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Psalm 128 begins, “Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.” Today’s gospel speaks of the third servant who acts out of fear of his Lord. Are these two passages in conflict? The psalm speaks of…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Word – The Homily & CreedAfter the readings are finished, the congregation sits while an ordained person offers the homily. The homily is to help break open the readings and help people apply them to life…
Read MoreI hope I am not sounding like a broken record that keeps repeating itself. Last week I wrote, “What’s It Going to Take to End the Violence.” There I said the answer laid in tears that came from the depths…
Read More32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AWisdom 6:12-16Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (2b)1 Thessalonians 4:13-18Matthew 25:1-13November 12, 2023 Jesus presents us with this parable of “ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of…
Read MoreYesterday I offered Part II in my series, Made for Discipleship. You can now view the slides and video at https://www.renewaloffaith.org/madefordiscipleshippart2. If you watch it in the next few days, you can complete an online evaluation afterwards at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXAxnQnVoeUvYBRr1b_DAiFWrmh2IWtAExxBGeUsicdtPnSw/viewform?usp=sf_link. Part…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Word – Daily Mass ReadingsJust as on Sunday, during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter the readings for daily Mass are selected to correspond to the themes of the season. At daily Mass there…
Read MoreThere is a lot of violence in the world today. We see the wars between Israel and Hamas, and the Ukraine and Russia. How many mass shootings have there been recently in our Untied States? Maine, Cincinnati… What’s it going…
Read MoreJesus says, “Call no one on earth your father.” His words are pure, simple, and clear. So, why do Catholics call priests “father”? Doesn’t this go against what Jesus said? Taken at face value, it would. We need to look…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the Word – How the Readings Are Selected Last week, we read about the importance of the Word of God. Today we take a look at how the Sunday readings are chosen. Every Latin Rite Catholic Church…
Read MoreAll SaintsRevelation 7:2-4, 9-14Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-61 John 3:1-3Matthew 5:1-12aNovember 1, 2023 Do you want to be a saint? The first saints were all martyrs. They sacrificed their earthly lives for their faith. The martyrs become powerful witnesses to the…
Read More30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AExodus 22:20-26Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 (2)1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10Matthew 22:34-40October 29, 2023 “Thus says the LORD: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of…
Read MoreI started my new series on discipleship, Made of Discipleship, yesterday. The video and slides for Part I are now available online at https://www.renewaloffaith.org/madefordiscipleshippart1 . If you view it in the next couple of days, you can give me feedback…
Read MoreThe Liturgy of the WordAfter the Collect (opening prayer), we begin the Liturgy of the Word. This includes all the readings, the homily the Creed, and the Prayers of the Faithful (aka General Intercessions). The readings we share are the…
Read MoreFor the third week in a row, I find myself beginning a blog article by mentioning the conflict between Israel and Hamas (see “Escalating Conflict,” 10/10/23 and “The Importance of Building Relationships,” 10/17/23). The situation in Israel is important in…
Read MoreThe number of Christian disciples in many parts of the world is shrinking. Fewer people identify as Christians. Some because they formally reject God while others have not been taught that God exists and loves them. Add to this the…
Read MoreThe Collect (Opening Prayer) After the Gloria comes the Collect, often called the opening prayer. The priest begins, “Let us pray” and then there is silence. The silence is intentional as a moment to collect our thoughts to bring together…
Read MoreLast week I wrote about the escalating conflict between Hamas and Israel. Since then, the fighting has continued with many people injured or killed. It looks like Israel is preparing to go into Gaza with ground troops. Clearly the situation…
Read More28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AIsaiah 25:6-10aPsalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6, (6cd)Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20Matthew 22:1-14October 15, 2023 We say we are disciples of Christ but what does this mean? In secular terms a disciple is a student of a…
Read MoreThe Penitential ActAfter the greeting, the priest may offer a few words on the readings or recalling why we come to Mass. Following that, he says, “Let us acknowledge our sins so as to prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred…
Read MoreIn our first reading today Isaiah writes of his friend who “had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hew out a…
Read MoreThe Greeting After the Sign of the Cross, the priest offers the greeting. There are three options for the greeting by the priest. The first one is “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion…
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