(Matthew 25: 14-30) Fear is sometimes contrasted with bravery and thought (by some) to be a sign of weakness or cowardice. However, as we know, there are many instances when fear is not only appropriate, but beneficial and, indeed, even essential to survival. This beneficial fear typically occurs in situations of danger connected with the […]

Thirty-Second Sunday, Year A, 8 November, 2020: Wisdom 6:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13      For the past seven Sundays, the Gospel has come from the final week of Jesus’ life as described by Saint Matthew. This is a crucial, almost desperate, teaching, sometimes addressed to Jesus’ critics or, like today, to his disciples. I […]

Twenty-ninth Sunday, Year A, 18 October, 2020: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b; Matthew 22:15-21      Saint Paul writes to the Romans: Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Paul writes as a Roman citizen, with […]

26th Sunday, Year A, 27 September, 2020: Ezekiel 18:25-28; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32       This short parable recalls to my mind an ancient rabbinic saying: I am not what believe, nor am I what I say. I am really what I actually do. The second son, who replies positively to his father’s request, but doesn’t […]

24th Sunday, Year A: Sirach 27:30-28:7; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35        In today’s parable, it’s very clear who needs mercy and forgiveness. In our actual interactions with one another, that clarity often vanishes.      Isn’t it more usual for both parties to feel wronged, requiring amends from one another? That’s not to say that this […]

(Gospel: Matthew 16:21-27) If we are speaking simply of physical life, then Jesus’ warning that whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, makes little sense. As we know so well, preserving our own life in situations that are life-threatening is instinctual and so reflexive that only with great self-control can we, for example, […]

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10b; Luke 1:39-56      It is easy for me to forget when we celebrate the Assumption of our Lady that her death has been enfolded into the finality of her glorification. As for all of us—as for her Divine Son—death was a part of her life from the start.    Certainly, in […]

(1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a & Matthew 14:22-33) Waiting for the boarding call in a busy airport can be quite a challenge amid the usual noise, activity, and boarding calls for other flights departing around the same time. Failure to hear the boarding call does not mean that it wasn’t made, only that the excessive surrounding […]

Scriptural References: 1 Kings 3:5-7:12; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52    We’ve just heard three parables that are only recorded in Matthew’s Gospel and, very significantly for Matthew, are only told to the disciples. It may be very gratifying to Jesus that, in the midst of his ups and downs with these men, and against the […]

This familiar parable was important enough to the early church for Matthew to reproduce at length Mark’s original scheme and interpretation. Luke condenses it in his version, but all three present Jesus teaching the parable to a crowd, his comments in private to the Twelve, and his interpretation of it for his inner circle, an […]