Author name: Essjay Peatoo

The verses of Psalm 54, selected for today, are familiar to us all.  Most of us are quite willing to recognize that God is there for us, that God saves our causes and sustains our lives day after day.  In fact, as we grow older, we usually become more mindful that without God, we wouldn’t […]

The call of the first disciples is followed in Luke’s Gospel by the cure of a leper and then of a paralytic. Then there is the call of Levi (who is called Matthew in Matthew’s Gospel) and the discussion with Jesus about his mixing with sinful and unclean people. It is the first of many

It really amazes me how often the scripture readings for Mass seem to exactly fit what I need to hear on any given day.  Yesterday was extremely busy with back-to-back appointments and activities all day, from 4:00 AM through 8:00 PM.  I was dead tired when I went to bed, hoping for a full night

Today we begin reading from Paul’s letter to the Christians in the city of Colossae, on the west coast of what is now Turkey (Colossians 1:1-8). The letters to the Christians of Ephesus and Colossae (both in the Roman Province of Asia, now part of western Turkey) and the letter to Philemon are all closely

The Catholic daily readings are taken in a semi-continuous manner from various books of the Old and New Testaments.  So far, our first readings, from the Old Testament, have taken us through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.   This past week, and for the next few weeks, our first readings are

Something subtle happens this week and next.  Did you catch it?  For the last few months, our Gospel readings have come almost exclusively from the Gospel of St. Mathew; but suddenly, without notice, we start to see readings from Luke’s Gospel being used on Mondays-Thursdays.  Don’t worry, though. Matthew returns on Fridays and Sundays. The

The whole passage from which today’s Gospel is taken (Luke 14:1, 7-14) deals with people eating together. The Kingdom of God—the perfect society, which is the goal of the Christian message—is often pictured as a banquet. As such, it is a meal for everyone, not just a private dinner for two by candlelight. All the

Today is our final weekday reading from Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 25:14‑30) and on Monday we will begin the reading Luke’s Gospel. Today also is our last reading from the fifth and final Eschatological (the end times) Discourse of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. There are two great passages left—the parable of the talents and the description

The latter part of Paul’s letters usually includes some practical instructions for the community to which he is writing. In today’s reading (1Thessalonians 4:1-8) he tells the Thessalonians that to conserve their holiness, they are to recall what the apostle taught them, in the name of Christ, at the time of their conversion.  Specifically, Paul

Considering the staggering fire damage earlier this year in Los Angeles California, the southern areas of Canada, and the wild fires currently raging across Siberia, Turkey, Greece, Indonesia, Lebanon, Italy and numerous other areas around the world;  floods this month in eastern United States, Spain, Cambodia, South Korea, Dagestan, Venezuela, the Sudan, and Mexico; and