Life from the Dead: 10th Week of Ordinary Time

This Sunday we return to Ordinary Time, picking up with the tenth week in Year C.  “Tenth week?  What happened to weeks 6,7,8, and 9?” you might ask.  Well, weeks 7,8, & 9 were pre-empted by Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, respectively.  And week 6 was skipped, because otherwise we would not get to Week 34 (Christ the King) before Advent 2017 started.  The practical result of all that is we omit Luke 6 from the cycle of readings this year, and skip ahead to Luke 7.

The Readings this Sunday are focussed on the theme of resurrection from the dead.  The First Reading recounts Elijah raising a boy from the dead.  The Psalm praises God for delivering David from Sheol (the grave). In the Epistle, Paul recounts seeing the risen Christ.  In the Gospel, Jesus raises the son of the widow of Nain.

1.  We begin with 1 Kgs 17:17-24: 

Jesus Raises the Widow of Nain's Son: The Mass Readings Explained (The Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Improve your participation at Mass this Sunday with my latest video explaining the Mass readings.  I hope it helps.

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After reading John's commentary on the Mass readings for this Sunday, check out my video.

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Satisfying Hunger for God: The Feast of Corpus Christi

I love the early summer liturgical “trifecta” of Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, forming a kind of “encore” to the joyful Easter Season focusing in succession on three fundamental realities of the Christian life: the Holy Spirit in the Church, the Triune Godhead, and the Eucharist.  This “trifecta” comes to an end this week with the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Readings for this Solemnity obviously focus on types and descriptions of the Eucharist, but there is a notably priestly theme that also runs through them.  In this way, we observe the connection between priesthood and Eucharist.  This connection first dawned on me personally in the fall of 1999, when I was first exposed to the writings of the Apostolic Fathers.  Coming across St. Ignatius of Antioch's famous passage concerning the Eucharist in his Letter to the Smyrneans (ch. 7), I suddenly realized that the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was—and is—the constant belief of the Church from apostolic times to the present day:

My Latest Release with Catholic Productions Just Became Available

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The Case for Jesus: Jesus and the Kingdom of God (Part 5 of 5)

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The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity

(Scroll down for Dr. Pitre's vlog on the readings)

 

Pentecost is not supposed to mark a spiritual highpoint, from which we then regress and go back to being our slovenly selves. 

Rather, Pentecost should be a dramatic infusion of spiritual energy climaxing a period of formation that has been ongoing since the first week of Advent.  Pentecost propels us, like a shot out of a cannon, into the “world” of Ordinary Time, in order to do effective combat with sin, death, and the Devil.

This Sunday marks approximately the half-way point in the liturgical year, and at this temporal center, we pause to reflect on the central mystery of our Faith, the Most Holy Trinity.  This seems appropriate on the heels of Pentecost, because it is through the Holy Spirit that the whole Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—dwells within our soul.

The Word of God and the Family

"The word of God is the source of life and spirituality for the family. All pastoral work on behalf of the family must allow people to be interiorly fashioned and formed as members of the domestic church through the Church’s prayerful reading of sacred Scripture. The word of God is not only good news in a person’s private life but also a criterion of judgement and a light in discerning the various challenges that married couples and families encounter."— Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia §227, quoting the final relatio, §34.

The Mystery of the Trinity: The Mass Readings Explained (The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity)

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The Gift of the Spirit: Readings for Pentecost

This post picks up from themes discussed in the post below on the Readings for the Vigil of Pentecost.  For that post, scroll down; and below that is Dr. Pitre's excellent video explaining the Pentecost Readings.

For Pentecost Sunday, Mass during the Day, the First Reading is, finally, the account of Pentecost itself, from Acts 2:1-11:

Gathering the Human Family: The Readings for the Vigil of Pentecost

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(Next post down is Dr. Pitre's excellent video on the Pentecost Readings)

Welcome to Pentecost!  This is such an important Feast Day in the life of the Church, we should celebrate it with just as much joy and enthusiasm as Christmas and Easter.  This the day of the Spirit, and if we have understood Jesus' teachings clearly, we understand that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not an epilogue or denouement to the story of salvation, but its climactic finale that ushers in a new age!  This is the high point of our liturgical journey that began in Advent with anticipation of the coming of the Messiah!  

