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Pentecost is a very important feast in the liturgical life of the Church, and it has its own vigil. Not only so, but the Readings for the Vigil are particularly rich. I cannot think of another that has such a wide variety of options, for example, for the First Reading. Even though only one First Reading will be proclaimed in any given Mass, it is well worth pondering them all, in order to come to understand the significance of Pentecost more deeply: The First Reading Options for the Vigil: 1. Genesis 11:1-9, the Tower of Babel: The whole world spoke...

Let's discuss the Readings for Pentecost Sunday Mass during the Day.First Reading: Acts 2:1-111When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. 2And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. 3Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. 5Now there were devout Jews from...

Those of you fortunate enough to live in a diocese where the Ascension is observed on its proper Thursday will be able to hear proclaimed this Sunday the proper Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Pre-empting this Sunday by the Solemnity of the Ascension is a bit unfortunate, because it damages the pattern of the Lectionary. During the later Sundays of Easter, we read from the Last Supper Discourse (John 13-17), culminating in the Seventh Sunday, on which we read the grande finale of the Last Supper Discourse, namely the High Priestly Prayer (John 17). Ironically, although John 17...

In most of the USA, Ascension Day is observed this Sunday. I wish the traditional observance on Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter was retained, but reality is what it is. Therefore, this weekend we will look at the powerful readings for Ascension Day. This is an unusual Lord’s Day, in which the “action” of the Feast Day actually takes place in the First Reading. We typically think of all the narratives of Jesus’ life as recorded in the Gospels, overlooking that Acts records at least two important narratives about the activity of the Resurrected Lord (Acts 1:1-11; also...

In 1967 the Beatles wrote and performed a song for one of the first world-wide TV broadcasts called, “All You Need is Love.” It became a classic and as late as the 1980’s I can remember working on the trombone line of an adaptation of it for my high school band. It’s one of a number of Beatles songs where they stumbled on something true out of their Christian heritage, without understanding the full implications. In fact, they actively distorted the real implications of love by overly-eroticizing the concept. Be that as it may, “All You Need is Love” could...

When I was in elementary school it was still possible to watch "The Lone Ranger" re-runs on our black-and-white TV in the afternoons. This "masked man" struck unexpectedly, riding into towns in the Wild West on his trusty steed Silver, righting wrongs and correcting injustices, and disappearing as quickly as he came. "Who was that masked man?" Of course, the Lone Ranger is an icon of American culture, but it occurs to me that probably none of my seven children have any idea who he is. I'll have to see if they have reruns on Netflix. The "Lone Ranger" represents...

The readings for this Sunday’s Masses are truly “scandalous” in more ways than one. Our English word “scandal” comes ultimately from the Greek skandalon, “a stumbling block.” A “scandal” is something that causes people to “stumble,” i.e. that offends or injures them in some way. As we will see, the exclusive claims made for and by Jesus in the readings for this Sunday are scandalous to the “inclusive” and “diverse” culture we live in today, which does not recognize the possibility of a religious truth binding on all humanity. 1. The first reading is Acts 4:8-12: Peter, filled with the...

I see an analogy between Shyamalan’s [2002] film “Signs” and the convictions of the early Christians about the relationship of the Scriptures to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus was for the early Church like the final scenes of Shyamalan’s movie: all of a sudden, all sorts of diverse motifs from the Scriptures and the history of salvation made sense. They appeared unified, evidence of a strong hand of Providence that had been leading God’s people to a meaningful, climactic moment of salvation all along. Through the Readings for this Sunday’s liturgy runs...

Behind the readings for this Sunday lies a Gospel text which is never read, but whose influence is felt and whose concepts and images serves as a link between the texts that are read. That passage is John 19:34: 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth — that you also may believe. The blood and water flowing from the side of Christ is the background...

Holy Mother Church offers us Readings from Scripture this Easter Sunday that comprise an elegant review and statement of the whole Gospel message. In particular, they focus our attention on the Resurrection, the Eucharist, and the relationship between the two. 1. The First Reading is Acts 10:34a, 37-43: Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with...

