In today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to a “greater righteousness.” The word “righteousness” in Matthew’s Gospel means knowing and doing the will of God. We pray for righteousness in the Our Father: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.” God’s Kingdom and God’s...
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This feast and today’s readings ask us to focus on the love and mercy of God. St. Paul speaks in today’s second reading of the “inscrutable riches of Christ.” In the previous chapter Paul has...
The disciples, perhaps like most of us, tend to “half-hear” what Jesus is teaching. In today’s Gospel, for example, Jesus teaches that his way is the way of humility, the way of the Cross: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed...
In today’s first reading James has some challenging and even harsh words for the rich: “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.” The problem is not possessions or riches per se but how they have earned these riches and what they have done with...
Today people seem to like to choose a side and exclude and even refuse to listen to those with whom they disagree. They watch only the news channels that agree with their position and refuse to listen to anyone else they think might be against them. Such people...
