Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

God’s ways are not our ways.  This is one of the points Jesus was trying to make with his Apostles in last week’s gospel, and that theme continues be examined in our readings for this week… The Word for the 25tth Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6, 8 James 3:16-4:3 Mark 9:30-37 Our first reading comes from the Book of Wisdom.  By way of reminder, the Book of Wisdom was written about fifty years before Christ.  For Jesus and his followers, this was a contemporary work, and like most wisdom literature, served as a sort of catechism for the Jewish community.  In this case, however, the community wasn’t from Jerusalem, but from Alexandria, and was written in Greek (not Hebrew) while patterned on a style used in Hebrew verse.  For most Christians reading this passage, it sounds very much like how Jesus was treated.  It can be hard for us to remember that this verse comes to us a couple generations before he was even...

Lent is a season where, scripturally, we revisit the story of our salvation history.  It’s the story of where our great patriarchs and prophets met the Lord God, and how our relationship with God, as a people, continues to grow and evolve.  We also know from our review of the readings last week that our overarching theme for Cycle B is  covenant .  After God’s covenant with Noah last week, we now visit the next great covenant, that between God and Abraham… The Word for the 2 nd  Sunday of Lent Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Psalm 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 Romans 8:31b-34 Mark 9:2-10 Our first reading, from the book of Genesis, is one of the great stories about Abraham.   By this point in the narrative God has already made a covenant with Abraham, but now God is putting that covenant to the test.  God asks Abraham to make a sacrifice of his young son Isaac.  Isaac, as we know, is the only child born by Abraham’s wife, Sarah (a birth promis...

With the season of Lent now upon us, we enter a period of penitent reflection that includes an increased emphases on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Our readings for Sunday Mass not only remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, but our three-year lectionary cycle also allows us to explore that story in the light of an over-arching theme for the season.  For Cycle B (Gospel of Mark), that theme is covenant.  Covenant is that agreement between God and his people that marks the special relationship we have with our God.  It is a word we will hear in our readings this Sunday, and a word we will continue to hear in our readings throughout this Lenten season. The Word for the 1 st  Sunday of Lent Genesis 9:8-15 Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:12-15 Our first reading for this 1st Sunday of Lent starts with one of the first covenants between God and his people – that between God and Noah at the end of the great flood.  Also known...

Our readings for this coming Sunday: This Sunday marks the end of our brief winter’s journey through Ordinary Time, and our readings serve as an appropriate transition to the Lenten season by addressing the issue of how we treat those who are sick and in need.  While we have an obligation to protect the greater population by separating out those who are sick, we sometimes forget that we also have an obligation to care for those in need.  Our readings this week give us the opportunity to examine these issues. The Word for the 6 th  Sunday of Ordinary Time Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 11 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 Mark 1:40-45 Our first reading comes from the Book of Leviticus.  This second book of Moses takes its name from the priestly tribe of the Levites, for whom this book is a handbook for serving the Hebrew people.  Since this book is often referred to as “priestly law,” it is easy for us confuse this book as dealing with strictly religious matt...

Why is there evil in the world?  Why does God let bad things happen to good people?  These are common questions we hear in society, and yet even as believers in God, even as followers of Christ, we often feel inadequate to address these types of question.  The fact is that we, humanity, have been struggling with these types of questions for millennia, and much has been written on the subject.  Our readings this Sunday can give us some guidance… The Word for the 5 th  Sunday of Ordinary Time Job 7:1-4, 6-7 Psalm 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 Mark 1:29-39 We open with a passage from the Book of Job (pronounced with a long “o”).  The story of Job is fairly well known in Biblical circles, yet we Catholics only hear from the Book of Job twice during our Sunday Liturgy… and both times in Cycle B, where we find ourselves this year.  It’s difficult to get a good understanding of this book with so little exposure to it, yet it is one o...

Since the close of the Christmas season we’ve been following Jesus as he begins his ministry.  We’ve seen him Baptized by John, we’ve seen him gathering his first Apostles (Andrew, Simon-Peter, James and John), and this week we continue our journey as Jesus begins to preach, teach, and heal.  Jesus has many different titles, but this week we focus on three:  Prophet, Teacher, and Lord. The Word for the 4 th Sunday of Ordinary Time Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 Mark 1:21-28 First, so that we have a clear understanding of what it means to be a prophet, our first reading from the book of Deuteronomy tells us.  In our passage Moses says to the people that a prophet is one like himself… someone chosen by God to speak for God.  Now upon hearing this you might ask why God can’t speak for himself?  Addressing that exact point Moses continues by reminding the people that it was they themselves who requested that ...

Our readings this week focus on a core theme that runs through Jesus’ ministry… repentance.  There is no sin so grave that cannot be forgive with true contrition and a return to God.  This was the message that John the Baptist proclaimed, and the message Jesus continued as he took up his ministry.  This theme not only runs through the gospels, but is a major theme that binds the entire Bible into a cohesive volume.    The Word for the 3 rd   Sunday   of Ordinary Time Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Our first reading comes from the book of Jonah.  The story of Jonah is well known in both Jewish and Christian circles, yet for all its popularity, we only hear it in the Liturgy this once.  For this reason, many Catholics only have a passing familiarity with Jonah and his story.  They know his name and that he was swallowed by a large fish (or whale), but that’s about it.  In our passage this ...