Gen 2:5ff. God creates Adam and sets him in the garden to cultivate it, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Mark 7:14ff. What renders us impure is not what enters us from outside but rather the wickedness in the deep recesses of the heart. Wisdom from Above The…
Gen 1:20ff. After forming man and woman to the divine likeness,God rested and blessed the seventh day. Mark 7:1ff. Jesus brands it a crime to nullify the plain sense of God’s word by recourse to human traditions and practices. God’s Dwelling on Earth The Scriptures for today proclaim the sacredness of the created world. In…
Gen 1:1ff. God creates light, the sky, the earth and the sun, the moon and stars, on the first four days of creation. Mark 6:53ff. Wherever Jesus went, the sick were brought to him.Whoever touched him got well, due to the combination of his healing power and the sick person’s faith. Where is the Real…
Theme Tyranny and oppression still flourish in many parts of the world. Other facets of unfairness and structural abuses often stare us in the face, closer to home, such as long-term poverty, unemployment and homelessness. Christ’s message calls for our solidarity with people in dire need. How seriously do we take his call and challenge,…
Hebrews 13:15ff. God raised up the great Shepherd of the sheep from the dead.May he enable you to do his will. Mark 6:30ff. Jesus invites the apostles to come aside and rest, though he pities the people, as sheep without a shepherd. Consistency between Prayer and Life The theme of peace in today’s readings is…
Hebrews 13:1ff. Recommendations to good morals, hospitality, contentment, to be mindful of prisoners and the persecuted. Mark 6:14ff. Herod is curious about John the Baptist and about Jesus.Mark recounts the martyrdom of the Baptist. Entertaining Angels Unaware Today we commemorate great precursors of Jesus, people like John the Baptist in the gospel, and the long…
Hebrews 12:18ff. In Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the blood of Jesus, outpoured in sacrifice, establishes the new covenant. Mark 6:7ff. Jesus sends out the twelve, two by two, to preach, anoint the sick, and work many cures. Divided Loyalties “Remain faithful to me with whole heart and with whole soul.” Loyalty…
Also celebrated as World Day for Consecrated Life Mal 3:1-4. When the special messenger comes to the Temple, the sacrifices offered there will again be pleasing to the Lord. Lk 2:22-40: Luke’s account of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, and the welcome he receives from the faithful “anawim”, Simeon and Anna. Predicting…
Job 31:16-20; 24-25; 31-32. An account of Job’s lavish generosity towards the poor and needy; clearly reflected in St Brigid’s many works of charity. Luke 6:32-38. In Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” Jesus gives his ideal of unselfish generosity – giving of oneself, in imitation of the creative love of our heavenly Father. St Brigid…
