Sunday’s Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9Lecturas del Dia REJOICE AND BE GLAD During the first three or four centuries of Christianity, if you asked a Christian to name the feast days of the church, your answer would have been a puzzled stare, for there was only one feast: the Resurrection of the…

Sunday’s Readings: Mk 11:1-10; Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Phil 2:8-9; Mk 14:1—15:47Lecturas del Dia HOLY WEEKFor the Palm Sunday Gospel, we return to the Gospel according to Mark. The account of the Passion takes upnearly one-third of Mark’s entire Gospel and, of all the evangelists, he is the one who presents the details most graphically.…

Sunday’s Readings:Jer 31:31-34; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33Lecturas del Dia THE NEW COVENANTToday’s first reading is an enormously important passage, not only in the history of the Jewish people, but alsofor us as disciples of Jesus, who see in it a foreshadowing of the Christian dispensation. The prophet announces that God has chosen to forgive the…

Sunday’s Readings: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21Lecturas del Dia GOD’S MERCY Today’s reading from the second book of Chronicles contains a sort of “mini-history” of Israel. It highlightsGod’s mercies in choosing Cyrus the Persian to be an instrument of deliverance when the people were in captivity inBabylon. Despite their sinfulness and the…

Sunday’s Readinds: Ex 20:1-17; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25Lecturas del Dia TOTAL ALLEGIANCE In previous weeks we have seen how the theme of covenant—as a preparation for the baptismal covenant celebrated at Easter—occupies an important place in ourcycle of Lenten readings. The notion of covenant as a relationship between two parties carries with it an…

Sunday’s Readings: Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10Lecturas del Dia HISTORY OF SALVATIONThe first reading today continues the “history of salvation” narrative that we hear throughout Lent this year. Today’s story was among the best-loved in the Jewish tradition (surely Joseph told the story to young Jesus as he formed him in…

Sunday’s Readings: Gn 9:8-15, 1 Pt 3:18-22, Mk 1:12-15Lecturas del Dia REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL Lent is the time of year we devote to scrutinizing our lives in the light of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today’s readings are a nice shorthand catechism of what our baptized lives mean.…

Sunday’s Readings: Lv 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor 10:31—11:1; Mk 1:40-45Lecturas del Dia JESUS’ WAYToday’s readings present a contrast between “Jesus’ way” and the “old way.” An example of the old way is the law given to Moses and Aaron about leprosy: the leper was unclean and cast out of the community. Jesus’ way is the…

Sundays Readings: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7, 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23, Mk 1:29-39Lecturas del Dia THE GOOD NEWS Today’s readings begin with a few verses from the book of Job. First, Job complains that his nights drag on endlessly. Then, worse yet, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; / they come to an end without…

Sundays Readings: Dt 18:15-20, 1 Cor 7:32-35, Mk 1:21-28Lecturas del Dia FALSE PROPHETS, TRUE PROPHETS In Deuteronomy today we hear that God’s very words will fill the mouth of a true prophet, but a false prophet will, in a manner of speaking, put mere mortalwords into God’s mouth. In Mark’s Gospel, we see Jesus teaching…