At the occasion of the feast of a Pope who understood his time and who is therefore one of the two popes called “the great,” we reflect for a moment on the task and service of leadership in the Church. Serving, witnessing, collegiality among the leaders and with priests and the laity, seeking together to
Greeting Know that this place is holy because the Lord is here among us. Know that we ourselves are called to be holy for we are God’s temple. May the Lord Jesus always stay with you. R/ And also with you. Introduction by the Celebrant Christians build churches to worship God. But churches have no
Greeting (See Second Reading) We believe that Jesus died and rose again and that those who have died in Jesus will be brought to life with their Lord. May Jesus, the Lord of life, be always with you all. R/ And also with you. Introduction by the Celebrant When they hear that they have to
Year II. Concluding his warm letter to them, Paul expresses his great gratitude to the Philippians, the only community from which he had accepted material help. May God bless them. Gospel. After the Lord’s parable on the unjust steward, Luke adds several statements from various sources, some allegorical reflections of the early Christian communities, some
Year II. For Paul, the greatest sign of the gratuitous love of God is the cross. He exhorts his Philippians once more not to let themselves be misled by the Judaizers but to stand firm in the Lord. Gospel. Whatever the unknown context of today’s parable may have been, the central thought of Jesus’ words
Year II. As a Jew, Paul could be proud of many things: born as a member of the chosen people and circumcised; as a Pharisee, secure in the strict observance of the Law… Yet all these had proven to be not advantages but obstacles to encountering Christ: instead, they had made him a persecutor of
Today we commemorate Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of Saint John the Baptist. Though not officially on the universal Roman Calendar, Catholic tradition cherishes their memory, drawing from the Gospel of Luke (chapters 1–2), which recounts their faith, patience, and openness to God’s plan. Zechariah, a priest of the Temple, and Elizabeth, a woman
Year II. The task of the disciple is double, says St Paul: Let God do his work in you, and bear witness to the world. If they can do that, the work of Paul among them will not have been in vain. Gospel. Jesus stresses that Christians must follow Jesus radically, consistently. They must know
Year II. In today’s first reading, we hear two stanzas from a beautiful hymn to Christ. It may be of Syrian origin and was probably used in the liturgy. It sums up Christ and his work in a few concise terms: divine, yet in the humble condition of a servant, a human being; crucified but
Greeting (See Rom 8:38-39) Neither death nor life, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, nor any created thing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. May this risen Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you. Introduction by the Celebrant Death will
