Michael Marchal is a retired teacher of high school English and college philosophy. He has worked with the catechumenate in his parish since 1976 and has written several books on different aspects of the process.
You can reflect questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here.2nd Sunday in AdventBackground: We are a work in progress. Even including our catechumens, God’s good work has already been begun in us and is moving on to completion. Yet once again we have to do our part; we must face the ways […]
You can reflect questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here.32nd Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: Having arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus once again finds himself arguing with the scribes, the teachers, and interpreters of the Torah. Like all the other Hebrew prophets who have preceded him, he calls to account those whose actions do not
27th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: Although a less prominent theme than in Luke, Jesus’s final journey to Jerusalem serves in Mark as the framework for his final teachings about what life in the kingdom/reign of God is like. If we are to “follow” him on the way to cross and resurrection, what road must we
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers: Year B – The 27th to 31st Sundays in Ordinary Time
22nd Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: Back to Mark after several weeks of John’s “bread of life discourse,” which explored the relationship between Jesus and the individual believer. Up until this interruption we had been seeing Jesus and his disciples proclaiming in Galilee the arrival of God’s promised kingdom/reign. Galilee was predominantly Jewish but surrounded by
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers: Year B – The 22nd to 26th Sundays in Ordinary Time
18th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: This Sunday’s selection does not follow directly upon last Sunday’s since the crossing of the lake by Jesus has been omitted; that is why the crowd has to get into boats to see if he is on the other side. He had had to escape from them because they wanted
Reflection Questions for Seekers: Year B – The 18th to 21st Sundays in Ordinary Time
13th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: Once again words have power: over nature, as we saw last Sunday, and now over disease and death. But only if we have faith and trust in the power of God at work for us in Jesus. As the Book of Wisdom says, “death entered the world through sin,” and
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers: Year B – The 13th to 17th Sundays in Ordinary Time
The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)Background: Out of the 26 particular churches that make up the Catholic Church (Maronites, Ruthenians, etc.), only the Roman Church abandoned in the course of the Middle Ages the sharing of the Blood of Christ by all believers during Communion. At about the same time the observance of
You can reflect questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here.Fifth Sunday of EasterBackground: For two Sundays the gospel selections are a continuous reading from John, 15, part of what is called the Last Supper Discourse. It would seem odd that in Easter Season we are reading from a discourse given on Holy Thursday
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers: Eastertime — Year B
Introduction to EastertimeIn the post-Vatican II reform of the Roman liturgy, Easter became not a day but a season. The Sundays are not named as “after” Easter but rather “of” Easter. We must not subdivide this season into chunks but celebrate its overall flow.Because the different New Testament writers approached their proclamation of the Good
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers: Easter through the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Introduction to the Third to Fifth Sundays in Lent: For three Sundays the Gospel selections from John are part of the final, intense preparation of those called to the Easter sacraments of initiation. The scrutiny celebrated each Sunday is meant to help them “achiev(e) an intimate knowledge of Christ” by “progress(ing) in genuine self-knowledge through
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers — 3rd Sunday in Lent to 5th Sunday in Lent, Year A
