Reflections on the Sunday Readings

This weekend we continue with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  In these words, he focuses on light (i.e., illuminating) and salt (i.e., flavoring).                                                                                                        “In the early nineteenth century, long before photography was common, an inventor discovered a way to capture light on a surface, (i.e., film) and preserve what that light revealed. For the first time, light could leave an image that could be seen again and again. What began as a simple attempt to record what the eye already perceived became the foundation for something far larger. Over time, that same basic insight—light exposing material objects—expanded into modern, medical imaging...

                                                                  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...