Mass Reading & Meditation for September 10, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Colossians 3:12-17
Have you noticed that so many of the great stories include epic struggles between forces of good and forces of evil?
There is a widespread appeal to these tales that captivates the reader’s imagination and draws him or her into the drama. On one level, these tales resonate because we all sense that [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 9, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Colossians 3:1-11
If Paul ever needed a second job, he could have easily found a position writing technical manuals.
He could be clear and concise when he needed to, and he never minced words. Just as a manual tells you how to use a particular appliance or gadget, Paul tells us clearly how to take [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 7, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 6:6-11
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, anger is a strong response to a perceived threat or injustice.
Anger, he taught, is not sinful when the perceived injustice is real and when the response is controlled and in proportion to the injustice. Anger can even be a good thing if it moves us to fight [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 5, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Colossians 1:21-23
What a wondrous thing God has done for us!
He has reconciled us to himself through the death of his only Son. Now, because of Christ, we can enjoy the relationship of love that God always intended for us. Our Father has taken pleasure in us from the beginning, but now we too [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 4, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 5:33-39
New wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. (Luke 5:38)
If you had to find a container to hold a rare and expensive wine, would you choose a fresh wineskin, strong and pliable, or an old wineskin, cracked and leaking?
Jesus used this analogy to tell us that the new life he offers fits [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 3, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Colossians 1:9-14
Last October, bishops from all around the world met in Rome for a synod on the word of God in the life of the church.
Their goal was to discuss ways to help people hear Jesus, the Word of God, as he speaks to his people—in Scripture primarily, but also in the voice [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 2, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 4:38-44
Have you ever wondered why the four gospels are so different from each other?
They all tell the story of Jesus: his teaching, his miracles, his death, and his resurrection. But each of them has different details, and some of these details even contradict each other.
Take today’s reading, for example. Along with Matthew [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for August 20, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Matthew 22:1-14
A master storyteller, Jesus frequently used parables—earthly stories with heavenly meanings—to teach about spiritual realities.
In today’s Gospel, he compared the kingdom of heaven to a feast held by a king for his son’s wedding. As the parable unfolds, the invited guests refuse the invitation. Some even kill the king’s messengers—an image of [...]