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If Jesus was walking through your town and you had ten seconds as he passed to ask any question you wished, what would it be? “Why is there evil in the world?” “How can I be saved?” “What is heaven like?” In this Sunday’s Gospel, an anonymous bystander gets his chance to ask Jesus one of the “big questions”: “Will only a few people be saved?” Jesus’ answer is complex, indirect, and very well worth examining! The Readings leading up to the Gospel help prepare us to understand Jesus’ response. 1. The First Reading is Isaiah 66:18-21: Thus says the...

In recent decades, the term “family values” has almost become a code word for “Christian culture” in American society. On the Catholic side of things we have “Catholic Family Land” or The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, better known as “C-FAM.” The natural family unit—based on a husband and wife who have made an exclusive, permanent, public commitment to share a common life and raise children together—has been under such political and social pressure that at times we almost identify Christianity as a social movement to promote family life. In this context, this Sunday’s Mass Readings can be unsettling....

My father once served as the chaplain for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. (U.S. Navy chaplains also serve the Marines and the Coast Guard). I have fond memories of that beautiful seaside city. In any event, perhaps the only bit of Coast Guard culture that I absorbed during my dad’s tour of duty was the motto: Semper Paratus, “Always Prepared,” which seems an appropriate summation of the theme of this Sunday’s Readings, which stress vigilance in the Christian life. In fact, these Readings feel like something we might get in November, closer to Christ the King,...

In the Readings for this Sunday, texts from the Old and New Testaments remind us that human happiness is not to be found in the accumulation of material goods. Riches are fleeting and empty. We are called instead to “store up treasure in heaven, where neither rust nor moth destroy, where thieves cannot break in and steal.” 1. Our First Reading is Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23: Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he...

Who has the guts to bargain with the Divinity? Abraham, the father of the Israel, does. In the Readings for this Sunday, we find united several themes: persistence in prayer, the justice and mercy of God, the generosity of God.1. Our First Reading is Genesis 18:20-32: In those days, the LORD said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out.” While Abraham’s visitors walked on farther...

This Sunday, as we continue to accompany Jesus on his fateful journey to Jerusalem in the Gospel of Luke, we are confronted with a pair of Readings in which human beings host a meal for God: Abraham for the LORD in the First Reading; Martha and Mary for Jesus in the Gospel. But is it really possible for us to “do God a favor” by giving him a nice meal? We are going to discover that, while God graciously accepts our services, it’s really about what God does for us, not what we can do for him. 1. The First...

In the Readings for this Sunday, Jesus continues his final journey, his fateful "death march" toward Jerusalem (Luke 9–19, the "Travel Narrative") that began formally in Luke 9:51. The past several Sundays have foreshadowed Jesus' coming suffering and death, but this Sunday we get a reprieve as themes of suffering recede into the background. We are temporarily caught up in the joy of Jesus' ministry, as he assembles around himself a congregation of disciples who constitute a spiritual "Jerusalem." In the healing ministry of Jesus and his disciples, we see a fulfillment of certain prophecies of peace and restoration to...

The Readings for this upcoming Sunday continue the strong call to discipleship issued in last Sunday's Readings. Jesus stresses that following him must be an immediate and complete commitment of one's entire person. As someone once said, "Jesus did not come to suffer, die and rise from the dead in order to create 'cultural Catholics.'"1. Our First Reading is from 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21: The LORD said to Elijah: “You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, as prophet to succeed you.” Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke...

I love the early summer liturgical "trifecta" of Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, forming a kind of "encore" to the joyful Easter Season focusing in succession on three fundamental realities of the Christian life: The Church, the Triune Godhead, and the Eucharist. This "trifecta" comes to an end this week with the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Readings for this Solemnity obviously focus on types and descriptions of the Eucharist, but there is a notably priestly theme that also runs through them. In this way, we observe the connection between priesthood and Eucharist. This connection first...

