by Dan Loch This Third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete (“Rejoice!”) Sunday. Rejoice because Christmas is near. The First Reading says to “Shout for joy” because “The LORD, your God is in your midst.” The Second Reading is “Rejoice in the Lord always. …Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near.” The Responsorial repeats “Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.” Then, all of a sudden, Luke’s Gospel talks of …
Scripture Corner
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 16, 2016
by Dan Loch You are what you eat. Half of Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel is about the Eucharist. And the message in today’s Gospel from Chapter 6 is “You are what you eat.” It overlaps with the reading when Jesus announced that his flesh is the “bread of life.” Transubstantiation. Big word. Is it magic? A miracle? Cannibalism? I looked it up and the word “eat” that Jesus uses in this Gospel is very much like “munch” or “chew.” Jesus seems to be using …
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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 5, 2015
by Dan Loch The First Reading from Ezekiel sets up a sort of “rejected prophet” theme to this Sunday’s readings. The Lord instructs the prophet Ezekiel that he is to stand by his message even though it will be rejected by a rebellious people. In the second reading Paul reveals he has a “thorn in the flesh” that remained despite all his prayers to God to take it away. It must have been something well-known, since he expected his Corinthian audience to know what he …
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Pentecost Sunday – May 31, 2015
by Dan Loch Last weekend we celebrated Pentecost with ten-foot high white poles festooned with red streamers, fluttering red ribbons on the back canopy, and floating red balloons. Pentecost, the 50th day after the Passover, was a Jewish festival to give thanks for the first fruits of the harvest, for God’s care and bounty in the harvest. The festival took place seven weeks after the Passover, a week of weeks, giving it its Jewish name, the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot). It was a major pilgrim …
2nd Sunday in Lent – March 1, 2015
by Dan Loch Why does this Transfiguration reading always come up on the Second Sunday in Lent? Why is it paired this Lent with a First Reading about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac? The First Reading story of Abraham and Isaac is a grim tale of how a father would sacrifice his son. We hear it first as children, and know it well. We tell it with hope. We do not know if Isaac, like Jesus, asked, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” We know only …
