Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s first reading presents us with an image of the diversity of God’s people, gathered from every nation and language. Many of our parishes in the United States are blessed with diverse communities of people, … Read More
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus’s words today don’t bring much comfort. But our comfort isn’t the goal of faith in Christ. Following Christ will call us to do many uncomfortable things. Recall some of the gospels we’ve heard these … Read More
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time We can obviously read today’s readings with an eye toward the end times when Christ will return in glory. However, as people of faith living in the time between Christ’s Ascension and Second Coming, we … Read More
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Many of us whose primary work is in service to the church may never find ourselves rich in earthly treasure. And yet, there still is a warning for us in today’s parable of the rich … Read More
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Poor Martha! She’s always compared to Mary who seems to have done nothing to attend to the needs of dinner, and we laud Mary’s choice as though feeding one’s guest while the food was hot … Read More
The 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time In one of the Facebook groups I participate in, a friend posed the question, “How do I get my parishioners to be more hospitable?” People offered suggestions like scheduling hospitality teams, training ushers, asking … Read More
When I was a kid, I belonged to a Boy Scout troop sponsored by my parish. One of my favorite events was Scout Sunday. All of us would get dressed up in our uniforms, and we would march into church … Read More
While I am sure it is not true at your parish, most Masses I participate in tend come apart at the communion rite. A liturgy can be going along just great, and then the wheels fall off the liturgical bus … Read More
Seventh Sunday of Easter As we near Pentecost, some parishes may be preparing to incorporate various languages and cultural elements into the Mass. Many of these communities are already multicultural, so intercultural worship is a necessity for their unity. On … Read More
Following on a previous post, I want to look at how parish music leaders can help turn Ordinary Time liturgy into an extraordinary experience of worship. There are two essential keys to making this happen: Yearn for the assembly to … Read More