The Sunday Gospel Normally, our weekly reflection is based on the Gospel of Sunday, but this week we will consider two days to Tuesday, November 1, the Feast of All Saints. In the northern hemisphere, November is the darkest month. The poet, Thomas Hood, captured the mood. “No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,…
The Sunday Gospel In this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 19:1-10), Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name and brings salvation to his house. Zacchaeus was the one above who looked down while Jesus was the one on ground level who looked up. Jericho was a wealthy town – set in a green, fertile oasis between the River Jordan…
The Sunday Gospel The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) was addressed to people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else. In the traditional list of the roots of sin, known as the seven deadly sins, the first in the list is pride, and rightly so, because pride…
The Sunday Gospel The message of today’s Gospel (Luke 18: 1-8) is clearly expressed in the opening line. Pray continually and never lose heart. We are prepared for this lesson by the First Reading which gives us a picture of Moses at prayer. A battle was being fought and as long as Moses kept his arms raised…
The Sunday Gospel Luke, more than the other writers, is the evangelist of prayer. This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 17:11-19), the story of the healing of 10 lepers, instructs us on having trust in our prayer of petition and returning to God in thanksgiving. Asking and thanking. “Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.” They had to…
The Sunday Gospel There are 10 meals in Luke’s Gospel and each one is not only a table of food but also a table of the Word…just as we have in the liturgy of the Eucharist. Each meal is the setting for some important teaching. We are familiar with the Last Supper, the revelation of the Risen…
The Sunday Gospel Luke, more than the other evangelists, portrays Jesus as being on the side of the poor. In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus referred to money as tainted with temptation. Today’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-23) is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Although he is commonly called Dives, the rich man is not actually named in…
The Sunday Gospel In the past I often heard people complaining that too many Sunday sermons were about money. I don’t hear it nowadays, probably because the parish newsletter and parish council publicise the financial needs. This Sunday however the Gospel (Luke 16:1-13) suggests that the preacher should talk about money, dealing with its wrong use…
The Sunday Gospel While the first reading and responsorial psalm are chosen to connect with the Gospel of the day, it occasionally happens that the second reading touches on the same theme. The mercy of God to sinners features in each text this Sunday. In the first reading (Exodus 32:7-11.13-14), when the Israelites worshipped a calf…
Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:1-2). The size of the crowd did not impress Jesus. He could read their minds and intentions. Some…