The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 The reading from 2 Samuel draws a thousand year line from King David. Yet most of his descendants were disobedient to the covenants due to our human weakness and fallen human nature. God saved us according to his ancient covenants announced...
One December Sunday my granddaughter, Nancy, invited me to Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Day on Tuesday. The Catholic school Nancy, 9, and her older sister Mary, 12, attend uses this unique event to foster reading. This invitation began a little adventure in discovering how God plans our good works in advance. As a bookworm,...
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; Ps 23:1-6 1; Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25: 31-46 From the time of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, 4/1724 – 2/1804, and the French Revolution, 1789 – 1799, the world has slowly moved away from its ideas and dependence on God with his plan for us. Humans are in control with all...
Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Ps 46:2-3, 5-6; 7-8; 1 Corinthians 3: 9c-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22 Why do we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, a 4th century church in Rome today? There were a lot of pagan practices in the Greek and Roman worlds. When Constantine I became Emperor and found...
Isaiah 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3 8-9, 17-18; Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a; Matthew 2:1-16a What is God saying to us through that first reading from the prophet Isaiah? What is Jesus ultimately saying to us in his parable about the workers and his merciful just wages? It is very simple, as I see it. God is telling us...
Ezekiel 33:7-9; Ps 95:1-2, 6-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20 God created from nothing all that exists. He created our earth and the beautiful garden in Eden. God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, and had a daily love relationship with them (Gen 3:8). The fallen angels hated that plan of God. Lucifer, leader of...
Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalms 63:2-6, 8-9); Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27 When we look more deeply at these readings there is an underlying note. God created everything. When he made us he placed a longing within us for a union with himself. It is an emptiness; we are looking for fulfillment. We look for humans and things...