But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel […]

This is the time of the year that farmers are hard at work getting their crops into the fields. It is also a time when many of us are busy getting plants into our own gardens hoping that there will be enough rain and sunshine to ensure that our “crops” are plentiful. In today’s reading […]

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… This is one of the “hard” sayings of Jesus. Perhaps it is on a par with forgiving 70 x 7 times. What often gets overlooked is the reason Jesus gives for loving even enemies: “that you may be children of […]

Today’s gospel relates the first in a series of teachings by Jesus, referred to as “counsels for perfection.” These contrast the practice of moral behavior according to the law of Moses with the practice of love for neighbor emphasized by Jesus. The intent of the law given to Moses was to moderate retaliation — that […]

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time “I will take from the crest of the cedar… tear off a tender shoot and plant it…” (Ezekiel 17:22). “It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown…is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth…but springs up and becomes the largest of plants…” (Mark 4:31-32). Today’s […]

Saint Paul writes long sentences! More than this, his long sentences often require familiarity with numerous scriptural and theological concepts that are not easy to grasp. Add to this his unique style and the limitations of translations, and we may be left confounded. I had to read today’s passage from his Second Letter to the […]

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus From Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque to the present age, devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has flourished. Each year our lectionary readings give us a different aspect of the theology for the solemnity. This year, we focus on the image of a gruesome post-crucifixion autopsy […]

I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34). This beautiful verse from the gospel acclamation accords well with today’s gospel reading. The words judge or judgment are mentioned repeatedly in Jesus’ teachings. As a young adult, I had a bad habit of being judgmental. Trying through the […]

Except for the special feasts and memorials, we are in a stretch of gospel readings for a few weeks from the Sermon on the Mount. In today’s gospel, Jesus emphasizes the importance of the law and how vital it is not to break one of the least of the commandments or teach others to do […]

If salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything… In this passage, Jesus tells us that we are to be the salt of the earth and the light that must shine before others. If we are not this salt (and this light), Jesus tells us that […]