THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, June 28th, 2016
Memorial of St. Irenaeus
Liturgical texts here
LOOKING over his shoulder at the past 2000 years, and then, the times directly ahead, John Paul II made a profound statement:
The world at the approach of a new millennium, for which the whole Church is preparing, is like a field ready for the harvest. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day, homily, August 15th, 1993
Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images
WHAT would it be like to stand in the winds of a hurricane as the eye of the storm approached? According to those who have been through it, there is a constant roar, debris and dust are flying everywhere, and you can barely keep your eyes open; it is hard to stand straight and keep one’s balance, and there is fear of the unknown, of what the storm could bring next in all the chaos.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday, June 23rd, 2016
Liturgical texts here
St. Therese de Liseux, by Michael D. O’Brien
I wrote this meditation after visiting the house of St. Thérèse in France seven years ago. It is a reminder and warning to the “new architects” of our times that a house built without God is a house doomed to collapse, as we hear in today’s Gospel….
By
Mark Mallett
“THAT Pope Francis!”
Bill slammed his fist on the table, turning a few heads in the process. Fr. Gabriel smiled wryly. “What now Bill?”
“Splash! Did you hear that?” Kevin quipped, leaning across the table, his hand cupped over his ear. “Another Catholic jumping over the Barque of Peter!”
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, June 14th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
POPE Francis has thrown open wide the “doors” of the Church in this Jubilee of Mercy, which has passed the halfway mark as of last month. But we might be tempted to deep discouragement, if not fear, as we see not a repentance en masse, but the rapid degeneration of the nations into extreme violence, immorality, and really, a whole-hearted embrace of an anti-gospel.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 7th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
Elijah Sleeping, by Michael D. O’Brien
THESE are the days of Elijah, that is, the hour of a prophetic witness being called forth by the Holy Spirit. It is going to take on many facets—from the fulfillment of apparitions, to the prophetic witness of individuals who “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation… shine like lights in the world.” [1]Phil 2:15 Here I am not speaking only of the hour of “prophets, seers, and visionaries”—though that is part of it—but of every day people like you and me.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Phil 2:15 |
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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 6th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
TO the point: we are entering a period where the earth is plunging into a great darkness, where the light of truth is being eclipsed by the moon of moral relativism. In case one thinks such a statement is fantasy, I defer once again to our papal prophets:
The Last Trumpet, photo by Joel Bornzin
I have been shaken today, literally, by the voice of the Lord speaking in the depths of my soul; shaken by His inexpressible grief; shaken by the deep concern He has for those in the Church who have utterly fallen asleep.