Tag Ordinary Time

First Reading: Malachi 3:19-20a Reflection: In this Sunday’s first reading, we hear about the judgment of the wicked and the vindication of the righteous at the end of time. A theme of this Sunday’s readings is the “Day of the Lord,”… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 Reflection: In this passage from the wisdom text of Sirach we hear the profound truth that God is just and “knows no favorites.” God loves all people and treats them according to the same standard of… Continue Reading →

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:14-17 Reflection: Naaman was a respected army commander from the city of Damascus in the land of Aram (Syria), to the northeast of Israel in about 855 B.C. Naaman suffered from a debilitating skin disease. When his… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4 Reflection: Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you? Have you ever wondered, where is God in the midst of all the injustice and violence in the world? And, why doesn’t He do something about… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Amos 6:1A, 4-7 Reflection: In this Sunday’s first reading, the prophet Amos proclaimed that the wealthy Israelites had become lazy and self-absorbed to the point that they did not even notice the collapse of their own culture. They protected… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Amos 8:4-7 Reflection: The prophet Amos preached to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8thcentury B.C., spreading a message of justice and compassion (the Northern Kingdom had split from the Southern Kingdom of Judah with… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Wisdom 9:13-18B Reflection: The Book of Wisdom was the latest written text of the Old Testament, being composed in Alexandria, Egypt around 50 B.C. This Sunday’s first reading focuses on the transcendent nature of God. In other words, the… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Reflection: The book of Sirach was written in the second century B.C. by a wise sage in Jerusalem named Ben Sira (meaning son of Sirach). Sirach falls in the category of wisdom literature in the… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Isaiah 66:18-21 Reflection: This Sunday’s first reading looks forward to the messianic age when the Lord would gather the nations to worship him. In the Old Testament, there was a clear distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were… Continue Reading →

First Reading: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 Reflection: The Prophet Jeremiah lived during a tumultuous time in Jewish history. The southern kingdom of Judah was just about to be overtaken by the Babylonians, which would result in the destruction of Jerusalem and its… Continue Reading →