Monthly Archives: November 2009

St. Andrew the Apostle

Today’s readings As is the case for most of the apostles, we don’t know a whole lot about St. Andrew.  And I think that’s appropriate, because what we need to know about them is that they were followers of Jesus, … Continue reading

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First Sunday of Advent

Today’s readings We’ve gathered here today on the precipice of something new.  Do you feel it?  Do you come here with a sense of hope and expectation?  Are you on the edge of your seat?  Well, if not, we hope … Continue reading

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St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companions, martyrs

Today’s readings St. Andrew Dung-Lac was a priest in Vietnam in the early nineteenth century. He and his 116 companions, including Spanish Dominicans, members of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, and 96 Vietnamese, including 36 other priests, were … Continue reading

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Monday of the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time

Today’s readings You know, every time we hear this story about the widow’s mite, the story is equated with the call to stewardship. That’s the classic explanation of the text. And there’s nothing wrong with that explanation. I might even … Continue reading

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The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s readings: Zechariah 2:14-17, Luke 1:46-55, Matthew 12:46-50 This particular Gospel reading is sometimes difficult to proclaim, because I think it’s out of context enough that we could get the wrong idea about the relationship between Jesus and Mary.  It … Continue reading

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Friday of the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time

Today’s readings We have been hearing this week in our first reading from the books of the Macabees.  All week long, the message we were getting was that there is something more. Maybe eating a little pork, or tossing a … Continue reading

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Thursday of the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time

Today’s readings People look to great leaders to be an example to them.  In theory, anyway, that’s how it’s supposed to work.  So it comes as no surprise, really, that those enforcing the apostasy wanted Mattathias and his sons to … Continue reading

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St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Today’s readings St. Elizabeth was the daughter of the king of Hungary, and she married Louis IV of Thuringia when she was fourteen years old. They were happily married and had three children together. Together, they tried to live the … Continue reading

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Monday of the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time

Today’s readings Today’s first reading has one of the most chilling lines in all of Scripture: “and they did die.”  Their faith was sorely tested: would they give in and worship the false gods of the people around them so … Continue reading

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Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time

Today’s readings Why are we still here????? Have you ever thought about that?  Why is it that Jesus has been so long in returning?  Why hasn’t he come back to put all things to their proper conclusion?  Why do we … Continue reading

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