Sunday of the Word of God
Here’s a reminder that this upcoming Sunday, January 22, 2023, is the Sunday of the Word of God! Established by Pope Francis in 2019 to take place on the third Sunday of Ordinary Time, this is a day that the...
Tagged: Scripture
What is the Church’s principle of orthodoxy?
“You know, Phaedrus, writing shares a strange feature with painting. The offsprings of the painting stand there as if they are alive, but if anyone asks them anything, they remain most solemnly silent. The same is true of written words....
Beware of False Prophets
Pope Francis has warned us many times about how the devil likes to present himself as an angel of light. In fact, he was created as such before his fall and one of his titles, Lucifer, literally means bearer of...
The Pharisees’ Woes, Humanity’s Woes
A reflection on the readings for February 13, 2022 — The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel gives us Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, an analogue of the more famous equivalent or parallel passage in Matthew. Luke’s “take” on...
The book of the Lord’s people
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, January 23, 2022 — The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday of the Word of God In November, I received the best phone call a priest-uncle could hope for—“[Your niece] wants a Bible for...
Idolatry today and the warnings of the prophets
“Take this to heart: idols rob us of love, idols make us blind to love and, in order to truly love, we must be free from all idols. What is my idol? Remove it and throw it out of the...
Maps and their uses
After switching from German, my language of choice for four years in high school, and taking Italian 101 to fulfill my college language requirement my freshman year, I spent my sophomore year in college in Rome. As an undecided liberal...
Jesus asks for more than the bare minimum
At the height of my struggles with scrupulosity and self-accusation, my dad often attempted to console me by telling me that I wasn’t as bad as I thought—after all, I was “not killing anybody.” This was a thoughtful gesture, but...
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...
Is it our job to divide?
Is division a necessary part of being a truth-telling Christian? Some Catholics, including clergy, point to Jesus’ statement in Luke 12 as a clear indication that divisiveness is part of our calling as Christians: Do you think that I have...
“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...
On the fundamental importance of the Bible
The sixth and final chapter of Dei Verbum is about how the Bible is actually used and its fundamental importance in the Church. The chapter begins by saying that listening to the Bible at Mass stands on par with receiving...
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