Ordinary time. After the forty days of Lent and the fifty days of Easter we return to Ordinary Time. It is not ordinary in the sense of plain or humdrum. Ordinary in Church means “counted” time. (Our English term “ordinal numbers” has the same root.) In ordinary time we pick one book of the Bible… Read More »

Tonto and Robin are thought of as the faithful companions of the more famous member of the pair. Barnabas is portrayed in a somewhat similar role to Paul in the Acts of the Apostles. While Paul could not have done what he did without Barnabas, he got all the press while Barnabas faded from view.… Read More »

Pope Francis has instituted a new obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar. This memorial is celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost. The Memorial was given its own set of prayers and scripture readings. Honoring Mary as mother of the church on the day… Read More »

The report of the first Pentecost has exotic images which signified the coming of the Holy Spirit — strong, driving wind; tongues as of flame; being understood in different languages. Those images can make us think of the presence of the Holy Spirit as something outside of the normal. One of the Fathers of the… Read More »

The forty-ninth day of the Easter season! The scripture readings assigned for the day are wrap ups. We’ve been reading during these 49 days from the Book of Acts. The story ends with Paul in Rome proclaiming the kingdom and teaching about Jesus. Of course we know from history that Paul was later executed for… Read More »

As the fifty days of Easter are winding up we return to a story of an appearance of the Risen Jesus. This particular passage looks like it was appended to St. John’s gospel — a story too important not to be written down. The encounter of the Risen Jesus with St. Peter contains the recurring… Read More »

The story is that at the end of his life people would come to John the Evangelist as the last living apostle and ask him to settle this, that or the other dispute among them. No matter what the issue the Apostle would answer, “Little children, love one another.” St. John stressed that no matter… Read More »

St. Paul’s final exhortation to the Church at Miletus and Jesus’ final prayer for the apostles serve as a last will and testament and have a common theme — living the Christian life is not easy. Paul: “Savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.” Jesus’ prayer: “The world hated… Read More »

During the days leading up to Pentecost the gospel readings are taken from “the last discourse” of Jesus. In St. John’s Gospel this final instruction to the apostles is designed to equip them for post-resurrection life in the Holy Spirit. The discourse ends with what is known as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. Jesus… Read More »

Faith is not a rock or even a precious gem that we hold onto. Faith is something alive and growing, that needs care and tending. We can never say “I’ve got it now.” The people of Ephesus has a partial understanding of the faith when St. Paul arrived. However, they told him, “We have never… Read More »