Sunday’s Readings: Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10/1 Cor 12:12-30/Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21Lecturas GOD’S LAWScripture has always held God’s law to be the path to human happiness. In today’s first reading, Ezra the priest reads the scroll of the law to the people returned from exile. They weep—then are joyful. Israel’s relationship with God had always been defined…
Sunday’s Readings: Is 62:1-5/1 Cor 12:4-11/Jn 2:1-11Lecturas del Dia REVELATION OF GOD’S PRESENCEToday’s first reading from Isaiah arises out of the ordeal of the people of Jerusalem and Judea as they anticipate the end of seventy years of exile in Babylon. Their sufferings and their oppression will end, and they are promised joy like that…
Sunday’s Readings: Is 42:1-4, 6-7/Acts 10:34-38/ Lk 3:15-16, 21-22 Lecturas del Dia BAPTISMAL DEATH AND RESURRECTIONAs we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, we also honor our own baptism as our initiation into the Christian life and community. In the Gospel, the baptism of Jesus, with his immersion and then emergence from the water, points…
JOURNEY TOWARD GODIn our celebration of the Epiphany, two interwoven themes are present in the readings today. God is beginning something new, and God gathers all of humanity to participate. For Isaiah, God’s bright light, manifested in the people of Israel, attracts and summons people from many nations to Jerusalem. In the letter to the…
Sundays Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14/Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17/Lk 2:41-52Lecturas del Dia FAMILY LIFEChristmas celebrates the Incarnation, the “enflesh-ment” of God as a human person. In Jesus, God is bodily present in the human story. Today we honor the Holy Family, helping us to see that God is active in daily family life. God is near…
Sunday’s Readings: Zep 3:14-18a/Phil 4:4-7/Lk 3:10-18Lecturas del Dia REJOICEThe prophetic writings we hear in today’s scriptures call us to rejoice and celebrate the goodness of God. Zephaniah, Isaiah, Saint Paul, and John the Baptist in Luke’s Gospel all follow the rich tradition of the Biblical prophets, a tradition that reaches full expression in Jesus. The…
Sunday’s Readings: Bar 5:1-9/Phil 1:4-6, 8-11/Lk 3:1-6Lecturas del Dia A DEEP CHANGE OF HEARTWhen John proclaimed a baptism of repentance, as today’s Gospel relates, he called people to a deep change of heart. For John the Baptist, repentance was not simply regret for past failings, but a commitment to orient life around God’s desires and…
Sunday’s Reading’s: Jer 33:14-16/1 Thes 3:12—4:2/Lk 21:25-28, 34-36Lecturas del Dia WATCHFUL CONFIDENCEWe the Church enter into Advent and the new liturgical year with a call for a watchful confidence. Our readings were originally addressed to communities undergoing great loss and confusion. Jeremiah speaks confidently of God fulfilling the ancient promises to Israel, even during a…
Sunday’s Readings: Dn 7:13-14/ Rv 1:5-8/ Jn 18:33b-37Lecturas del Dia CHRIST, THE KINGThe selection from the book of Daniel presented in today’s first reading was part of an attempt to weave a visionof ultimate success for the Jews under persecution. Exactly whom the author had in mind when he refers to “one like aSon of…
Sunday’s Readings: Dn 12:1-3/Heb 10:11-14, 18/Mk 13:24-32Lecturas del Dia GOD’S REIGNBy pointing to the end times, today’s readings speak to the coming reign of God, when God will make all things new. In Christ, this time has already begun. We, by our energized watchfulness, can further God’s reign. We can heal broken hearts, free captives,…