Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion: Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9, John 18:1 – 19:42. The sad and wonderful day is here. We must mourn with Mary because her most perfect Son has been tortured and killed, and this is a grievous wrong. But we must marvel at …
Holy Thursday – Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15. The Easter Triduum begins tonight with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. As I consider the readings for tonight’s Mass, I am struck by the tightly knit, condensed sequence of action and …
The Ascension of the Lord: Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:17-23, Matthew 28:16-20. What an incredible feast we celebrate today. It marks the end of the physical presence of Christ in the world (in this age, at least) as well as the divine mystery of the Trinity that God will unfold in …
Monday and Tuesday the Fourth Week of Easter – Acts of the Apostles 11:1-26, John: 10:11-18, 22-30. Yesterday’s and today’s readings are in sequence, both the first reading and the gospel. I’d like to think about them together because this provides a fuller look at how the Church first spread …
Friday the Third Week of Easter: Acts of the Apostles 9:1-20, John 6:52-59. Today’s readings are two incredibly important passages; one describes Saul’s transformation from persecutor to “chosen instrument” of Christ, and the other gives us Christ’s words that insist upon the literal ingestion of his flesh and blood, which …
Monday of the Third Week of Easter: Acts of the Apostles 6:8-15, John 6:22-29. In today’s readings, we encounter two men — filled with the Holy Spirit and dedicated to the Father — in the moments before they speak with great eloquence to those who do not understand or believe. In …
Friday of the Second Week of Easter: Acts of the Apostles 5:34-42, John 6:1-15. Today’s readings place two disparate events in context with one another and reveal the ever-generative aspect of God’s reign. In the first reading, a member of the Sanhedrin is inspired to share some wisdom about the …
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter: Acts of the Apostles 4:32-37, John 3:7b-15. We encounter lessons about the Holy Spirit in both of today’s readings. The first is about the beginnings of the Church in the Apostolic age, an ideal community living in truth, trusting one another, and filled …
Friday in the Octave of Easter: Acts of the Apostles 4:1-12, John 21:1-14. Today’s readings show us Peter and John revisiting places that were instrumental in Jesus’s ministry before His death. One scene is marked with despondency and ineptitude, while the other is filled with boldness and perfection. How do …
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter: Acts of the Apostles: 3:1-10, Luke 24:13-35. Today’s readings display the natural desire to have Jesus with us, as He was before His death. They also show the dawn of a new, more potent way that Jesus is still with us. This is the …
