FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR A THE TEMPTATION OF AN ILLUSORY HAPPINESS Download version Introduction In common parlance, to be tempted means to feel attracted to the forbidden. It is little wonder that the great characters of the Bible, the patriarchs and Job have been tempted. A certain embarrassment is felt in front of […]
SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A THEY KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS BUT DO NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN Download version Introduction The Jews call the first five books of the Bible the Law. A surprising way to call a collection that contains rules, precepts, and commands but is not a code of law
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A HOW COULD ONE BECOME SALT AND LIGHT? Download version Introduction ‘Today, there is no more faith. Once there was so much.’ How do you measure faith? Referring to statistics, do you simply count the number of those who participate in Sunday Mass, receive the sacraments, marry in
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A WHAT DOES THE HUMAN PERSON SEEK BUT JOY? Download version Introduction Do you want to be happy for a few hours? Get drunk. Do you want to be satisfied for some years? Grab the pleasures that life gives you. Qohelet himself suggests: “Go, eat your bread with
THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A HOW LONG WILL THE NIGHT LAST? Download version Introduction “Judas, taking the morsel, went out immediately. And it was night” (Jn 13:30). A few words to describe a dramatic scene: a man, now at the mercy of his crazy plans, abandons Christ—the light—and is swallowed by darkness.
SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A GOD WHO CALLS Download version Introduction There is no page of Scripture where the theme of vocation does not appear in some way. “In the beginning, God calls the creatures to existence” (Wis 11:25), calls man to life, and when Adam turns away from him, he asks:
BAPTISM OF THE LORD – YEAR A HE WANTED TO RISE FROM THE ABYSS Download version Introduction Biblical sites are often tied to a particular point of theological significance. The sea, the mountain, the desert, the Galilee of the Gentiles, Samaria, the Jordan River, the land beyond the Lake of Gennesaret are much more than
THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD SHINING STAR – LIGHT FOR ALL PEOPLES Download version Introduction A land of passage, the subject of disputes, a crossroads of people, culture, race, and language! Palestine was invaded and occupied in turn by Egyptian Pharaohs and princes of Mesopotamia. The desire to take revenge against the oppressors was long
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD – NEW YEAR’S DAY BLESS, DON’T CURSE: IT IS THE WAY OF PEACE Download version Introduction Christians have always connected the traditional New Year’s feast to a motive of their faith. Before the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council, Jesus’ circumcision was celebrated on this feast. It
FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY – YEAR A THE ELDERLY: BUILDERS OF A YOUNG WORLD Download version Introduction The sons of Eli, the priest of the Lord at Shiloh, were depraved and did not pay any attention to the call of their father (1 S 2:12). One day a man of God appeared to
