By: Msgr. Stuart Swetland Epiphany of the Lord, Jan. 3 Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-2,7-8,10-11,12-13; Ephesians 3:2-3a,5-6; Matthew 2:1-12 VERY OFTEN our Sunday readings are selected so as to emphasize the “prophecy-fulfillment” mode of reading sacred Scripture. This means that the first reading from the Old Testament is seen to be fulfilled in the proclamation of […]
Continue readingBy: Sr. Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 20 Micah 5:1-4a; Psalm 80:2-3,15-16,18-19; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45 I RECENTLY heard a story about a couple who regularly visited an inmate in prison. When it was time for the prisoner to be paroled, the couple, who owned a restaurant, thought about it and decided […]
Continue readingBy: Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Second Sunday of Advent, Dec. 6 Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126:1-2,2-3,4-5,6; Philippians 1:4-6,8-11; Luke 3:1-6 VOICES. VOICES. They are all around us! We wake up to voices. We hear voices all day long. We give voice to our own thoughts. What really is a voice except the resonance of a person […]
Continue readingBy: By Sr. Rachel Bergschneider, OSB First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 29 Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:4-5,8-9,10,14; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 — 4:2; Luke 21:25-28,34-36 WHO AMONG us has not been overwhelmed with the fragility of a child? When we hold one, we are so careful to do all the right things to insure the safety of […]
Continue readingBy: By Sharon Priester Solemnity of All Saints, Nov. 1 Revelation 7:2-4,9-14; Psalm 24:1bc-2,3-4ab,5-6; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a WHO ARE your heroes — those you look up to, want to emulate? Probably as a child you had some heroes — maybe an aunt or an uncle, an older sibling, a favorite baseball player. For […]
Continue readingBy: By Sharon Priester The Solemnity of Christ the King, Nov. 22 Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 93:1,1-2,5; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37 THIS WEEKEND, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King. Reflecting on kings or queens, the one I quickly thought of living today was Queen Elizabeth II, ruler […]
Continue readingBy: Father Doug Grandon Thirtieth sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 25 Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126:1-2,2-3,4-5,6; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52 “BIGGEST THING to happen ecclesiologically since the Reformation!” That’s how my friend, Church of England Bishop Andrew Burnham, described the Vatican’s announcement last Tuesday about “personal ordinariates” for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church. “Desperate bishops invited […]
Continue readingBy: By Father Douglas Grandon Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 18 Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33:4-5,18-19,20,22; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45 IN 1782, George Washington became America’s hero after leading his ragtag, Colonial army to victory over the red coats of England. In his farewell address to his men, he pledged that he would leave public […]
Continue readingTwenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 11 Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90:12-13,14-15,16-17; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30 PENNSYLVANIA Hospital in Philadelphia was our nation’s very first medical center. Founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, the hospital is home to the nation’s oldest surgical amphitheatre, the “dreaded circular room,” located on the third floor. […]
Continue readingTwenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 4 Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128:1-2,3,4-5,6; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16 LESLIE VAN HOUTEN grew up in a clean-cut, loving family in a comfortable middle-class home in a Southern California suburb. Her father and stay-at-home mom devoted themselves to their four children. Sadly, when Leslie was 13, the Van Houtens divorced. […]
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