St Stephen reminds us 1 In his lengthy speech in Acts 7 the point is made that worship even the glorious worship of God by Israel is now to be made through the person of Jesus There is much amiss in the worship offered to the Father from which His Son is rejected all goals of worship are ac

Matthew s first line in today s Gospel speaks of how the birth of Jesus Christ came about nbsp His story is a gathering of strong traditions already existing in the Christian world of the Mediterranean Basic St Paul s letters are good examples of this already existing tradition nb

These last seven days of Advent are a special time of the Church year among my favorites on the liturgical calendar nbsp Not only do the readings for the daily Masses just before Christmas include the beginnings of the Gospel infancy narratives Matthew 1 on Dec 17-18 Luke 1 on Dec 19-24 but

In Matthew 1 20 the Gospel author cites a prophecy from Isaiah 7 14 concerning a 8220 virgin 8221 Gk parthenos who would give birth to a child Matthew seems to be citing the Septuagint LXX a 3rd century B C translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek which also has parthenos Why

This Sunday s readings invite us into an area of considerable discussion--not to say dispute--in classrooms pulpits pews chanceries and other such places How is Scripture to be interpreted most fruitfully What methods and questions are most suitable Do we need to consider the 8th century c

8220 Rejoice in the Lord always Again I say rejoice 8221 Phil 4 4 Reading or hearing these words of St Paul always make me recall the simple musical round that was popular a few decades ago composed by whom when nbsp It almost automatically brings a smile to my face and makes me want