5th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: 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 way […]

EpiphanyBackground: Once again we must avoid sentimentalizing this story. As the carol “We Three Kings” says, the astrologers/Magi are travelling over “field and fountain, moor and mountain” as they follow the star. We must also realize how radical this passage was for Matthew’s original, predominantly Jewish audience. It is Gentile sages who recognize the coming

Introduction to MarkThe earliest and shortest of the gospels, Mark’s version of the Jesus story lacks the polish of Matthew with his five sermons/discourses or of Luke with his extended journey to Jerusalem. It also lacks any infancy story or, in its original version, any post-resurrection appearance. (Its brevity explains why on many Sundays John

You can reflect questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here.All Saints’ DayBackground: In a culture that is living more and more in a denial of death, this festival reminds us that we are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” who “have run the race and kept the faith.” Yet when we

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: Jesus the prophet again tells a story to the religious leaders that reminds us all that what matters in the kingdom/reign of God is not just words but actions that embody love. We will be good stewards of the kingdom/reign only by bearing such good fruit. Discussion Questions Describe

Introduction to the 23d and 24th Sundays: We have finished reading Matthew’s narrative about how deep faith in Jesus is the only way of entrance into the Church. For two Sundays now we read Jesus’s discourse on what life in the Church is to be like. 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Background: This Sunday’s part

Introduction for 18th to 22nd Sundays: We have finished reading Matthew’s Sermon on Parables and move now to a crucial narrative section dealing with the Church as First-fruits of God’s Kingdom/Reign. Repeatedly we will see how the crucial step to enter that Kingdom/Reign is a deep faith in Jesus, a faith that rejects all other

14th Sunday in ordinary time Background : This Sunday’s selection is the first from Matthew’s exploration of the meaning of the Kingdom/Reign of God. The evangelist often refers to the Kingdom/Reign of Heaven, but that is a pious Jewish euphemism. A Jewish perspective is also needed to appreciate the references to the “learned,” which refers

Trinity Sunday Background: Grace, love, fellowship—these words from the end of this Sunday’s selection from 2 Corinthians provide the common threads that runs throughout all the readings. Today’s focus is not on the inner relationships among the Persons of the Trinity but upon their relationships with us in both Old and New Testaments. As the