This coming Sunday is the start of a new liturgical year (Year C) and the first Sunday in Advent. In the two previous posts we placed the Sunday gospel in the context of the Advent Season and in Scripture. Today we can begin to consider some of the details. Continue reading
Here in the last week of the liturgical year (cycle B), the gospel for the day is taken from Luke 21:5-11. The text speaks of the coming destruction of the Temple (vv.5-6), signs of the end (vv.7-11), and then in verses 12 and following describes the persecutions that will follow. But pause at this moment and consider how you understood what was meant when you just read, “signs of the end.” If you are like most people you probably inserted “signs of the end times.” In our age we often take the apocalyptic sense of a reading to mean the end of time, the second coming, and all that has been portrayed in popular culture, movies, books, and even some scriptural commentaries. But Luke simply describes what follows the destruction of the Temple as “the time of Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the start of a new liturgical year (Year C) and the first Sunday in Advent. In yesterday’s post we placed the Sunday gospel in the context of the Advent Season. Today we can find its place in the context of Scripture.This reading is taken from Luke’s gospel just following Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus’ confrontation with the authorities in the Temple (which began back at 19:47, the cleansing of the Temple) now shifts to the future tense. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the start of a new liturgical year (Year C) and the first Sunday in Advent. The gospel is apocalyptic and seems, at first glance, an odd way to begin to run-up to Christmas. But then Advent was never meant to be a “run-up” to Christmas. The previous Sunday celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King which portends the “age to come.” Advent is no less striking in its meaning – celebrating the two turning of the ages: the revelation of the reign of God and the birth of the Messiah. It is apocalyptic, but it also is a call to vigilance.
For many years I have “plugged away” at writing commentaries that are not overly technical, but help to give more depth and context to the verses being considered. Sometimes the daily Mass readings reveal “gaps” in my coverage of a particular gospel writer. Today’s gospel is one of those occurrences. So… I filled in one of the gaps. Continue reading
The gospel for today is a very short reading from the Gospel of Luke:
Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words. (Luke 19:45-48)
In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans he quickly addresses gentile people’s culpability for knowing – or at least having an strong inclination of – the one true God given they did not have the benefit of the covenant relationship with Him. Paul writes: “For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:19-22) Continue reading
This coming Sunday is the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel. Pheme Perkins [694] offers a final thought on apocalyptic speculation and doing the will of God as a disciple. Continue reading
Today is the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours perhaps best described as a reluctant solider, reluctant bishop, but ever a servant of the people of God. The first reading for the Memorial is taken from the Book of Wisdom 7:22 and following. It is not often easy to post about a reading taken from Wisdom. So often the text does not easily stand alone, but still, it is an amazing part of Scripture that should be read and reflected upon more often. But today’s has an interesting feature.
Continue readingThis coming Sunday is the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in lectionary cycle B. Our Gospel reading is from Mark 13:24-37, the end verses of the larger “Olivet Discourse” in Mark’s gospel. Today let us consider:
32 “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. 35 Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. 36 May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
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