The Good Word

In his book Things You Get For Free Michael McGirr tells the story of going on pilgrimage to Rome with his mother Maureen McGirr had always wanted to see St Peter s Basilica Michael records the big day One of the features of a visit to St Peter s is the modesty inspection This is the ki

July 1st is the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Daniel Harrington notes that the Gospel reading from Luke marks the start of an important journey for Jesus and his disciples The journey moves from northern Galilee to Jerusalem and focuses on two themes the identity of Jesus Christology and

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To celebrate the feast of St Aloysius Gonzaga S J 1568-1591 the liturgy offers the Eucharistic community the choice of three Gospel readings Matthew 6 7-15 Mark 10 23-31 and John 1 35-40 The first reading underlines the kind of prayer that pleases God for content the Our Father for ma

The American political drama West Wing has been a huge hit on television in recent seasons Well-scripted cleverly cast and finely acted it dramatizes events around the most powerful office in the world This is one drama series that does not need to invent stories With former White House insid

Daniel Harrington s commentary on the Birth of St John the Baptist can be found here The feast did not fall on a Sunday in 2004 so there is no commentary from Dianne Bergant But you can read John H Donahue s column from 2001 here

The gospel this week dwells on the theme of hospitality — that which we offer both to one another and to God and that which God offers to us The intimacy and in a sense extravagance with which the sinful woman welcomes Jesus is sharply contrasted with that of Peter the Pharisee who neither welc

The late Bishop Untener warns homilists not to tell stories just for laughs I suppose we ve all done it We hear a good joke and feel the need to pass it on to others The Sunday congregation fits that bill nicely Even if the story somehow dovetails with the readings it s probably too colourf

Throughout his letters Paul s statements display the enormity of his conversion experience One of the starkest statements he makes occurs in Galatians 2 20 I have been crucified with Christ yet I live no longer I but Christ lives in me insofar as I now live in the flesh I live by faith in

This Sunday is the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Father s Day It s strange but true Because of when Easter fell there was no 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time either in 2001 or 2004 As a result neither John Donahue nor Dianne Bergant ever wrote about this Sunday s set of readings for A