make God greater than God...