Solemnity of Christ the King A King Unlike Any Other A King on the Throne of the Cross Greeting (see Second Reading) All blessings to you from Jesus Christ, our saving Lord and king, the beginning and end of all that is, who is and who was and who is to come. His peace […]
November 20, Saturday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time We are told in the first reading about the end of King Antiochus IV. After he had failed to rob the temple of Artemis in Mesopotamia and heard about the restoration of Jerusalem and its Temple, he died in discouragement. “God is the God of […]
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Reflection: Luke 20:27-40 Today’s Gospel passage offers us a teaching on the resurrection of the dead. In this month of November, we pray especially for the dead. Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and therefore their attempt is to provoke Jesus with a deceptive question. A woman, who has had seven successive husbands, would […]
Thirty-Third Week In Ordinary Time THE GOD OF THE LIVING Introduction We are told in the first reading about the end of King Antiochus IV. After he had failed to rob the temple of Artemis in Mesopotamia and heard about the restoration of Jerusalem and its Temple, he died in discouragement. “God is […]
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Acts of the Apostles In Antioch, a Christian community was born of Greeks, that is, not Jewish people. This is an extraordinary fact. The Church of Jerusalem sent Barnabas to verify this strangeness, and Barnabas, as a virtuous man, recognized God’s grace; he went to seek Paul and took him to Antioch. The two […]
November 19, Friday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time After his first military victories over the Syrians, Judas Maccabeus wanted to restore legitimate worship. He had the desecrated Temple cleansed and consecrated anew, rebuilt the altar, and offered the sacrifice in accordance with the Law. Jesus drove out the merchants from the Temple and […]
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Reflection: Luke 19: 45-48 The temple of Jerusalem made of stones expressed the religious structure of Israel. In the minds of people, generally the Temple was the focal point and physical embodiment of their whole religious and cultural system. To attack the Temple was to do violence against Israel and to attack God. By […]
Thirty-Third Week In Ordinary Time CLEANSING THE TEMPLE Introduction After his first military victories over the Syrians, Judas Maccabeus wanted to restore legitimate worship. He had the desecrated Temple cleansed and consecrated anew, rebuilt the altar, and offered the sacrifice in accordance with the Law. Jesus drove out the merchants from the Temple […]
November 18, Thursday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time The priest and leader Matthatias turns down the honors and power promised him if he renounces his faith and offers sacrifice in honor of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria. He starts the open revolt of the Jewish people, a revolt that is both religious and […]