Pentecost is not supposed to mark a spiritual highpoint, from which we then regress and go back to being our slovenly selves. Rather, Pentecost should be a dramatic infusion of spiritual energy climaxing a period of formation that has been ongoing since the first week of Advent. Pentecost propels us, like a shot out of a cannon, into the “world” of Ordinary Time, in order to do effective combat with sin, death, and the Devil. This Sunday marks approximately the half-way point in the liturgical year, and at this temporal center, we pause to reflect on the central mystery of...

The Readings for the Mass of the Pentecost pick up, as it were, where the Readings for the Vigil left off. 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...

Ascension Day, unfortunately, is not observed in a uniform manner across the United States. Catholics in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England will observe it on Thursday; the rest of the country observes it this Sunday. The First Reading and Psalm for this Solemnity are always Acts 1:1-11 and Psalm 47. Year C has the option to employ Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23 instead of Ephesians 4:17-23 as the Second Reading (both are discussed below) and proclaims Luke 24:46-53 as the Gospel. This is an unusual Lord’s Day, in which the “action” of the Feast Day actually takes place in the...

We have arrived at the Sixth Week of Easter and continue to bask in the glow of the story of the growth of the early Church in Acts, the vision of heaven from the Book of Revelation, and the consolation of Jesus’ words to the Apostles in the Upper Room from John. It’s a trifecta of glory in these Readings. If last Sunday we noted a “kingdom of love” theme, this week we notice an emphasis on the idea of the “kingdom of peace.” In Acts (1st Reading) we see the measures that were necessary to keep peace in the...

The Easter Season is passing quickly. Already it is more than half over, as we progress toward the great Feasts of Ascension and Pentecost. We want the Season to slow down, so that we may savor the joy and consolation of these readings from Acts and John that dominate the Easter Cycle, but tempus fugit. The Readings for this Fifth Sunday of Easter describe the growth of the Kingdom of God, which is manifested on earth as the Church. The first two readings and the psalm are tied together with Kingdom images, and the Gospel reminds us that this Kingdom...

This upcoming Lord’s Day is often known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” since each year the Gospel reading is taken from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” It’s also often observed as a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, since priests and religious are visible manifestations to us of Christ in his role as the Good Shepherd. Most of the Readings are tied together by a shepherding theme. 1. The First Reading continues the traditional Christian practice of reading Acts during the season of Easter. We are up to Acts 13, the point in Acts where...

This week is the Third Sunday of Easter, and our readings highlight the primacy of Peter among the Apostles, and the primacy of love in following Jesus. Just a few comments on the preliminary readings before we concentrate on the Gospel. During the seven weeks of the Easter Season, the Lectionary reads semi-continuously through Acts in the First Reading (showing the birth of the Church on earth) and through Revelation in the Second (showing the final state of the Church in heaven). First Reading this week (Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41) we see Peter’s primacy (“Peter and the apostles said in reply...

This coming Sunday is the Second Sunday of the Octave of Easter, also known as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” The theme of God’s mercy runs through the readings. 1. In the First Reading, we see an outpouring of God’s mercy through the hands of the Apostles, who are given a gift of God’s power for the healing of physical illnesses and those plagued by evil spirits: Reading 1: Acts 5:12-16Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s portico. None of the others dared to join them, but the...

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...

The Readings for the Easter Vigil recount the history of salvation by focusing on the various covenant stages throughout the Biblical storyline...I'll proceed to point out how all these covenants appear in various forms in the seven Old Testament readings that form the backbone of the Liturgy of the Word for the Vigil.1. The First Reading: In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how...

Every year on Good Friday, we read St. John’s account of the Passion from John 18-19. One of the themes that runs through this reading is the Priesthood of Christ. I’ve traced this theme through the Good Friday Readings in previous years. Here, I repost my earlier comments with some additions, especially concerning the First Reading: There is priestly language already in the First Reading, from Isaiah 52 & 53, the famous “Suffering Servant” Song: See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him so marred was his look...