Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter - Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Acts 12:24—13:5a The word of God continued to spread and grow. That is how today’s reading begins. Like a seed in the earth. Like grain after rain. Like something alive that carries within itself a life greater than human hands can give. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter Acts 11:19–26 Sometimes a death does not end a story. Sometimes it begins one. Stephen fell, and the Church was scattered. People fled Jerusalem. They carried grief, fear, confusion, and the memory of a man who died with the name of Jesus on his lips and mercy in his prayer. It looked like defeat. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter Acts 11:1–18 Sometimes religion becomes a room with the door locked from the inside. The people inside feel safe. Chosen. Certain. They know the language. They know the rules. They know who belongs. And then God does something disturbing. He opens the door. Wider than expected. That is what happened in today’s reading. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14, 36–41; 1 Peter 2:20–25; John 10:1–10 There are many names for God in the Scriptures, but few are as tender, and few are as strong, as this one: Shepherd. A king may rule from far away. A judge may speak from a high seat. A warrior may come only in the hour of battle. But a shepherd lives among the sheep. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Feast of Saint Mark, Evangelist 1 Peter 5:5b–14; Psalm 89; Mark 16:15–20 The Bible begins with a promise: the serpent will not have the last word. From the beginning, the enemy is named, and from the beginning, his defeat is foretold. The serpent appears again and again— in fear, in violence, in lies, in all that opposes God and keeps human beings in bondage. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Friday of the Third Week of Easter Acts 9:1–20; Psalm 117; John 6:52–59 There are moments in life you don’t expect. But they shake you. A conversation. A sentence. A look from someone. And suddenly you realize: “I may be wrong.” Not slightly wrong. Deeply wrong. That moment is uncomfortable. Because being wrong feels like losing. But sometimes— it is the beginning of seeing. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Thursday of the Third Week of Easter Acts 8:26–40; Psalm 66; John 6:44–51 Sometimes you are reading something— a book, a message, even your own life— and you don’t get it. The words are there. But the meaning is not. That is where this story begins. A man on a long road. Alone. Reading Scripture. Trying to understand. And he asks a very honest question: ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter Acts 8:1b–8; Psalm 66; John 6:35–40 A great persecution fell upon the Church in Jerusalem. What seemed like defeat became a beginning. The disciples were scattered, but the Gospel was not scattered. The believers were driven out, but the Word ran ahead of them. So Philip went down to Samaria, and there, in a place once divided, Christ was proclaimed. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter Acts 7:51—8:1a; Psalm 31; John 6:30–35 Stephen was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. He was full of grace, full of power, full of light. One would expect such a man to be welcomed, honored, protected. But the world does not easily receive what comes from God. Often it resists it. Often it fears it. Often it strikes what it cannot silence. ...
Your browser does not support the audio element. Readings Here Monday of the Third Week of Easter Acts 6:8–15; Psalm 119; John 6:22–29 There was a synagogue that bore the name of freedom. It was called the Synagogue of Freedmen. A beautiful name. A noble memory. A rescued past. For they had once been captives, taken in chains, carried far away, and then released. And yet— what is the use of chains falling from the hands if they still cling to the heart? ...