Reflections on the Sunday Readings

                                                                  Our gospel this week presents us with interesting thoughts about the call of the early apostles and the call to discipleship for all of us.    If we were to compare the different gospels, this call can be different.  For example, in Mark and Matthew’s account it happens similarly to this Sunday’s gospel.  In Luke’s account though the men are fishing and catching nothing and Jesus ‘s instructs them where to find the fish.  They do and catch an abundance of fish.  Peter leaves the boats, falls at Jesus’s feet, and ask him to depart because Peter is a sinner.  Jesus tells Peter from now on he will begin to catch men.  Then he and others leave their nets and follow Jesus.  In John’s gospel, the apostle John and Andrew f...

                                                                        In Jesus’s time and culture, the reference to lambs could conjure up memories of a delicious meal but also that phrase could conjure up, in the minds of its hearers, a remembrance of the primary animal that is offered as a sacrifice in the temple.                                                                                                          In the gospel this week it opens with John the Baptist seeing Jesus coming toward him and crying out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who...

      Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, (i.e. manifestation), of the Lord as made manifest in vision of a star and the realization of 3 magi that a new and great king has been born in the world.                                                                                                                                   ...

                                                   This Sunday will be the feast of Epiphany.  The word epiphany means to make manifest or make possible to see.                                                                                                                                              In the gospel we see that the three Magi have found a star in the sky that has not been there before. They checked their charts and yes, and it is a brand-new Star! According to their astrology such an event, ...

                                                             Our gospel this fourth Sunday of Advent asks us to reflect on the role of Joseph in the life of Jesus and Mary.                                                                                                            Through Mary, Jesus took his humanity and through Joseph, he was given the connection to the line of King David, because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David.  In fact, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph could trace his lineage all the way back to Abraham.  (Matthew 1:1...

  Gaudette Sunday Rejoice the Promised One is Near This Sunday is the midpoint of Advent.   We are almost there, but not yet.   And yet the Church calls us to be of great joy (i.e., Gaudette) that he is near.   Can our mind’s eye, see, he is the long-awaited one.                                                                                                 Our   readings this weekend are depicted in sharp contrast with those of   the last two weeks.   The first reading shows us a desert scene which is coming into blossom. The depiction in that reading is not so much about an environment as it is about a people coming into the fullness of their relationship with God.   “They will see the glory of the Lord, t...