Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time August 22, Sunday After Vatican II many were affected by the deeper insights in the Gospel and our faith which the Spirit had given to his Church: most were the result of deeper study or simply rediscoveries of neglected truths. To most people the renewal after the Council was […]
Category Archives: Daily Readings
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 21, Saturday Ruth had adopted the ways of her deceased Jewish husband. Now, she is adopted into God’s people. The Lord abhors duplicity and hypocrisy, particularly in religious leaders. The scribes had rendered a real service by becoming the teachers of Israel during the exile, when the priesthood […]
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 20, Friday Against the rather narrow nationalism of Judges and Ezra-Nehemiah the small book of Ruth gives a romantic, idyllic example in Ruth that even non-Jews can become integrated into the Jewish people. Ruth figures even in the genealogy of Jesus. At the Last Supper Jesus said: “At […]
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 19, Thursday The first reading reflects the primitive conditions and the moral underdevelopment of the period of the Judges. Jephthah, a man of good will and a dedicated servant of Yahweh, lacks the moral discernment to distinguish between the binding force of an imprudent vow and respect for […]
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 18, Wednesday The first reading gives us a first attempt to establish a kingdom to give more stability to Israel than the system of the Judges, but the would-be king is rejected with an allegory that ridicules him. The parable of the laborers in the vineyard tells us, contrary […]
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 17, Tuesday Here we have a typical story of the vocation and the saving work of a Judge. The people are unfaithful; God calls Gideon to liberate the people from the Madianite oppressors. Gideon asks and gets a sign of his mission. In today’s gospel Peter asks, “What about […]
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 16, Monday With today’s first reading, we take up for some days the book of Judges. Its author presents today a sort of theology of history of the Israelites, in four stages: 1. The people desert the God of the covenant and serve Canaanite idols. 2. God is […]
Assumption of Mary Mary’s Song Is Also Ours Today we rejoice for one of us who has reached her destination. It is Mary’s great feast, the feast of her Easter, Our Lady’s Assumption. On earth she went the way of Jesus, she lived the beatitudes wholeheartedly, and now she shares in Jesus’ glory. The […]
NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 14, Saturday At the occasion of the entrance of God’s people into the Promised Land, Joshua convokes them to renew the covenant. They must realize that by doing so, they opt for God, they make a decisive choice, and they commit themselves to God and his kingdom. Haven’t we […]
NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME August 13, Friday Joshua’s address to the people inculcates two points: first, God is the God of the history of his people and the people are what they are and where they are by the grace of a God who took pity on them and loved them; second, the promised […]