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
July is the traditional time for vacations, holidays, and trips as families and households visit relatives, relax, and take in different parts of our great nation. Normally I am around the whole summer, preferring to take time off in the autumn when temperatures are more moderate, but this year I had an opportunity to travel to the Holy Land with friends. I had never been and so it seemed an opportune moment that might never come around again. And so, on July 6th off I went, landing in Tel Aviv some 26 hours later. Continue reading
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