Discipleship
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 (1) 1 Peter 3:15-18 John 14:15-21 May 10, 2026 Jesus loves you. Jesus loves every single person in the world. It might seem hard to imagine. There are people in the world who are hard…
Read More5th Sunday of Easter, Year AActs 6:1-7Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (22)1 Peter 2:4-9John 14:1-12May 3, 2026 Do you have anxiety or distress in your life? Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” What troubles you? Serious illness? Job…
Read MoreFourth Sunday of Easter, Year A Acts 2:14a, 36-41 Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (1) 1 Peter 2:20b-25 John 10:1-10 April 26, 2026 Peter proclaims, “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” “Whom you crucified…” Who…
Read More3rd Sunday of Easter, Year AActs 2:14, 22-33Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (11a)1 Peter 1:17-21Luke 24:13-35April 19, 2026 After the tomb of Jesus’ was found empty, the disciples gathered in a locked room in fear of the Jews. Now,…
Read MoreSecond Sunday of Easter, Year A (Divine Mercy Sunday) Acts 2:42-47 Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 (1) 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 April 12, 2026 Jesus Christ was crucified! Then He rose from the dead! The Father and He sent the Holy Spirit! With new understanding of what had happened to…
Read MoreIf one looks at the news, one sees things in the world are not good. The most obvious being the war between Israel, Iran, and the U.S. It directly involves these three nations. It also involves neighboring nations in the Middle East. With the Strait of Hormuz being in Iranian…
Read MoreIn today’s gospel a scribe asks Jesus a question. Unlike other times when Jesus is asked a question, this is not a question to trap him. It is a good question. “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Where do we begin? It is not easy…
Read More3rd Sunday of Lent, Year AExodus 17:3-7Psalm 85:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (8)Romans 5:1-2, 5-8John 4:5-42March 8, 2026 A “woman of Samaria” went to the well to draw water. She finds Jesus there. He asks her, “Give me a drink.” She is…
Read More2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A Genesis 12:1-4a Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 (22) 2 Timthy 1:8b-10 Matthew 17:1-9 February 22, 2026 Abram, who will become known as Abraham, is a model of faith to us. God speaks to Abraham for the first time in the Bible, “Go forth from the…
Read MoreWe celebrate the season of Lent from Ash Wednesday until we begin the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. What are we trying to achieve? What is it that we hope to accomplish during Lent? I think the answer to this question is what we…
Read More1st Sunday of Lent, Year AGenesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 (3a)Romans 5:12-19Matthew 4:1-11February 22, 2026 Since last September we have had seven people participating in OCIA to prepare themselves to complete their Sacraments of Initiation. Today we send…
Read MoreLent begins tomorrow. How do we make the most of Lent? Maybe you have given up the same thing for Lent for several years in a row. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if it helps make you a better disciple or if it is a true sacrifice that shows how important your faith…
Read MoreSixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Sirach 15:15-20 Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34 (1b) 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 Matthew 5:17-37 February 15, 2026 “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if your trust in God, you too shall live.” What way do you…
Read More5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AIsaiah 58:7-10Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (4a)1 Corinthians 2:1-5Matthew 5:13-16February 8, 2026 “You are the salt of the earth.” We add salt to food to make it taste better. We are to do our part…
Read MoreFourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13 Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10 (Matthew 5:3) 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Matthew 5:1-12a February 1, 2026 The Israelites were struggling. In their struggles our Lord speaks to them. He speaks of the remnant that will remain in their midst. For several decades now,…
Read MoreWhat does it mean to be Catholic? What does it mean to follow Jesus? The simple answer would be that being Catholic means a person is baptized in the Catholic Church. Being identified as Catholic starts with Baptism but it is more than…
Read More2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AIsaiah 49:3, 5-6Psalm 40:2-, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 (8a, 9a)1 Corinthians 1:1-3John 1:29-34January 18, 2026 Paul speaks of himself as one “called to be an apostle.” For Paul, his work to share the gospel…
Read MoreAs I prayed for a topic to write about this week, I found myself without any fresh ideas. There is always a lot going on in the world. Yet, there are two challenges in finding ideas for articles. The first is that much of what one hears in the news is the same…
Read MoreThe Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 (11) Ephesians 5:2-3a, 5-6 Matthew 2:1-12 January 4, 2026 In my homily for the recent Holy Day, I spoke about peace. It was not world peace but rather the Peace of the Lord that I was speaking…
Read MoreThe year 2025 is almost over. It is a time when many review the events they experienced in the last twelve months. We begin the new year 2026 in less than 48 hours. As one-year ends, people look forward to the new year with hope for better things to…
Read MoreThis past weekend there was the shooting of soldiers in Syria, a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island, and a shooting at a Jewish celebration in Australia. Clearly, this was not a good weekend. In this article, I offer…
Read MoreThis is the second half of a reflection on the Letter of James. You can read the first part, including why I wrote this reflection, at https://renewaloffaith.org/faith-in-action/. Chapter 2 of the Letter of James shows that if we faith, we will do good works. Our works serve as evidence of our faith. …
Read MoreLast Thursday I felt inspired with the thought of writing an article regarding the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. At that point I did not have any detailed thoughts. It was just a general idea. That was fine with me as I had a few days before…
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