27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: 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 […]

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: 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

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: 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

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: 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,”

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

You can reflect questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here. Fifth Sunday of Easter Background: 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

Introduction to Eastertime In 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

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

Introduction to the Third to Fifth Sundays in Lent: The Johannine Gospels for the three middle Sundays in Lent for Year B pursue the same themes as those of Year A: how Jesus brings us in his person cleansing from sin, true light, and new life. Again, we learn each Sunday of God’s compassionate love,

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: There is an ambiguity about Jesus’s mission. As God’s beloved Son upon whom the Spirit has come, both his words and actions have power. And so today we see his compassion towards those suffer in body and spirit. Yet his ministry as healer sometimes seems to get in the