Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Revelation 10:8–11 Saint John is told to take the open scroll from the hand of the angel. Then he hears a strange command: Take it and eat it. The prophet Ezekiel once received the same command. He ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey. Jeremiah also said: Your words were found, and I ate them. They became the joy and delight of my heart. ...
Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Revelation 5:1–10 Saint John sees a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. The scroll is sealed with seven seals. It represents God’s plan for history. God’s plan for salvation. God’s plan for the whole world. But no one is worthy to open the scroll. No one in heaven. No one on earth. No one under the earth. ...
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Revelation 4:1–11 Saint John sees an open door in heaven. A voice says to him: Come up here. And suddenly, he is drawn into the worship of heaven. He sees a throne. He sees the One seated on the throne. He sees elders. He sees living creatures. He hears praise. He sees heaven as liturgy. At the center of all things, There is ...
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious Revelation 3:1–6, 14–22 In the Book of Revelation, the risen Christ speaks to seven local churches. He speaks to Ephesus. To Smyrna. To Pergamum. To Thyatira. To Sardis. To Philadelphia. And to Laodicea. He knows each community. He knows their struggles. He knows their faithfulness. He knows their failures. He praises what is good. He warns what is dangerous. ...
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Revelation 1:1–4; 2:1–5 Today we begin to hear from the Book of Revelation. Many Christians find this book difficult. It is full of symbols, visions, angels, beasts, judgment, battle, and glory. It is not an easy book. It was not easy for the early Church either. Some Christians hesitated before accepting it as part of the Bible. But the Church received it as the word of God. ...
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Proverbs 31:10–13, 19–20, 30–31 1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 Matthew 25:14–30 Once I heard a lay person say: Look at the people who gather for the Eucharist. So many are gifted. Some are good at teaching. Some at business. Some at parenting. Some at caring for the poor. Some at art, music, sports, or organizing community life. Many are capable. Many are generous. Many are mature. But too often, they are not involved in the life and mission of the Church. ...
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time 3 John 5–8 In 1999, I was sent to a mission station in the mountains of East Timor. The country was poor. The mission had almost nothing. There was little money, few resources, and many needs. So I went to Catholic communities and shared the situation. Help came. A German Catholic organization helped us buy a truck. Australian Catholics raised funds. Other people gave what they could. ...
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time 2 John 4–9 Saint John writes to a community he calls “the chosen lady.” It is a beautiful image for the Church. The Church is chosen by God, loved by God, and sent by God. But Saint John is worried. Some believers are walking in truth. Others are being deceived. So he reminds them of two things that can never be separated: ...
Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr Philemon 7–20 Paul writes a very short letter to a Christian man named Philemon. Paul is old and in prison. And he is asking for mercy. Not for himself, but for Onesimus, a runaway slave. In the Roman world, this was a serious matter. A runaway slave could be punished severely. He could be treated as a criminal. ...
Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop Titus 3:1–7 Water gives life. But water can also destroy. We know this from floods. When rivers overflow, houses are damaged, roads disappear, and whole towns can be covered with mud. Then, when the waters go down, the work of cleaning, rebuilding, and beginning again starts. Saint Paul speaks today about another kind of water. ...