Each summer, usually in June, nineteen days after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Gospels, Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the crowds (Matthew 9:36) and He tells us that He is gentle and humble …

Barnabas (whose original name was Joseph) was born of Jewish parents on the island of Cyprus about the beginning of the Christian Era. As a Levite (from which tribe the Temple priests came), he naturally spent much time in Jerusalem, probably even before the …

Today’s Old Testament reading (1 Kings 18:20-39) again features the Prophet Elijah taking on King Ahab and the practice of Baal worship. Many Israelites detested Baal worship, not just because it was a challenge to the worship of the true God, but also because …

Today I am going to reflect on two Old Testament readings, one from today’s Mass readings, and the other from today’s Office of Readings. Both have the same message, presented in slightly different ways:  God will Provide. Our Old Testament Mass reading for today …

Today’s Old Testament reading (1 Kings 17:1‑6) tells the story of Elijah taking on King Ahab and his trouble-brewing wife, Jezebel.  Jezebel, it seems, convinced Ahab to abandon worshiping Yahweh in favor of adopting the “new” regional religion of Baal.   This apostasy, warned …

(CORPUS CHRISTI) Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). This Solemnity is celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, or as in the United States, on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.   While this Solemnity was not …

Our first reading today (2 Timothy 4:1-8) is our last from 2 Timothy.  It is organized into two parts. The first consists of an exhortation to Timothy to be unwavering in his work of evangelizing and preaching. In the second part, Paul looks back …

In today’s First Reading (2 Timothy 3:10-17), Paul continues to urge Timothy to make Paul’s teaching and behavior the model for Timothy’s own life. Paul had very clear shortcomings, of which he was well aware, but he also knew that it is because of …

Today Paul reminds Timothy (2 Timothy 2:8‑15) that the heart of his preaching is that Jesus not only is one of us, descended from human beings (David and Mary), but also is God, as evidenced by his rising from death to life.  Since Jesus …

For the remaining four days of this week, we will be reading from the Second Letter to Timothy, one of the so-called “Pastoral Letters”. There are questions about the letter’s real authorship, but it is presented as a letter from the Apostle Paul to …