Religious Education - Children
Catechist BlogDiscerning the Light
In today’s Gospel, Matthew deliberately situates the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in a very particular place: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali… Galilee of the Gentiles.” This is not just geography. There is a meaning: Galilee was not Jerusalem. It...
Testimony
John the Baptist’s role in John’s Gospel is to be a witness and to give testimony. In the Prologue to the Gospel, we hear: “He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the...
Mary, Mother of God
Today as we celebrate a New Year, we look to Mary, the servant of the Lord and the Mother of God. Mary was part of God’s eternal plan which comes to fulfillment in the fullness of time as Paul describes it in today’s second reading: “When the fullness of time had...
The Beginning
It all begins with God, and it will all end with God. This is the theme proclaimed in today’s Gospel from the Prologue to John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” While everything begins and ends with God he...
What we love
St. John’s words in today’s reading are at once tender and challenging. He begins not with correction, but with reassurance: “I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake.” (1 Jn 2:12) Before John asks anything of us, he...
Maybe in my lifetime
Today’s gospel from St. Luke is the narration of the Presentation in the Temple. The presentation that was required 40 days after Jesus’ nativity to complete Mary's ritual purification after childbirth, and to perform the redemption of the firstborn son, in obedience...
The Costs of Christmas
Yesterday the Church sang of angels, shepherds, light, and joy. Quite jarringly, today we are shown stones, hatred, and death. On the very day after Christmas, the Church places before us St. Stephen, the first martyr. This is not accidental. It is profoundly...
The Days of Promise
I hope you have been following the readings here during the final week of Advent. These have been the gospel readings: Friday: the “annunciation” of the birth of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist Saturday: the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the...
The Magnificat
Today’s Gospel is the “Canticle of Mary” also called the Magnificat (from the Latin “to magnify, to praise”). Mary gives praise and thanks to God for calling her to be the mother of Jesus, to be the mother of God. Mary has just come to visit her cousin Elizabeth who...
How?
In today’s Gospel Luke tells us the story of the Annunciation of the birth not of Jesus but the Annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist. The angel appears to the priest Zechariah as he was serving his priestly ministry in the Jerusalem Temple. Luke describes...