June 2026

Part One We all remember studying the long conflict between Rome and Carthage over control of Sicily, the Mare Nostrum (Mediterranean), and ultimately North Africa (364 BC – 146 BC).    Who can forget the image of Hannibal crossing the Alps on his elephant cavalry (218 BC), and the prolonged and final siege of   […]

St. Peter “I do so love St. Peter,” says a friend of mine. “Whenever he opens his mouth, he puts his foot in it.” She is right, of course. Whatever else St. Peter may be, he is not the model of a wise and noble hero. Yes, he walks on water – but then panics and

The common theme for today’s readings is the missionary mandate that we have received from God.  While there will be many challenges along the way, we are assured that our efforts and sacrifices will not go without reward.   The first reading (2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16) has a similar setting with that of the

We have come to the end of our readings about the history of the Kings, contained in the two books of Samuel, the two books of Kings and the books of Chronicles. We began with Saul and finished with Zedekiah, a puppet king installed by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Today’s Old Testament reading is from

Today we come to the end of the sad story of Israel’s degradation and humiliation – the second deportation (2 Kings 25:1‑12). Yesterday we saw how Mattaniah, renamed Zedekiah, had been made a vassal king of Judah, the southern kingdom, by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was no improvement over his predecessors. The passage which comes between yesterday’s and today’s

For the past few weeks, we have been following the stories of a succession of Jewish Kings, and by inference the Jewish people, in the 600-700 years before the birth of Jesus.  We have seen how the Jewish society split into two kingdoms, Samaria (also called Israel) in the north and Judah in the south.

SOLEMNITY JUNE 24, 2026 Apart from Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist is the only saint who has two feasts to himself: One, in August, that celebrates his death; and one, in June, that celebrates his birth. This is as it should be, for as Christ himself said, John was the greatest of the sons

In today’s first reading (2 Kings 19:9‑11, 14‑21, 31‑36), after conquering and deporting the Northern Kingdom, the Assyrians turn their attention to the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. What happens is almost the exact opposite of the earlier passage.   The Sennacherib, the one who “came down like a wolf on the fold”, is

In our readings today (2 Kings 17:5-8,13-15,18) we continue with the tragic story of the kings and the punishments they and their people suffered for their serious violation of the Lord’s will for them. We see in today’s reading the fall in 721 BC of the Northern Kingdom (variously called Israel, Samaria or the Ten

It is the beginning of the sixth century before Christ, about the year 590 BC. The Kingdom of Judah and its capital Jerusalem are terrified. The Babylonians are on the march. They have conquered the Assyrians. Tarsus and Damascus to the North have fallen. All of Mesopotamia, the nations between the Tigris and Euphrates, have