7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); February 19th, 2023 Lv 19:1-2,17-18.  Ps 103.  1 Cor 3:16-23.  Mt 5:38-48 Deacon Jim McFadden             Last Sunday we reflected how Jesus instructed his disciples on the Sermon of the Mount to watch over little things that undermine our love relationships.  Today, he goes further by calling us to

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6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); February 12, 2023 Sir 15:15-20.  Ps 119.  1 Cor 2:6-10.  Mt 5:17-37 Deacon Jim McFadden          It can begin with the smallest gesture: an interested glance across a classroom, the brushing of a hand, asking for that first date when your stomach is in a knot.  Lifelong love builds

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5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); February 5, 2023 Is 58:7-10.  Ps 112.  1 Cor 2:1-5.  Mt 5:13-16 Deacon Jim McFadden          The Sundays leading up to Lent, the liturgy offers us teachings from the Sermon of the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.  The Beatitudes launch the Sermon, providing the structure for subsequent teachings,

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4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); January 29, 2023 Zep 2:3; 3:12-13.  Ps 146.  1 Cor 1:26-31.  Mt 5:1-12 Deacon Jim McFadden             In Charles Dickens’ famous tale A Christmas Carol, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his partner, Jacob Marley, and is then shown three ghostly scenes

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The Epiphany of the Lord (A); January 8, 2023 Is 60:1-6.  Ps 72.  Eph 3:2-3.  Mt 2:1-12 Deacon Jim McFadden             “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we have observed his star in the East, and have come to worship him” (Mt 2:2).  These men, traditionally described as

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Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, 1-1-23 Nm 6:22-27.  Gal 4:4-7.  Lk 2:16-21 Deacon Jim McFadden   There is an old tradition that Luke the evangelist knew the Blessed Mother and he wove her memories into his Gospel account. This view resonates because he presents the Annunciation, the birth and infancy of Jesus from

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Christmas (A); 12-25-2021 Is 9:1-6.  Ps 96.  Ti 2:11-14.  Lk 2:1-14 Deacon Jim McFadden             Christmas celebrates God’s overwhelming desire to be united with us.  Sometimes we wonder, why does he bother?  He’s perfect—he doesn’t need anything since he is the great I AM.  The Psalmist wondered the same thing, when he intoned, “What are

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4th Sunday of Advent (A); December 18, 2022 Is 7:10-14.  Ps 24.  Rom 1:1-7.  Mt 1:18-24 Deacon Jim McFadden             As we enter into the 4th Sunday of Advent, let us remember that salvation history has a trajectory which comes to fulfillment in the Messiah.  All the fragments of history are gathered together in him. 

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