Free Republic

By Dr. John BergsmaThe Christmas Solemnity has distinct readings for four separate masses: Vigil, Midnight, Dawn, and Day. They stay the same from year to year, so below are my annual comments, only lightly revised. Merry Christmas! Christmas Vigil Mass1. Reading 1: Isaiah 62:1-5: For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the...

By Dr. John BergsmaThe Fourth Sunday of Advent marks a switch in focus from John the Baptist (on the previous two Sundays) to the events immediately leading up to the birth of Christ. The Readings for this Sunday focus on Jesus’ royalty: his descent from the line of Davidic kings. As we will see, this royal status also accrued to his mother Mary, and this is the basis for the practice of Marian veneration in the Catholic Church. In fact, the first instance of Marian veneration by another human being takes place in this Sunday’s Gospel. 1. Our First Reading...

By Dr. John BergsmaThis Sunday is “Gaudete” Sunday, from the Latin gaudete, “Rejoice!” which traditionally begins the introit for this Mass, taken from Philippians 4:4. Many parishes will mark this Sunday with rose-colored vestments (not “pink”—“pink” is not a liturgical color!), and the theme of joy runs through the readings and the liturgy. Gaudete Sunday marks the half-way point of Advent, and the Church rejoices because Jesus’ coming is near. Actually, in most years, as in this, it marks much more than half-way. In our case, Christmas is only ten days from this Sunday! 1. Our First Reading is Zephaniah...

By Dr. John BergsmaAs we start the second week of Advent, the Church turns her attention from the second coming of Christ to his first coming, and in particular to the figure of John the Baptist, the forerunner or herald of Jesus Christ. Usually the Church reads heavily from the prophet Isaiah during the Advent season, and indeed, Isaiah 40 would have made a good First Reading for this Sunday because it is quoted in the Gospel. However, in Year C, the Church takes a little break from exclusive attention to Isaiah and reads some other Old Testament texts that...

By Dr. John BergsmaHappy New Year everyone! We start the liturgical calendar anew this evening, and we are in Year C, which has some of the most creative and stimulating combinations of lectionary readings. We just concluded the liturgical calendar by reading largely from the prophet Daniel and Our Lord’s eschatological discourse from the Gospel of Luke. We spent a good deal of time meditating on the second coming of Our Lord, the end of history, and the final judgment. We now make a smooth segue into Advent, because the first week of this liturgical season is given over to...

By Dr. John BergsmaThis Sunday is the 34th Sunday of Ordinary Time, and as everyone knows, that means it is the Solemnity of Christ the King! This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. I give thanks to God for many things at this time of year, including the joy of living the liturgical calendar, which is such a consolation and guide for one’s spirituality through the seasons of life and the seasons of the year. Each liturgical year is like a whole catechesis of the Christian faith, as well as a kind of microcosm of the entire life...

By Dr. John Bergsma“Tempus fugit,” the Romans used to say. “Time flies.” It’s hard to believe that we are already at the second-to-last Sunday of the liturgical year. [My brother Tim used to say, “Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.” But that has nothing to do with anything.] Where has the year gone? How can it be so close to the end already? Yet these feelings are very appropriate for Mass we will celebrate this Sunday, whose readings encourage us to count time carefully, to be aware of its passage, to meditate on our mortality...

By Dr. John BergsmaOur Readings for this Sunday give us a lesson in the practice of faith.Our First Reading is from 1 Kings 17:10-16, the story of Elijah’s visit to the widow of Zarephath:In those days, Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, "Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink." She left to get it, and he called out after her, "Please bring along a bit of bread." She answered, "As the LORD, your God, lives, I have...

By Dr. John BergsmaThe Readings for this upcoming Sunday revolve around the themes of love of God and perfect priesthood. 1. The First Reading is Deuteronomy 6:2-6: Moses spoke to the people, saying: "Fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life. Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them, that you may grow and prosper the more, in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers, to give you a land flowing with milk and...

The readings for this Sunday revolve around the theme of return from exile for God's people. In the Old Testament, we read about God's people Israel being exiled from their land because of their violations of their covenant with God. The great Israelite prophets, however, predicted that God would bring his people back from the places they were exiled, just as he brought them out of Egypt by the hand of Moses long ago. This is often called the "New Exodus" theme in the prophets. 1. Our First Reading is one such prophetic oracle, Jeremiah 31:7-9: Thus says the LORD:...

