Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Tobit 2:9-14  +  Mark 12:13-17
June 6, 2017

“‘Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’”

Jesus trips up the Pharisees and Herodians in today’s Gospel passage because of a dichotomy in their thinking.  They easily recognize the image of Caesar, but fail to see two even more clear images.  Focus on the first. Continue reading →

St. Boniface, Bishop & Martyr
Tobit 1:3;2:1-8  +  Mark 12:1-12
June 5, 2017

“‘“They will respect my son.”’”

The chief priests and elders had forgotten the place of the Lord in their lives.  They thought that they were the masters of Israel, rather than its shepherds.  They thought that they were the landowners, rather than the tenants.  They thought that they were the lord of the manor, rather than the stewards.

The action of the parable demonstrates just how topsy-turvy these stewards are.  Believing that they’re the masters of the situation justifies, in their minds, their beating and stoning of the landowner’s messengers, and finally, their murder of his son.

Of course, you and I know how this parable turns out in real life.  The chief priests, elders, and other leaders of Israel are not willing to give up the claim to be masters.  So when they come face-to-face with Jesus, who is the rightful heir to the throne of Israel, there’s bound to be conflict.  Like the son in the parable, Jesus is seized and put to death.  Jesus is the “stone that the builders rejected” which “has become the cornerstone”.

Pentecost
Acts 2:1-11  +  1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13  +  John 20:19-23
June 4, 2017

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.’”

 The historical event that the Church celebrates this Sunday is described not in today’s Gospel passage, but in the First Reading.  In one sense, the Church’s focus today moves beyond the four Gospel accounts to the remainder of the New Testament.

The first four books of the New Testament present the life, death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.  All of that makes possible what comes next.  The rest of the New Testament’s books present the life of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, continuing Christ’s presence here on earth.

Today’s feast, then, celebrates this transition.  Pentecost is a celebration of God entrusting the life of His Son to the members of the Church, similar to how He entrusted Him to Mary at the Annunciation.  The New Testament books that follow the four Gospel accounts are not merely historical records of the first Christians striving to live as the Church.  These books are a template or roadmap for us in the 21st century as we struggle to live—not as individual Christians—but as the members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Continue reading →

St. Charles Lwanga & Companions, Martyrs
Acts 28:16-20,30-31  +  John 21:20-25
June 3, 2017

“I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”

This morning’s Gospel passage consists of the final six verses of the Gospel according to John.  The Easter Season draws to a close, then, with an almost parenthetical reminder that the Gospel accounts’ record of Jesus’ earthly life is by no means exhaustive.  Nor are they meant to be. Continue reading →

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Acts 25:13-21  +  John 21:15-19
June 2, 2017

“Peter was distressed that He had said to him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’”

On these last two weekdays of Easter, our Gospel passage comes from the epilogue of John’s Gospel account.  In these final days, we hear John’s account of Jesus’ “final word”, which echoes what John records time and time again throughout his Scriptural writings (the Book of Revelation, his three epistles, and his Gospel account). Continue reading →

St. Justin, Martyr
Acts 22:30;23:6-11  +  John 17:20-26
June 1, 2017

“‘…so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.’”

There are many types of unity.  For example, if two persons agree about a political issue, and join a common party, these two persons have political unity.  If two persons agree about a moral teaching, or agree to act in common on behalf of a moral goal, these two persons have moral unity.  If two students study for doctorates in physics, specializing in the same specific topic, and become the two foremost experts in the world about that topic, these two persons have intellectual unity.  Two persons can be united by far less significant matters:  they can be united by their nationality, by the clothes they wear, or by the physical space they share (in an elevator, a house, or a courtroom). Continue reading →

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Zephaniah 3:14-18  +  Luke 1:39-56
May 31, 2017

“…Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice….”

Catholic art is beautiful because it focuses on persons:  the three Divine Persons, and human persons as well.  In Catholic art that portrays today’s feast—the Visitation of Our Blessed Mother—there are four persons shown to the eye of the viewer.  Of course, two of them have to be shown indirectly because they are unborn children:  St. John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth, and Our Lord in the womb of the Blessed Virgin.  Sometimes these two unborn children are portrayed by something akin to halos shining, indicating the grace that dwells within these women through their openness to human and divine life. Continue reading →

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Acts 20:17-27  +  John 17:1-11
May 30, 2017

“Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”

We are approaching the end of the Easter season.  For seven weeks we have heard of the events surrounding the Resurrection, and how these events have touched the lives of those who encountered Jesus, such as Mary Magdalen, Peter, and Thomas.  We have heard how the lives of these followers of Jesus were changed because they believed in the events they witnessed:  they believed through their faith.  The Church today is also made up of followers of Jesus, those whose lives have been changed by their encounter with the Body of Christ. Continue reading →

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Acts 19:1-8  +  John 16:29-33
May 29, 2017

“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

This coming Sunday’s celebration of Pentecost is the backdrop for all our weekday readings this week.  Wherever we Christians are, we are united in the Mystical Body of Christ, and together we are praying this week for a greater openness to the Gift who is God the Holy Spirit. Continue reading →