Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 12:13, 16–19; Romans 8:26–27; Matthew 13:24–43 Today’s Gospel gives us three parables about the kingdom of heaven: a man who sowed good seed in his field, a mustard seed, and yeast hidden in flour. But let us stay with the first parable. ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Micah 2:1–5 In recent years, we have heard many reports of powerful corporations and governments taking farmland from small local farmers. The reasons vary: for mines, for factories, for highways, dams, tourist resorts, or large development projects. The problem is that the land is often taken against the will of those who live there. ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Isaiah 38:1–6, 21–22, 7–8 Hezekiah was sick. Not slightly sick. Not temporarily weak. He was dying. Then Isaiah came to him with a word no one wants to hear: “Put your house in order, for you are about to die.” ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Isaiah 26:7–9, 12, 16–19 On September 26, 1983, the Soviet nuclear warning system announced that missiles had been launched from the United States. Colonel Stanislav Petrov was the officer on duty. He had only minutes to decide. Was it a real attack? Was it a computer error? Was the world about to burn? ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Wednesday, Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Isaiah 10:5–7, 13b–16 Assyria was powerful. Its armies marched. Its kings boasted. Its enemies trembled. Nation after nation fell before its sword. But Isaiah sees more deeply. Assyria is not the lord of history. Assyria is only “the rod of God’s anger.” ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Isaiah 7:1–9 Jerusalem was afraid. The northern kingdom of Israel had joined Aram against the great empire of Assyria. Judah refused to join them. So Aram and Israel came against Judah, planning to remove King Ahaz and place another king on the throne. ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Isaiah 1:10–17 Isaiah begins with a wound. He does not flatter his people. He does not soften the blow. He calls them rulers of Sodom, people of Gomorrah. These are not gentle words. They are fire. But behind the fire is the anger of God against a terrible lie: ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 55:10–11; Romans 8:18–23; Matthew 13:1–23 The summer heat was nearing forty degrees. It was another day without a drop of rain on Timor Island. The soil had turned to stone. The trees had lost their leaves. The grass had dried out. ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Saturday, Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot Isaiah 6:1–6 Isaiah’s vision of God is one of the most unforgettable passages in the Bible. It has entered songs. It has inspired poetry. It has shaped Christian liturgy. It has moved painters, writers, and theologians. Above all, it has given us a glimpse of God’s holiness. ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn Readings Here Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Hosea 14:2–10 Today, we conclude our encounter with Hosea on a positive note. After all the condemnations, after all the predictions of destruction, the Lord and Israel reconcile. Just as Gomer finally decided not to run after the one with whom she was infatuated, ...