Tag: "Mass Readings"

Reflections for Sunday, January 11, 2015
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Reflections for Sunday, January 11, 2015

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by on Jan 07, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7; Psalm 29:1-4, 9-10 Acts 10:34-38; Mark 1:7-11) Jesus’ Baptism and Our Baptism, Our Sharing in Jesus’ Relationship with His Father You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. (Mark 1:11) “He wants to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at […]

The Holy Family
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The Holy Family

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by on Dec 27, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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The Passion of the Christ was the most intense movie I’ve ever seen. But there was a moment of comic relief, a flashback to a young Jesus in the back yard, building a new invention. It was the kind of table that is now a commonplace. But in a society where people reclined to dine, […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 28, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, December 28, 2014

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by on Dec 26, 2014 in Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Sirach 3:2-7,12-14; Psalm 128:1-5; Colossians 3:12-21; Luke 2:22-40) Becoming Holy Faith-Filled Families, Reflecting God’s Love to One Another My son, take care of your father. (Sirach 3:12) Have you heard of the “sandwich generation?” It doesn’t have to do with food; it’s the situation many adults find […]

The Birth of Christ and Time-Travel
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The Birth of Christ and Time-Travel

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by on Dec 25, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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On the Second Sunday of Advent I preached a sermon the subject of which was time, specifically on the minutiae that governs our temporal reality. Like sands in an hour glass, so are the days of our lives. Now I would like to revisit the subject of time from a different perspective—time travel. This is […]

The Mystery of the Incarnation
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The Mystery of the Incarnation

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by on Dec 20, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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“Mystery,” he sneered. “That’s a good Catholic word.” My friend was a fundamentalist who had more than a bit of antipathy towards the Catholic Church, charging that it added to the simple faith of the Bible. But he didn’t read his bible very well. The word “mystery” is a Catholic word, only because it is […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 21, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, December 21, 2014

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by on Dec 17, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12,14,16; Psalm 89:2-5,27,29; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38) Advent: A Time to Give Glory to God The Lord … will establish a house for you. (2 Samuel 7:11) Imagine David’s surprise when God denied his request to build a temple but promised instead to build […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 14, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, December 14, 2014

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by on Dec 10, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 61:1-2,10-11; Luke 1:46-50,53-54 (Responsorial Psalm); 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28) What it Means to Pray without Ceasing Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Without ceasing? At all times? Obviously, Paul is not talking about praying all day long. Rather, he is calling us to faithfulness in […]

18 Shopping Days Until the Day of the Lord
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18 Shopping Days Until the Day of the Lord

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by on Dec 07, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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2 Pt 3:8-14 We await new heavens and a new earth Wasted time is not a prized commodity in American society. We are a people ruled by the calendar and the clock. “Time is money,” we say, because time is to be filled with purposeful controlled activity which is to be productive of things that […]

Prepare ye the Way
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Prepare ye the Way

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by on Dec 06, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. For someone even bigger than Santa Claus is coming to town. The human race has been waiting a long time for his next and final visit. Actually, it waited a long time for the first visit. Things had gone awry quite early in the history of the human […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 7, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, December 7, 2014

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by on Dec 03, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; Psalm 85:9-14; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8) Advent, A Time to Prepare the Way for the Coming of the Lord He will prepare your way. (Mark 1:2) Clearly, John the Baptist was a mighty man of God. He was an ambassador called to prepare the […]

You Snooze, You Lose
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You Snooze, You Lose

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by on Nov 29, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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Have you ever had one of those days when you just wish God would show up, snap his figures and work miracles? The people of Israel had about 500 years’ worth of days like that, groaning under the oppression of one tyrant after another. The book of Isaiah gives voice to these sentiments: “O that […]

Reflections for Sunday, November 30, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, November 30, 2014

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by on Nov 26, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 63:16-17,19; 64:2-7; Psalm 80:2-3,15-16,18-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37) Advent, A Time of Watching, Waiting, and Expectation Be watchful! Be alert! (Mark 13:33) And so Advent begins with the call to be alert. There’s one group of people, however, who don’t need any reminding: children! They […]

