Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

This coming Sunday is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, or more commonly referred to as All Souls Day.  As this special day falls on a Sunday this year, we put aside our readings for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time to focus our attention on those who have passed on before us. The Word for All Souls Day: Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9 John 6:37-40 What happens after we die?  This is the question that our first reading from the Book of Wisdom tries to answer.  Here the passage states that “the souls of the just are in the hand of God.”  In other words, those good people who have passed on are in good hands.  The book of Wisdom comes to us about 50 years before the birth of Christ from the Jewish community in Alexandria.  In many ancient cultures sickness and death were equated to sin, so those who were passing before their time, that is, those who didn't die of old age, must have done something to a...

One of the beauties of Ordinary Time is the opportunity to “play the long game” when it comes understanding Jesus and his teachings. We literally journey with Jesus and the Apostles during his mission to spread the Word, and because many of our readings pick up where we left off the previous week, we have an opportunity to learn as we go, much like the Apostles themselves. The Word for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Psalm: 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16 Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 13:24-43 Our first reading comes from the Book of Wisdom.  This book, coming about 50 years before Christ (most likely from the Jewish Community of Alexandria) served, like most of the wisdom books, as a kind of “catechism” for the faithful. Our passage this week reminds us that God is both mighty and benevolent.  In fact, the text goes to great lengths to say that this might comes from his benevolence.  Not only has God taught us what good (through The Law), he gives us the opportunity t...

The theme for this week is Justification… but what exactly does that mean?  According to Merriam-Webster, "justification" is “the act, process, or state of being justified by God”.  Looking more closely at the root word, “justify”, means “to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable.”  So it begs the question… what is right or reasonable by God?  How do we justify ourselves before the Lord?  Let’s see what our readings have to say… The Word for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time        Wisdom 11:22-12:2         Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14         2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2         Luke 19:1-10 Our first reading this week comes from the Book of Wisdom.  Similar in style and teaching to the Book of Sirach (which you may recall dates to about 150 BCE), the Book of Wisdom is newer (dating to about 50 BCE), and comes from ...

The Word for the 23 rd   Sunday   of Ordinary Time : Wisdom   9:13 -18b Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17 Philemon 1:9-10, 12-17 Luke   14:25 -33 Our first reading comes from the book of Wisdom.  As the name of the book suggests, this work falls into the category of Wisdom literature.  Although the authors attribute this “wisdom” to King Solomon (970 BCE), the book, originally written in Greek, actually dates to some 50 years before Christ.  Like last week’s first reading from Sirach (dating about 200 years before Christ), the book of Wisdom not only acts as an early catechism for the Jewish people, but speaks very powerfully to the early Christian community, in part because it addresses a persecuted minority.  While the book of Wisdom is fairly clear in its teachings, there are times, as with this week’s passage, where we can get lost in the language of the text, and find it difficult to discern what it is trying to teach… so don’t get di...

As we continue our long Summer journey through Ordinary Time, sometimes you hit a sequence of readings where you are forced to ask the question… what does this all mean? What am I supposed to get out of this? For me, this coming Sunday is one of those times. Perhaps with a little unpacking, we can find a theme we can grasp onto. The Word for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time:         Wisdom 18:6-9         Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22         Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 (or short version Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-12)         Luke 12:32-48 (or short version Luke 12:35-40) We open with a reading from the Book of Wisdom. First, it’s important to remember that this book dates itself to some 50 years before Christ… making it contemporary literature for the Disciples. Based on the date alone it’s no surprise that we see a lot of its teachings reflected in Chri...