Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Many sections in Isaiah’s prophesy today are heard every Advent. God is about to bring deliverance to his people says the prophet. So they should be consoled and comfort one another. A second Advent theme, one picked up by John the Baptist follows: “A voice cries […]

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain… Many of our readings in Advent are taken from the prophet Isaiah. Today’s reading reminds us that God’s plan […]

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. The apocalyptic readings we get at the end of the liturgical year are incomprehensible to most people. Some few try to use them […]

Today’s gospel passage sees Jesus approaching the end of his journey to Jerusalem (Lk 9:51). He reaches Jericho, the last stop of pilgrims before going up toward Jerusalem. Leaving the city, he meets a tax collector, Zacchaeus. We are told that he was “head of the tax collectors and a rich man.” Tax collectors like […]

We are useless servants, we have done no more than our duty. These words, that end today’s gospel passage, seem to imply that Christian life lies mainly in doing whatever we are asked to do out of a sense of obligation. However, this is to be understood in light of Jesus’ own statement that “The […]

Isaiah 25:6-9 provides the background for today’s parable: “And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine.” In the parable, the meal has been prepared, the table set, and people notified. To back out now […]

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” This passage from Paul’s Letter to the Romans is addressed to those who were beginning to feel troubled about their faith. Jewish converts to Christianity were feeling the pain and isolation of being cut […]

“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.” Jesus follows this up by saying that the master will be so pleased with those servants that he will “sit them down at table and wait on them.” This harks back to the promise of Jesus in John’s Gospel at the Last Supper […]

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila “After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.” How often we read of Jesus dining with others. Many of those meals were controversial, with Jesus being accused of eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. Here he is accused of not washing before […]

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.” These words of Jesus to Martha followed her asking Jesus to reprimand her sister for letting her do all the work. Mary might well have been selfish, but that is not what Jesus addressed. Rather he spoke to […]