Free Republic

22 April 2024 Monday of the 4th week of Eastertide Painting of the church of San Caio in Rome by Achille Pinelli in the early 1800sNow demolishedReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 11:1-18 ©God can grant even the pagans the repentance that leads to lifeThe apostles and the brothers in Judaea heard that the pagans too had accepted the word of God, and when Peter came up to Jerusalem the Jews criticised him and said, ‘So you have been visiting the uncircumcised and eating with them, have you?’ Peter in reply gave them the details point by...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.” John 10:11–13Today, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. It is a day when we reflect upon the tender image of Jesus as the Shepherd of us all....

21 April 2024 4th Sunday of EasterSt Anselm's Catholic Church, part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in Pembury, Kent, UKReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 4:8-12 ©The name of Jesus Christ is the only name in which we can be savedFilled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said: ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple, and asking us how he was healed, then I am glad to tell you all, and would indeed be glad to tell the whole people of...

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...

20 April 2024 Saturday of the 3rd week of Eastertide Shrine of Saint Agnese - Montepulciano Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 9:31-42 ©The churches grew and were filled with the consolation of the Holy SpiritThe churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight...

Daily Readings from the USCCBAs a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” John 6:66–67Today’s Gospel concludes the beautiful and profound sermon on the Bread of Life (see John 6:22–71). When you read this sermon from beginning to end, it is noticeable that Jesus moves from more general statements about the Bread of Life that are easier to accept to more specific statements that are challenging. He concludes His teaching just prior to today’s Gospel...

19 April 2024 Friday of the 3rd week of Eastertide St. Michael the Archangel Byzantine Catholic Church Pittston, Pennsylvania Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 9:1-20 ©This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before the pagansSaul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find. Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink.” John 6:53–55On a philosophical level, it’s useful to consider various things that appear to be “competing forces.” Good appears to be the opposite of evil. Light the opposite of dark. Heat the opposite of cold. And life...

Currently in the Liturgies of daily Mass we have been reading the Book of Revelation. It is commonly read at the end of the liturgical year, for it bespeaks the end of, and passing qualities of all things of this world. It is also a book of glory, depicting the ultimate victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, after a great period of conflict between the doomed kingdom of this world, and the victorious Kingdom of Christ. In this context the Book of Revelation is not a mere tour guide to the last days, but is a book of glory reminding...

Daily Readings from the USCCBI am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” John 6:51Jesus was starting to stir up the emotions of some within the crowd. They began to ridicule Him because He had said that He was the “bread that had come down from heaven.” Thus, many of those who had sought Jesus out in hopes of another miraculous free meal began to murmur among themselves and ridicule Him. As a result, Jesus began...

18 April 2024 Thursday of the 3rd week of Eastertide St. Emma Monastery - Greensburg, PA Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 8:26-40 ©Philip baptizes a eunuchThe angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief...

17 April 2024 Wednesday of the 3rd week of Eastertide St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 8:1-8 ©They went from place to place, preaching the Good NewsThat day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria. There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him. Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison....

Daily Readings from the USCCB“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” John 6:40Do you believe in Jesus? Unquestionably the answer is “Yes.” However, to believe in our Lord is something that must deepen with every passing day. Therefore, if you do have faith in Jesus, you can also admit that you do not have faith enough. In this Gospel passage in which the “Bread of Life Discourse” is continued, Jesus calls us to do two things....

Daily Readings from the USCCBSo they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6:34–35Imagine if you were to never grow hungry or never thirst again. On a natural level, this would be an interesting reality. Of course, if you never had physical hunger or thirst, then you may never enjoy the delight of good food and drink. So why would anyone want to lose out on such delights? Of course, Jesus was...

16 April 2024 Tuesday of the 3rd week of Eastertide Saint Bernadette Catholic Church, Arlington, VA Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 7:51-8:1 ©'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'Stephen said to the people, the elders and the scribes: ‘You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. You who had...

The bridge collapse in Baltimore has ground many businesses to a halt, leaving municipal leaders scrambling to figure out what the next steps should be. But that's not the only thing collapsing in Charm City. After years of planning and adjustments, the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore is also launching some major adjustments. In what is being described as a "retooling of operations," the Catholic Church is preparing to consolidate the number of parishes in the city and the surrounding suburbs from 61 to 21. In other words, there will be barely one-third the number of worship centers for Catholics in...

John 6:22–29Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the crowd, which he just fed, to believe in him and relate to him personally. Why is this so hard? Well, it is intellectually counterintuitive. Why would this one figure, this Jesus, be the one and only? Why should I choose to relate to him and not the numerous other religious leaders and philosophers? Are all other religious people just lost or misguided? Wouldn’t it just be easier to relate to Jesus’ ideas and principles, to imitate his style of life? Yes, indeed it would, but that’s not what he says. Perhaps we...

While the number of Catholics worldwide slightly increased from 2021 to 2022, new statistics show that the number of priests continues to decline. The Vatican released the 2024 Pontifical Yearbook and the 2022 Statistical Yearbook of the Church earlier this month. Edited by the Vatican Secretariat of State's Central Statistical Office, the publications are being distributed in bookstores and published by the Vatican Printing Press.The publications highlight "statistical data to assess the main trends affecting the evolution of the Catholic Church worldwide," reports Vatican News.The latest edition of the Statistical Yearbook shows the number of baptized Catholics in the world...

15 April 2024 Monday of the 3rd week of Eastertide Ukrainian Catholic church in Star-Peno, Alberta Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 6:8-15 ©They could not get the better of Stephen because the Spirit prompted what he saidStephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:25–27What do you work for in life? That which ultimately perishes? Or that which is eternal? This is an important question to sincerely answer. Too often we spend most of our lives putting most of...