Reflections

Today marks the end of Ordinary time in our liturgical calendar. Tomorrow, we begin Advent, the beginning of our new liturgical year.  In my Daily Reflection when Ordinary time began, way back on January 8th, I told you that Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary. The purpose and benefits of this liturgical season are extraordinary, […]

Today we have a reading about judgement and the New Jerusalem (Revelation 20:1‑4,11‑21:2). It is a powerful vision of the end time described in highly symbolic language, which is not to be taken literally. Here we need to be very careful to go to the central meaning of what is being said and not get carried

Today we celebrate a peculiarly American holiday. Thanksgiving is replete with images of Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock and celebrating the first fruits of the harvest. While a meal of Thanksgiving had long been celebrated in America, it did not become a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln’s declaration amid our great Civil War. On October 3, 1863, Lincoln

We don’t have to be afraid.   Today’s readings may send chills down our spines, but the invitation to us is not to fear.  In this final handful of days in the liturgical year, we are given a “great and awe-inspiring” vision from Revelation (Revelation 15:1-4), complete with plagues, God’s fury, and a “sea of

The meaning of today’s passage from Revelation (Revelation 14:14‑19), at first glance seems puzzling.  It is a vision of gathering the righteous and the good, followed by judgement on the wicked. The actual destruction of the wicked pagans will be treated more fully later (Revelation 19:11‑21), but it is not part of our liturgical readings.

The first reading for today (Acts 9:31-42) is about the baby church learning how to walk and is about its growing. Their focus is on Jesus and the growth comes from the Holy Spirit. The “baby” Christians are called “holy ones” and “disciples” or learners. We hear about Jesus working through Peter to heal two