Christ at Mass

Be Careful When Pulling Out Weeds In today’s gospel, the owner of the field tells his servants to let the bad weeds grow together with the good wheat. There is a profound lesson here in how we should deal with people, especially our family members. Here is a tale of two men in dealing with their daughters. Frank’s oldest daughter was a very hard worker and always was. She was also very kind to people but had a strong tendency…

Today we are told the seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. And we don’t just hear it once. We hear it three times. It’s in our first reading from Isaiah [IS 55:10-11], it’s in our responsorial psalm (PS 65:10-14], and it’s in Matthew’s gospel [MT 13:1-23]. Clearly today’s readings are about how God’s love can take root in us if we are open to His word. Are each of us the good ground He is…

Loss, illness, hunger, worry. The pandemic has thrown the world into conditions of potential despair. Is God angry with us? Has God forsaken us? Where is our salvation? Similar sorrows and questions accompanied the Israelites during their long Babylonian exile. In recent daily mass readings we have lamented along with them as they longed for lost ways of life and reflected on their offenses to God. However, in the Scripture readings this weekend, sorrow gives ways to rejoicing as Psalm…

Today’s readings show us how great our reward can be if we make a commitment to our Lord. In the first reading [2 KGS 4:8-11, 14-16A], the older childless woman and her husband are promised a son for their simple yet generous hospitality toward Elisha, and as Saint Paul tells us in the second reading [ROM 6:3-4, 8-11], those of us who were baptized into Jesus Christ were also baptized into His death, and thus the promise of eternal life.…

Today our first reading is taken from Jeremiah (10:10-13). This prophet has been called the “weeping prophet”.  He is relatable Biblical figure, sharing his feelings of hurt and betrayal by those who were once his friends, and now seek his misstep, “to take vengeance upon him.” These are the people who boomeranged a nickname upon him, a title he had called upon a disreputable government official. He was called “the terror from every side.“ In spite of the negative abuse…

Today our first reading is taken from Jeremiah (10:10-13). This prophet has been called the “ weeping prophet”.  He is relatable Biblical figure, sharing his feelings of hurt and betrayal by those who were once his friends, and now seek his misstep, “to take vengeance upon him.” These are the people who boomeranged a nickname upon him, a title he had called upon a disreputable government official. He was called “ the terror from every side. “In spite of the…