The Word

Marriage is increasingly described as a fragile institution in our society Divorce rates hover around 40 per cent with the divorce rate among Catholics at roughly 20 percent The readings for this Sunday provide a biblical countervision The Gospel begins with the Pharisees testing Jesus by asking

In today rsquo s Gospel the sweet Jesus of much Christian piety seems to be having a bad day He rebuffs a disciple and his sayings echo with images of intentional drowning self-mutilation and permanent residence in Gehenna with unquenchable fire These sayings which once may have been independen

Christians today tend to think of the age of martyrs in terms of the early centuries of the church with vivid pictures of lions about to devour those who would not deny Christ Yet Karl Rahner once noted that today we should speak not only of martyrs of the faith but also of martyrs of justice Th

Having completed a long tour through John 6 the Lectionary returns to Mark with a dispute between Jesus the Pharisees and some scribes experts in the law over rules to assure purity when eating The readings present something of a paradox The first reading the beginning of the prayer that Jew

While last Sunday rsquo s readings sounded sober warnings today rsquo s readings celebrate the saving deeds of God The reading from Isaiah opens with one of the most frequent biblical commands Fear not and then looks to the divine deliverance from exile when the blind deaf lame and the speechl

This Sunday repeats the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent Am 3 11 while the first two readings are selected for the feast Though celebrated from the fifth century in the Eastern church the Transfiguration was introduced into the Western calendar only in 1457 to celebrate the victory over t

The Gospel plunges us directly into the middle of the bread of life discourse which despite its seeming complexity develops two major themes People will attain eternal life by coming to Jesus and being in union with him this coming and living in union flow from God rsquo s gracious initiative m