The Church recognizes the importance of Pentecost in her liturgy, and graces this Solemnity with its own vigil, complete with four different options for the First Reading.  All of them are important for understanding the meaning of this feast:

Pentecost and the Holy Spirit: The Lectionary Readings Explained (Pentecost Sunday)

Check out my latest video on this Sunday's Mass Readings. Please Like and Share!  Thank you.

The Case for Jesus: Jesus and the Rich Young Man (Part 4 of 5)

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The 7th Sunday of Easter, for those who have one!

Here is a commentary on the Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and let me begin by saying, if you have a Seventh Sunday of Easter, you are indeed blessed!  This is an important Sunday: it is climactic, the last Sunday before Pentecost in the Easter Season.  The architects of the Vatican II Lectionary saved very important readings for this date, notably the High Priestly Prayer of John 17.  This magnificent prayer is the longest of Jesus’ prayers recorded in Scripture, and it is the climax of the Last Supper Discourse (John 13-17), the longest discourse of Jesus recorded in Scripture.  In this prayer, Our Lord reveals his deepest desires for himself, his Apostles, and the whole Church.  It is hard to overestimate its significance to Christian theology.  In the Liturgy, we have been, as it were, sitting with the Apostles in the Upper Room with Jesus before the Passion, listening to him teach about the Holy Spirit for the past several Sundays of Easter.  Now, on the Seventh Sunday, we come to the climax of Jesus’ teaching, in which he sums up everything with a prayer for the Church to imitate externally and internally the intimate unity of the Trinity itself.  

The Ascension of Jesus and His Sacrifice “Once for All”: The Lectionary Readings Explained (The Seventh Sunday of Easter)

After reading John's commentary below, check out my latest video on this Sunday's Mass Readings. Please Like and Share!  Thank you.

The Case for Jesus: The Transfiguration of Jesus on the Mountain (Part 3 of 5)

Here is introduction 3/5 of a series Catholic Productions is releasing on my latest book, The Case For Jesus. 

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King of Heaven and Earth: Ascension Day!

Ascension Day, unfortunately, is not observed in a uniform manner across the United States.  Catholics in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England will observe it on Thursday, May 5; the rest of the country observes it this Sunday, May 8. 

The First Reading and Psalm for this Solemnity are always Acts 1:1-11 and Psalm 47.   In Year C has the option to employ Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23 instead of Eph 4:17-23 as the Second Reading (both are discussed below), and proclaims Luke 24:46-53 as the Gospel.

Is Jesus Divine in the Synoptic Gospels? (Part 2 of 5)

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Kingdom of Peace: 6th Sunday of Easter

Edward Hicks, "Peaceable Kingdom," 1833

(Scroll down for Dr. Pitre's video on these readings)

We have arrived at the Sixth Week of Easter, and continue to bask in the glow of the story of the growth of the early Church in Acts, the vision of heaven from the Book of Revelation, and the consolation of Jesus’ words to the Apostles in the Upper Room from John.  It’s a trifecta of glory in these Readings.

If last Sunday we noted a “kingdom of love” theme, this week we notice an emphasis on the idea of the “kingdom of peace.”  In Acts (1^st Reading) we see the measures that were necessary to keep peace in the early Church.  In Revelation (2^nd Reading) we see the peace of Eden restored in the heavenly New Jerusalem.  In the Gospel we see Jesus bestowing his supernatural peace on the disciples.

1. The First Reading is Acts 15:1-2, 22-29.  Because this reading skips Acts 15:3-21, which I think is very important for understanding the significance of the passage, I have spliced in the missing text below, to aid our understanding:

The Promise of the Holy Spirit: The Lectionary Readings Explained (The Sixth Sunday of Easter)

Check out my latest video explaining this Sunday's Mass Readings.  Hope it helps!