By: By Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Solemnity of Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, June 26 Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14b-16a; Psalm 147:12-13,14-15,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58 Most of our lives are lived in the ordinary. Our responsibilities are before us and we try to meet them each day much as we have done in the […]
Continue readingBy: By Sister Agnes Cunningham, SSCM Solemnity of Pentecost, June 12 Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1,24,29-30,31,34; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7,12-13; Pentecost Sequence (Veni, Sancte, Spiritus); John 20:19-23 As we ponder today’s scriptural texts, we realize that the Pentecost-Event is proclaimed not in the Gospel, but in the first reading. The selection from John is, […]
Continue readingBy: By Sister Agnes Cunningham, SSCM Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 29 Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8,14-17; Psalm 66:1-2,4-5,6-7,16,20; 1 Peter 3:15-18 or 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 14:15-21 or John 17:1-11a The Catholic Diocese of Peoria belongs to one of the ecclesiastical provinces in the United States that have transferred the feast of the Ascension […]
Continue readingBy: By Sister Agnes Cunningham, SSCM Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), May 1 Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47; Psalm 118:2-4,13-15,22-24; 1 Peter 1:3-9; Easter Sequence; John 20:19-31 One of the optional entrance antiphons for this Second Sunday of Easter reminds us of a name by which the Octave of the Resurrection was once […]
Continue readingBy: By Msgr. Stuart Swetland Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, April 17 (At the procession with palms) Matthew 21:1-11 (At Mass) Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9,17-18,19-20,23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14 — 27:66 —– How does one comment on Palm Sunday? The readings are so intense and so powerful (and so long!) that they speak for […]
Continue readingBy: By Msgr. Stuart Swetland Fourth Sunday of Lent, April 31 Samuel 16:1b,6-7,10-13a; Psalm 23:1-3a,3b-4,5,6; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 One of my favorite pastimes, when I have some free time, is to visit art museums. I often take my breviary with me to pray with the religious art work. Many of the pieces in today’s […]
Continue readingBy: By Msgr. Stuart Swetland Second Sunday of Lent, March 13 Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 33:4-5,18-19,20,22; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9 G.K. Chesterton wrote in his famous novel “The Napoleon of Notting Hill” that “there is a law written in the darkest of the Books of Life, and it is this: If you look at a […]
Continue readingBy: By Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, March 6 Deuteronomy 11:18,26-28; Psalm 31:2-3,3-4,17,25; Romans 3:21-25,28; Matthew 7:21-27 A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her 5- and 6-year-olds. After explaining the commandment to “Honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us […]
Continue readingBy: By Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 6 Isaiah 58:7-10; Psalm 112:4-5,6-7,8-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16 During these winter days, any hint of light becomes a time of celebration. When the sun breaks through the gloomy days, we are lifted in spirit. As each day gets a bit longer, […]
Continue readingBy: Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jan.239 Isaiah 8:23 — 9:3; Psalm 27:1,4,13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17; Matthew 4:12-23 “When you are up to your neck in alligators, it is hard to remember that you were sent there to drain the swamp.” That is probably a feeling many of us encounter in […]
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