Mass Readings – Saturday of the 5th Week of the Year
Adam and Eve experience the natural consequences of sin as they face new challenges in their lives and leave the Garden of Eden; Jesus looks on the crowd with pity and responds to the natural consequences of their needs with compassion – inspiring us to face the consequences of our own sins with the compassion of Christ.
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Mass Readings – Friday of the 5th Week of the Year (St. Scholastica)
The temptation of Adam & Eve illustrates for us how sin can erode our relationships with God and one another. As we come to understand their temptation, we seek the Lord in our moments of trial, asking for the grace (and when necessary, forgiveness) of Jesus Christ.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 5th Week of the Year
A Greek woman who is Syrophoenician by birth expresses a mother’s love through her simple and direct faith in the healing power of Christ. Her one line response to Jesus inspires us to embrace our faith with conviction and power as we face the challenges in our lives.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 5th Week of the Year
Jesus points out that it is within our hearts that destruction and defilement take place. The solution? Turn away from sin, making a change of heart so that the grace of Christ can make us whole.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Mass Readings – Tuesday of the 5th Week of the Year
Jesus reminds us in the Gospel of Mark that we are called to keep our focus fixed on God, so that all our actions – big or small – do not take on a life of their own but always point back to the Lord.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Study: Reflect on a time when you had to make a decision that had profound consequences. What helped you decide wisely?
Pray: Do you have a major decision in life right now? Bring your concerns before the Lord for wisdom and guidance.
Serve: How can you empower another to make good and holy choices today?
Mass Readings – 6th Sunday of the Year
Let’s start with a quick recap of the readings:
The first reading from the Book of Sirach makes it clear that we have the freedom to make choices in our lives for good or evil, life or death. This concept of Free Will – that we are so free that we can reject even God himself – comes with sobering consequences: Those who choose life will find it, and those who choose destruction will find it…
The Psalm response encourages us to choose the Lord. As we seek to know the Lord through Prayer, Scripture, Fellowship and Sacraments we conform our hearts to Christ. Following the Lord means that we seek instruction, learn God’s commands, and then apply our faith in all aspects of our lives.
The second reading reveals the mystery of God’s wisdom, hidden through the ages and revealed in Christ, which is granted to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Spirit – requested by Jesus and given by the Father – that our minds and hearts receive the Good News and act on it with conviction and power.
Finally, in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus sets a new standard of living. Using four precepts of the Law of Moses, the Lord demands that we go farther than what was formerly prescribed:
The Lord makes it clear that he is doing something new, building upon the precedent of the Law and moving far beyond it. Jesus calls his disciples to a deeper level of commitment, moving beyond the moral code to a morality that is written upon our hearts. We find ourselves more aware of the destructive power of sin, turning away from its snare and embracing a life in Christ.
And thus we find ourselves back at the first reading. We have a choice. No matter what has gone before we can make a break from the past and choose life! Today we seek Jesus and ask for the grace we need to choose Him with all our heart.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Mass Readings – 5th Sunday of the Year
Jesus proclaims to his disciples that they are the light of the world, an uplifting testament to the opportunity we have to make a difference in our world as we offer the gift of our lives to God.
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Mass Readings – Saturday of the 4th Week of the Year
Christ, the Great Shepherd, looks upon our weakness with compassion and reaches out to guide and strengthen us for the journey through this life and into the next.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s podcasts
Mass Readings – Friday of the 4th Week of the Year
The death of John the Baptist recalls the fact that doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason does NOT mean that life will always be easy. In fact, our faith in Jesus Christ will sometimes put us squarely in the face of opposition…and we recognize that we might suffer even as we serve the Lord with all our heart.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s podcasts
Mass Readings – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
As Mary and Joseph present their infant son in the Temple, they encounter Simeon and Anna who give praise to God for the fulfillment of the Lord’s promises – the Messiah has come bringing light into the world! As his disciples may we continue to share this light as we present ourselves for service to God and one another.
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Catholic Inspiration – Podcast Archives of Homilies & Talks
Three Great Things 