The Readings for this upcoming Lord's Day focus on the themes of suffering and leadership: in particular, how Christ, our definitive leader, embraced suffering on our behalf, and so modeled true leadership for all who would follow him. 1. Our First Reading is Isaiah 53:10-11: The LORD was pleased to 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 affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering,...

Very few of us want to die. In fact, there’s an obsession in this country with staying young and looking young. Entire industries have developed around cosmetics, nutritional supplements, plastic surgery, and fitness gyms, all for the sake of staying young and staving off the natural effects of aging. I think it’s partly a refusal to embrace the inevitability of death. Along one of the roads between Steubenville (where I live) and Pittsburgh, there is a cryogenics warehouse that stores the frozen corpses and heads of persons who paid a lot of money to be preserved until medical technology is...

By Dr. John BergsmaThe Readings for this Sunday provide the homilist with an ideal opportunity to teach Christian doctrine concerning marriage and children. The opportunity is timely, too, as one of our political parties has taken an official stand supporting "same-sex marriage," an arrangement that is not intrinsically related to the birth and rearing of children, does not provide the same benefit to society as true marriage, and can never be as optimal for the well-being of children as to be raised by their own biological father and mother. In the midst of the confusion about the very nature of...

Our Readings for this Sunday may seem dour at first, dominated by discussion of going to hell and the merits of self-amputation, but the First Reading actually points us in the right direction to overcome sin and hell and live in joy. We will see how as the Readings unfold: 1. Our First Reading is from Numbers 11:25-29: The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied. Now two men,...

When I was younger, especially from high school through my early days as a non-Catholic Christian pastor, I had this strong sense that if a person always did what was right, “things would work out.” That is to say, righteousness was the path to the good life. God would pave the way in front of the person that does his will. There is some truth to that, of course. A great deal of interior and exterior suffering is cause by our wicked and selfish choices. When I used to work as an urban missionary, occasionally I would have the chance...

We have been getting a number of rousing challenges from Jesus in the past several weeks, as our Readings have followed the progress of his ministry, and Jesus repeatedly makes clear that following him is not going to be easy in any way. This Sunday we get another challenge from Jesus to “fish or cut bait” in our relationship with him. Paradoxically, however, if we think we are going to preserve our lives and comfort by turning away from him, Jesus warns us: long term, that’s a bad strategy. 1. Our First Reading is one of the Servant Songs of...

"Reverse Psychology" describes the attempt to motivate individuals to action by telling them to do the opposite of what is actually desired. The method is based on the assumption of the perversity of human nature. Since we tend to do disobey whatever commands we receive, why not command what is wrong, and then our natural "disobedience" will result in good? It sounds fine in theory, but I've tried it with my kids: "Don't do your chores. Don't finish your schoolwork. Eat up all the remaining ice cream." Reverse psychology doesn't seem to work in practice. In this Sunday's Gospel, though,...

The Readings for Mass this week call us to purify our walk with God, and make an examination of conscience: are my "religious" practices helpful, or are they distracting me from what is central in my relationship with God? 1. The First Reading is from Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8: Moses said to the people: "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the...

The readings for this upcoming Sunday are some of the most difficult and challenging in the Lectionary. The Church is calling us to make a decision. There can be no more sitting on the fence. Are we going to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Son of God, and therefore submit to his Word—even if it seems difficult to understand or accept? Or are we going to move on and seek some other guru in life, some other bodhisattva, novelist, psychologist, sociologist, theologian, philosopher, talk show host, or politician who will tell us right from wrong and show us the...

A couple of months ago I finally had the chance to watch "Babette's Feast," a beautiful movie about a French cook in Denmark who wins the lottery and spends her entire earnings to throw a lavish feast for the two old spinsters she works for and all their friends. Babette's Feast was an obvious and intentional Eucharistic allegory, and I couldn't help thinking of it while reflecting on the readings for this Sunday (20th of Ordinary Time), which are all closely united by the themes of eating, wisdom, and thankfulness. 1. Our first reading is taken from Proverbs 9:1-6: Wisdom...