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October 22, 2006 Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 43 Reading 1Is 53:10-11 The LORD was pleasedto crush him in infirmity. If he gives his life as an offering for sin,he shall see his descendants in a long life,and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him. Because of his afflictionhe shall see the light in fullnessof days;through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,and their guilt he shall bear. Responsorial PsalmPs 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.Upright is the word of the...

September 24, 2006 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 40 Reading 1Wis 2:12, 17-20 The wicked say:Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;he sets himself against our doings,reproaches us for transgressions of the lawand charges us with violations of our training.Let us see whether his words be true;let us find out what will happen to him.For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend himand deliver him from the hand of his foes.With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the testthat we may have proof of...

August 27, 2006 Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 36 Reading 1Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,summoning their elders, their leaders,their judges, and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God,Joshua addressed all the people:“If it does not please you to serve the LORD,decide today whom you will serve,the gods your fathers served beyond the Riveror the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” But the people answered,“Far be it from us to forsake the...

by Fr. Paul Scalia Other Articles by Fr. Paul Scalia Truth or Consequences 08/26/06 Our Lord’s beautiful Bread of Life discourse does not end on a happy note. In response to His teaching, many “of [His] disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’” (Jn 6:60). It is the only instance in the Gospels of people rejecting our Lord’s teaching in such large numbers. “Many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him” (Jn 6:66). They left because they could not accept our Lord’s teaching on the Eucharist. More...

July 2, 2006 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 28 Reading 1Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24 God did not make death,nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.For he fashioned all things that they might have being;and the creatures of the world are wholesome,and there is not a destructive drug among themnor any domain of the netherworld on earth,for justice is undying.For God formed man to be imperishable;the image of his own nature he made him.But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,and they who belong to his company experience it. Responsorial PsalmPs 30:2, 4, 5-6,...

During His earthly life and in His small area of the world, our Lord was what we moderns would call a celebrity. Scripture tells us that crowds came to Him from all over — crowds so great that they blocked the streets and doorways (Mk 2:2) and so demanding that He and His Apostles could not even eat (Mk 3:20). Knowing how insistent and unruly crowds can be, we can easily imagine that people must have pushed in upon our Lord, bumping and jostling one another and Him. Some surely came for reasons of faith of devotion. But human...

June 4, 2006 Pentecost SundayMass during the Day Psalm: Sunday 24 Reading 1Acts 2:1-11 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled the entire house in which they were.Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,which parted and came to rest on each one of them.And they were all filled with the Holy Spiritand began to speak in different tongues,as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.At this...

May 7, 2006 Fourth Sunday of Easter Psalm: Sunday 20 Reading 1Acts 4:8-12 Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said:“Leaders of the people and elders:If we are being examined todayabout a good deed done to a cripple,namely, by what means he was saved,then all of you and all the people of Israel should knowthat it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazoreanwhom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;in his name this man stands before you healed.He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,which has become the cornerstone.There is no salvation through anyone else,nor is there...

Imagine the following scene: You arrive at Mass on Sunday, eager to thank God for His goodness to you. You slide into the pew early, kneel in prayer, and direct your praise and worship to your Lord and God. You stand as the song leader introduces the opening hymn: "Table of Plenty". Suddenly your praise comes to a screeching halt, not because of your own prayers, but because of what you are singing. In fact you are no longer praising God at all, but singing to the others: Come to the feast of heaven and earth! Come to the table...

April 9, 2006 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord At the Procession with Palms Psalm: Sunday 17 Gospel 1Mk 11:1-10 When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem,to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you,and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.Untie it and bring it here.If anyone should say to you,‘Why are you doing this?’ reply,‘The Master has need of itand will send it back here at once.’”So they...

March 12, 2006 Second Sunday of Lent Psalm: Sunday 14 Reading IGn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 God put Abraham to the test.He called to him, “Abraham!”“Here I am!” he replied.Then God said:“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.But...

January 15, 2006 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 6 Reading I1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19 Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORDwhere the ark of God was.The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”“I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”So he went back to sleep.Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.“Here I am,” he said. “You called me.”But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.” At that time Samuel was...

Cleveland--Celebrating a decade of improving protections for LGBT students and girding for the struggles ahead, the Cleveland chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network gathered on June 30 for their annual banquet. The five Pathfinder Awards were given to an array of individuals and organizations who furthered the safe schools ideology in the past year. The Activist Organization award was given to St. Ignatius’ United Men of Just Acts, a group of students and staff dedicated to stamping out prejudice and hatred, while the Educator Activist honor was given to Katie Zabransky, a former counselor at St. Ignatius...

December 25, 2005Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)Mass at Midnight Psalm: Sunday 3 Reading IIs 9:1-6 The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light;upon those who dwelt in the land of glooma light has shone.You have brought them abundant joyand great rejoicing,as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,as people make merry when dividing spoils.For the yoke that burdened them,the pole on their shoulder,and the rod of their taskmasteryou have smashed, as on the day of Midian.For every boot that tramped in battle,every cloak rolled in blood,will be burned as fuel for flames.For a child is born to...

November 19, 2006 Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 46 Reading 1Dn 12:1-3 In those days, I Daniel, heard this word of the Lord:"At that time there shall ariseMichael, the great prince,guardian of your people;it shall be a time unsurpassed in distresssince nations began until that time.At that time your people shall escape,everyone who is found written in the book. “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;some shall live forever,others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. “But the wise shall shine brightlylike the splendor of the firmament,and those who lead the many...

by Fr. Paul Scalia Other Articles by Fr. Paul Scalia Images of the Father 10/29/05 "Call no one on earth your father" (Mt 23:9). You might think that we priests — "fathers" — feel a little awkward every time we read these words. But not really. Because we are not to understand them in a slavishly literal sense. Our Lord does not mean that the word "father" can never be used in reference to men on earth. After all, Scripture itself contains such references (cf. Heb 12:7-11; 1 Cor 4:15). So our Lord must be doing something other than restricting our...

October 2, 2005Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 43 Reading IIs 5:1-7 Let me now sing of my friend,my friend's song concerning his vineyard.My friend had a vineyardon a fertile hillside;he spaded it, cleared it of stones,and planted the choicest vines;within it he built a watchtower,and hewed out a wine press.Then he looked for the crop of grapes,but what it yielded was wild grapes. Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,judge between me and my vineyard:What more was there to do for my vineyardthat I had not done?Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,did it...

September 4, 2005Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Psalm: Sunday 39 Reading IEz 33:7-9 Thus says the LORD:You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die, ”and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,the wicked shall die for his guilt,but I will hold you responsible for his death.But if you warn the wicked,trying to turn him from his way,and he refuses to turn from his way,he shall die for his...

When I was in high school, the students fell into many different groups: preps, jocks, cheerleaders, punks, deadheads, druggies, geeks, and all the rest. Just about everyone received an unofficial but virtually unchangeable assignment to a particular group. When I work in high schools today, I discover little difference. The groups still exist (with just a few changes in terminology), and the teachers and administrators still counsel against the labels. As they wisely explain, labels reinforce stereotypes and prejudices; they prevent us from accepting individuals and getting to know the real person. There is one difference, however. While still warning...

When our Lord appeared to the Apostles on Easter, He did something a bit unusual: "He breathed on them" (Jn 20:22). Needless to say, this would be an awkward gesture in our society. Not the kind of thing to try at a dinner party. But neither was it typical in our Lord’s time. Our Lord did not intend it as just a gesture or a form of greeting. He breathed on them to give them the Holy Spirit, saying as He did so, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (Jn 20:22). Yet since our Lord can and does give the Holy Spirit...