Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

What is the cost of discipleship?  Since the beginning of their journeys together, Jesus has been teaching his disciples of the difficulties they face by following him.  They will need courage, and strength of conviction as they continue to follow him and preach the Gospel.  Our readings for this 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time reminds us that following Jesus is not only difficult, but can come at the cost of our very lives. The Word for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm: 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27 We open with a reading from the prophet Jeremiah.  In a passage that is typical of what I call “the prophet’s lament,” we hear Jeremiah complaining to God about how he has been duped.  His life as a prophet has brought him nothing but derision and reproach, yet he cannot help himself… he still must preach God’s message.  The pain of holding back is still greater than the pain he must endure by those who don’t care for his...

The Word for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time:         Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10         Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18         Hebrews 12:1-4         Luke 12:49-53 We open with a reading from the prophet Jeremiah. Our scene opens with the princes of Judah looking to King Zedekiah to have the prophet Jeremiah put to death. The princes throw him into an empty, muddy cistern to die, but the king orders that he be taken out. What’s going on here? Clearly Zedekiah doesn’t want Jeremiah to die, but there’s much more going on here. We need to remember that Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. The northern kingdom fell to Assyria only some 25 years before, and it was the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar himself that put Zedekiah on the throne in Jerusalem in an attempt to create an ally in the region. Since then, however, the princes have been plotting agains...