Posts

Showing posts from April, 2025

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)

-
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector   Lectionary: 150 Reading 1 -  Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 [sic] Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 Reading 2 -  2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Alleluia -  2 Corinthians 5:19 Gospel -  Luke 18:9-14 '... for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.' In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents us with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. This story is closely connected to the one which comes just before it about the persistent widow who secures a just decision from a dishonest judge. While the first encourages us to pray and never give up. The second reminds us how, and in what manner, we ought to pray. However, to fully understand the example Jesus gives us, we should look more closely at first the century audience that He initially spoke to. A faithful Jew at that time would have assumed two things: That the Pharisee was a very holy and devout man.  And that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Second Sunday of Easter (Cycle C) - "Divine Mercy Sunday"

-
Image
Sunday of Divine Mercy Lectionary: 45 Reading 1 -  Acts 5:12-16 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 Reading 2 -  Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 Alleluia -  John 20:29 Gospel -  John 20:19-31 LESSON: The Ultimate Revelation of God's Mercy Each Sunday we commemorate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but in this period after Easter, Sunday takes on an even more illuminating significance.  This Sunday, as we conclude the eight-day solemnity of Easter and continue into the liturgical season of Easter, we celebrate the gift of Divine Mercy. So why is today Divine Mercy Sunday? Saint Faustina Kowalska [koh- VAHL-skuh] was a nun with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krackow, Poland. Beginning in 1933, Christ granted her a series of apparitions which, at his request, she recorded in a diary now known as Divine Mercy in My Soul . He gave her a mission, saying: “Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Holy Week - A Retrospective

-
Image
It has now been seven (7) months since my ordination (Sept 21); and now that I have finally become more comfortable with the general format and structure of the liturgy (and my functions within it), along comes Holy Week where everything changes and the cues I have established to prompt my specific participation have become nearly useless ... which means that once again, I find myself alternating between anxiety and panic that I will make an inevitable mistake (although few probably noticed them, I did, and that is enough). The Deacon in the Liturgy Chants from the Roman Missal Holy Week is the most important week in Catholicism. This week of great reverence and reflection spans the final eight days of Jesus’ life—from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.   Palm Sunday [Passion Sunday]  commemorates the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem, during which palm branches were placed in his path, before his arrest on Holy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the begin...
Post a Comment
Read more