Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church Titus 2:1–8, 11–14 Saint Paul tells Titus: “The grace of God has appeared.” That appearance is Jesus Christ. In Him, God’s grace became visible. Jesus came into the world to bring salvation to all. But Paul also speaks about another appearance. We await “the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” ...
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica John 2:13–22 In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for the Passover. He enters the temple and finds buying, selling, noise, and disorder. So He drives out the sellers and says: “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” The temple was meant to be the place of God’s presence. The place of prayer. The place where Israel came to meet the living God. ...
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 6:12–20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14; Matthew 25:1–13 Jesus tells a parable about ten young women waiting for the bridegroom. Five are wise. Five are foolish. All of them have lamps. All of them are waiting. All of them fall asleep. The difference is this: some have oil, and some do not. The bridegroom is delayed. That is the heart of the parable. Waiting is easy when the time is short. ...
Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Philippians 4:10–19 Saint Paul thanks the Philippians for their help, which he received while he was in prison. They remembered him when he was chained, limited, and vulnerable. Their generosity reached him in the place where he could not provide for himself. But he immediately clarifies: He was not looking for it. Why does Paul speak like this? Paul lived in a world where corruption was common. ...
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Philippians 3:17—4:1 Saint Paul tells the Philippians: “Join in imitating me.” At first, this sounds surprising. Why does Paul not simply say: Imitate Christ? Because the Philippians could not see Christ. But they could see Paul. They could see how he lived, how he suffered, how he preached, how he loved, and how he carried the Cross. Paul was not asking them to admire his personality. ...
Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Philippians 3:3–8a Jesus once said: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for me will find it.” We often think these words are only about martyrdom. But Saint Paul helps us see something closer to daily life. He says that everything he once counted as gain, he now counts as loss because of Christ. That is a strong sentence. ...
Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Philippians 2:12–18 Saint Paul tells the Philippians to shine like lights in the world. Jesus had said the same thing in another way: “You are the light of the world.” But what kind of light? A light that helps people see. A light that exposes darkness. A light that shows another way to live. The first Christians lived in a world that often misunderstood them and sometimes hated them. ...
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Philippians 2:5–11 Saint Paul gives us one of the most beautiful hymns in the New Testament. It is a hymn about Christ. About His humility. About His obedience. About His glory. But behind this hymn we can hear another story: the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. The serpent said: You will be like God. This has always been one of the deepest temptations of the human heart. ...
All Souls’ Day Romans 6:3–9; Psalm 24; Matthew 25:31–46 There is a popular saying: “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” It sounds clever. But on All Souls’ Day, we know it is not true. No one takes toys into eternity. No one takes titles. No one takes bank accounts. No one takes applause. Death takes many things from us. But it also reveals something. It reveals what truly matters. ...
All Saints’ Day Revelation 7:2–4, 9–14; Psalm 24; 1 John 3:1–3; Matthew 5:1–12a Today, the Book of Revelation opens a window into heaven. Saint John sees a great crowd. No one can count them. They come from every nation, race, people, and language. They stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb. They are dressed in white. They worship God. They have come through suffering, struggle, and trial. ...