This week is the 12th Week in Ordinary Time. This year it happens that we have a number of special Masses that interrupt the flow of the first readings for the week: St. Aloysius Gonzaga, The Nativity of John the Baptist, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Without those specials feasts and solemnities, the week of first readings would have been from 2 Kings and, in part, covered the “last of the kings. The readings are: Continue reading →

The image is of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens (17th c.), “The Defeat of Sennacherib.” King Sennacherib was the King of Assyria who attempted to conquer Judah and capture Jerusalem in the 7th century BCE. You can read a summary of the encounter with King Hezekiah of Judah in the first reading from yesterday. Continue reading →