A Lovely View of Heaven but I'd Rather be With You
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A Lovely View of Heaven but I’d Rather be With You

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by on Nov 23, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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The Judgment of the Nations (Mt 25:31-46). Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Sunday, November 23, AD 2014 A disclaimer: this story was written in English but with some Italian and Spanish lingo thrown in. Subtitles are included. Pericle Cordani, my paternal grandfather, left his village in northern Italy and journeyed across the […]

Last Judgment
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Last Judgment

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by on Nov 22, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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On the final Sunday in the liturgical year, it is time to remember things that we’d prefer to forget. For starters, we recall that there is an infinite qualitative difference between us and God. He is immortal and infinite. We are not. Each one of us will come to our individual end. But so will […]

Reflections for Sunday, November 23, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, November 23, 2014

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by on Nov 19, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17; Psalm 23:1-3,5-6; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26,28; Matthew 25:31-46) Jesus Christ, A King Like No Other Whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40) What do you think of when you think of a king? A regal throne? […]

The Parable of the Talents
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The Parable of the Talents

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by on Nov 15, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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I’ve seen it time and time again. Someone decides to seek a better paying job, or pursue and investment strategy, or launch a new business. Invariably some pious person in the parish objects that maybe this is too worldly, that it will be a distraction from Church and family priorities, that one should be satisfied […]

Reflections for Sunday, November 16, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, November 16, 2014

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by on Nov 12, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20,30-3; Psalm 128:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30) Creating a Home Life that is Pleasing to the Lord When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. (Proverbs 31:10) In 1843, American author Nathaniel Hawthorne published a short story called “The Birthmark.” […]

Who Needs Church Buildings?
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Who Needs Church Buildings?

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by on Nov 08, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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As a rebellious teenager, I thought that Catholics should stop wasting their money on expensive churches. We ought to sell them all and buy food for the poor, I argued. Funny thing. Jesus, who cared much for the poor, did not have this attitude. As an adolescent he yearned to spend time in Herod’s sumptuous […]

The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
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The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

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by on Nov 08, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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In high school science class I learned that water is the universal solvent. That is the extent of my scientific knowledge. In geography class I was taught that three quarters of the earth consists of water. And the water we drink today is the same water that the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago. I […]

Reflections for Sunday, November 9, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, November 9, 2014

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by on Nov 05, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12; Psalm 46:2-3,5-6,8-9; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17; John 2:13-22) The Importance of Supporting and Praying for Our Bishops Zeal for your house will consume me. (John 2:17) Imagine a church adorned with marble columns, bursting with colors, gold ceilings, marble floors, walls covered with New Testament scenes, […]

Holiness is For All!
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Holiness is For All!

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by on Nov 01, 2014 in Catechesis, Church Street, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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At age 16, I thought that aspiring to holiness was out of the question. If you really wanted to be holy, I thought, you had to be a priest, nun, or brother. And you had to spend your days doing “religious stuff” like praying, preaching, teaching catechism, or serving the poor. But I had developed […]

Reflections for Sunday, November 2, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, November 2, 2014

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by on Oct 29, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 23:1-6; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40) Praying And Interceding For Those Who Have Gone Before Us In the time of their visitation they shall shine. (Wisdom 3:7) Have you ever wondered why we bother to pray for those who have already died? After all, they’ve […]

Eight Days a Week
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Eight Days a Week

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by on Oct 25, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Saint Paul’s letters addressed to the Thessalonians are the oldest New Testament writings.  He wrote them during his second missionary journey, less than 20 years after the Resurrection.   On that journey he entered Europe for the first time and the Macedonian city of Thessalonica was his second stop.  In 1 Thessalonians he praises the members […]

Reflections for Sunday, October 26, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, October 26, 2014

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by on Oct 22, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Exodus 22:20-26; Psalm 18:2-4,47,51; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Matthew 22:34-40) Loving Others As God Has Loved Us If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate. (Exodus 22:26) Do you have children? If so, you’ve probably thought about what you would do if […]