The story of the Innocents is only two verses long but serves at least two purposes for Matthew s story about Jesus nbsp First it exemplifies the furor of Herod the Great at the possibility that a King of the Jews had been born after all Herod be decree of Rome was King of the Jews

St Stephen reminds us 1 In his lengthy speech in Acts 7 the point is made that worship even the glorious worship of God by Israel is now to be made through the person of Jesus There is much amiss in the worship offered to the Father from which His Son is rejected all goals of worship are ac

Matthew s first line in today s Gospel speaks of how the birth of Jesus Christ came about nbsp His story is a gathering of strong traditions already existing in the Christian world of the Mediterranean Basic St Paul s letters are good examples of this already existing tradition nb

1 Coming of Jesus for the Final Judgment The first two weeks of the Advent liturgy focus heavily on the Last Judgment with its consequent rewards and punishments If a person centers himself on this aspect of Advent he deepens his awareness of his own death and the ultimate evaluation of what he

The Sadducees and Resurrection from the Dead Luke 20 27-39 This blog is written for the person who wants to enter more thoroughly into the meaning of this conflict story Sadducees against Jesus than a brief homily can provide 1 The first reading today from the Book of Maccabees shows that

Friday September 14 is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross A person has to have faith so often a lot of it to think that the cross should be exalted the cross after all is apart from accompanying pains a grinding slow way could take a day of choking to death St Paul stands a

Jesus asked Peter three times Do you love me You know I do was Peter s repeated and heated response Paul at the end of his life wrote that all I want is to gain Christ and be found in him Whatever else Peter and Paul did for the glory of God and the salvation of souls--and their ac

To celebrate the feast of St Aloysius Gonzaga S J 1568-1591 the liturgy offers the Eucharistic community the choice of three Gospel readings Matthew 6 7-15 Mark 10 23-31 and John 1 35-40 The first reading underlines the kind of prayer that pleases God for content the Our Father for ma

According to popular interpretation Barnabas means a person who consoles and encourages this name was given to a certain Joseph from Crete who some weeks each year served in the liturgical functions of the Jerusalem Temple We meet him first in the Acts of the Apostles where he is praised fo