The Consolations of John 6
Every three years, the Sunday Gospel readings spend a few weeks working through chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. The Year B Gospel readings mostly focus on Mark’s Gospel and so John 6 comes as a somewhat startling and...
Tagged: Eucharist
Beyond the Breaking Point
A homily for the twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time (Cycle B). Readings available from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is the custom of the simple: they ever find fault with the more subtle doctrines and foolishly tear in...
The Eucharist needs to be more inclusive
The conversation around the Eucharist in recent months has focused on political figures and “Eucharistic coherence.” I can’t help but juxtapose these largely theoretical discussions with the real barriers to the Eucharist that exist for many of the faithful. I...
Avoiding spiritual junk food
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, August 8, 2021 — the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time When it comes to consuming junk food, Americans are number one. Here are some statistics I came across that prove the point: Most Americans...
God does not judge us our grumblings
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, August 1, 2021 — the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time What can we do to accomplish the works of God? (John 6:28) This question is posed by the growing crowds who have been journeying...
Why did God choose bread and wine?
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, July 25, 2021 — the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time “And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that...
When pro-lifers fight, rather than unite
Like many Catholics who live in the Washington, DC area, I have attended the annual March for Life many times over the years. For those who haven’t been, it’s a massive annual pro-life rally held every year on January 22,...
“The New Covenant in my blood”: Corpus Christi
Today’s readings connect many things: the blood of the sacrifice, the priest, the community, and the covenant. They show how these all come together in Jesus in the Eucharist. The first reading from Exodus depicts Moses acting as a priest...
The New Covenant – A ‘New Normal’
When I prepared my Holy Thursday homily last year, the pandemic was raging, public liturgies were suspended, everybody participated online, there was no washing of feet, and—besides the celebrant—no one received the bread and wine of the Last Supper. As...
Still, A Time to Give Thanks
This has been a Thanksgiving like no other. A national holiday that we otherwise celebrate with abandon is being observed with utmost caution, restraint, devoid of large family gatherings, and perhaps, even alone. A pandemic Thanksgiving – it almost sounds...
The antidote to the poison pill
The talented Catholic journalist Brian Fraga has written an excellent and insightful piece at his blog, The Catholic Beat. Entitled, “Your Choice: The Eucharist or the Red Pill,” Fraga looks at the emergent radicalization in the traditionalist Catholic movement. Hallmarks...
For celiac Catholics, attending Mass is always a health risk
As you think about returning to Mass, perhaps the thought of receiving the Eucharist makes you nervous. Certainly, there are guidelines to protect your safety, but what if the priest makes a mistake? What if something too small to see...
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