The feast celebrates the Lateran Basilica as the “mother church” of Christianity: ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput – of all the churches in the city and the world, the mother and head. The readings selected for the celebration are Ezekiel’s vision of a new temple and its flowing waters that renew all life and John’s account of Jesus cleansing the Jerusalem Temple. In the first reading it is the world that is cleansed. In the gospel it is the Temple itself. There is a lot going on in these readings.

Take a moment and consider all that Jesus’ parable has to offer.  Do it from the comfort of your back porch!

Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary

USCCB, Patron Saints

The Church celebrates Jesus as King of the Universe and then makes sure we understand what kind of King He is. The gospel for Christ the King Sunday is the crucifixion scene from the Gospel of Luke. The King has ascended to his throne – the Cross. He descended from Heaven to be one of us and show us the way home to the Father. Now he ascends to show us the gateway to eternal life for all who would believe into Him.

Take some time on your back porch to ponder the great gift of our Savior.

Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary

Stained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts, depicting Christ the King in the regalia of a Byzantine emperor CC-BY-SA 3.0; January 2009 photo by John Stephen Dwyer

Jesus has arrived at Jerusalem after last Sunday’s gospel about Resurrection. Here Jesus makes a third prediction of his death – and the Apostles note the splendor of the Temple. Jesus notes that earthly things don’t last – and in apocalyptic language and imagery describes the tumult introducing a age to come. As usual, there is a lot going on.  Take a moment to dive in the Word of God.

Do it from the comfort of your back porch!

Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary

Flevit super illam (He wept over it) | Enrique Simonet (1892) | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Creative Commons

This is the 1st Sunday of Advent. The readings are ones are focused on the “comings” of Jesus. While we are prone to think of Jesus coming at Christmas, the tone and tenor of the readings are quiet apocalyptic. Readings more attuned to the 2nd coming at the end of the ages – an especially suitable reading one week following the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. This speaks to the promise of a Savior (Christmas) and when all are made whole (2nd coming)

As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God.

Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary

Image credit: Canva, St. Francis, CC-BY-NC

This is the 2nd Sunday of Advent. The focus of the narrative is John the Baptist who appears in the wilderness by the Jordan River proclaiming: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”.   John is the actor fulfilling the promise of Isaiah that one would come from the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Messiah and the coming judgment: “Even now the axe lies at the roots…” – and he proclaim there is One who is coming and is mightier!

As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God.

Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary

Image credit: John the Baptist Preaching | Pieter Lastman | 1219 | Art Institute of Chicago | PD-US

This is the 3rd Sunday of Advent. again John the Baptist features prominently in the gospel text. Where last week we encountered him as the herald of the Messiah, this week John has been arrested and is jailed. No doubt the Baptist had anxiously followed the career of the one whom he had recognized as the ‘mightier one’ for whose coming he had prepared (3:11–12). And yet there is the question that John the Baptist sends with his disciples to ask of Jesus. Does the question strike you as odd? Shouldn’t the one who pointed to Jesus, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God”, be a little more sure about Jesus’ identity as the promised Messiah? Join the club: theologians, Church Fathers, and modern scholars have wrestled with the same question over the centuries.

As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God.

Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary

Image credit: Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter, c. 1636-40, by Nicholas Poussin, Public Domain

This is the 4th Sunday of Advent. Unexpected circumstances. Hard decisions to make. Angels speaking to Joseph in a dream – and we are ready to race through this gospel to get to the birth of Jesus and in so doing consign Jesus to the background. But our gospel emphasizes Joseph “rose from sleep and did as the angel commanded” (v24). Joseph’s response to God’s message is immediate. There is no hesitation, no weighing of alternatives, no delay. In quiet faith, he rises from sleep and acts. His obedience is not merely compliance but trust — trust that what God asks, In that moment, Joseph becomes a model for all believers. He teaches us that godliness is not measured by eloquent words or lofty feelings, but by ready obedience. When God speaks, be it through Scripture, conscience, or circumstance, the holy person listens and acts without delay. The holy person is one who, like Joseph, wakes and acts.

As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God.

Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary

Ceiling detail Battistero di San Giovanni | Florence | 13th century | photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen | Wikimedia Commons | CC-BY 2.5