How could the Messiah die? Despite a few mysterious prophetic texts that seemed to intimate this possibility, the idea that the Messiah could arrive and subsequently be killed was radically counter-intuitive to most of first-century Jews. Yet the conviction of the early Christians, based on Jesus of Nazareth’s own teachings about himself, was that the radically counter-intuitive impossibility was actually prophesied, if one had the eyes to see and the ears to hear it in Israel’s Scriptures. The Readings for this Mass offer us two of the most poignant prophecies of the suffering of the Messiah. 1. Isaiah 50:4-7, the...

In this Lent of Year B, we are taking a survey through the Old Testament of the great covenant moments. We have seen the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the covenant failure of Israel resulting in exile, and now finally, on this fifth week, we witness the promise of the New Covenant through the voice of the prophet Jeremiah. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks in ominous terms about the coming suffering that will be necessary for him to undergo in order to establish that New Covenant. 1. The First Reading is Jeremiah 31:31-34: The days are coming,...

For understanding the First Reading from 2 Chronicles 36, it’s important to realize that the First Readings for Lent in Year B are cycling through some high points of salvation history—a review as we prepare for Easter. So we’ve had (1) the covenant with Noah, the (2) covenant with Abraham, (3) the covenant at Sinai through Moses, and now this week, we are reviewing (4) Israel’s failure to keep the Sinai covenant, and thus the subsequent exile. After all, exile was prophesied as the consequence of failing to keep the Sinai covenant: see Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27. Next week...

What is the best way to communicate law? Written law has its limitations, because we are all familiar with the concept of the “loophole.” There always seem to be methods of interpreting the written law in ways that run contrary to its intent. In West Virginia, which is across the river for us in Steubenville, they passed a law a few years back allowing cafés to operate some small-time gambling on their premises. The idea was to allow owners of small eateries a sideline to supplement income during a tough economic time. Well, now dozens of new “cafés” have sprung...

One week into our Lenten journey, the Readings for this weekend’s Masses focus on passages that look ahead or anticipate Christ’s self-sacrifice on Calvary, which awaits us, as it were, in the “liturgical future,” on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. 1. The First Reading is one of the most pivotal texts in the Old Testament, the “Calvary” of the old covenant era. This is what the Jewish tradition calls the Aqedah, the “binding” of Isaac. The story is familiar to most: God commands Abraham to take Isaac to a certain mountain and sacrifice him there. Abraham obeys, but before Isaac...

In the contemporary Lectionary, the First Readings during Lent in all three years attempt to rehearse and teach salvation history, not only as a refresher for the congregation but as an initiation for catechumens, who are preparing to enter into the story of salvation through the sacraments. World literature has many stories, with variations, about magic books that suck the reader into the world of the book, where they suddenly find themselves in a very different reality. In a way, the Bible is such a “magic book.” It contains a story that appears to be distant from the reader in...

Happy Lent, everyone! Let's indulge in a little commentary on the Readings for Ash Wednesday: 1. Our First Reading is Joel 2:12-18: Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; gather...

In this weekend’s readings, a healed leper disobeys Jesus and spreads the news of his miraculous cure everywhere, impeding the Lord’s ministry. Why did Jesus tell him to be quiet about the healing? What is the role of miracles in the Jesus’ ministry, and in the life of the Church today? 1. The First Reading for this weekend’s masses was obviously chosen to provide the background for understanding leprosy as it was experienced by the Jews and other ancient peoples. Reading 1: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "If someone has on his skin a scab or...

I went to a public high school in Hawaii back in the late 1980’s, and the social group I hung around with had more than its share of young cynics. For some reason, it was cool to be morose, and one of my buddies was fond of responding to anyone’s account of some problem or difficulty that they were facing with the lovely couplet, “Well, life s***ks, then you die.” At the time, we thought it was amusing, a kind of gallows humor, but in hindsight I regret showing any approval for such expressions of pessimism. Life is difficult, but...

In the Readings for this Sunday, we are following 1 Corinthians and the Gospel of Mark ad seriatim, so there is less cohesion between the Second Reading and the Gospel than on a high feast day. Nonetheless, the Readings this week can be linked by the theme of “hearing the voice of the prophet.” 1. The First Reading is a very famous passage from the Book of Deuteronomy that should be familiar to every Catholic student of biblical theology. Reading 1: Deuteronomy 18:15-20Moses spoke to all the people, saying: "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up...