2nd Sunday of Advent; 12-8-19 Is 11:1-10 Ps 72 Rom 15:4-9 Mt 3:1-12 Deacon Jim McFadden On the second Sunday of Advent, Matthew calls us to encounter the intriguing figure of John the Baptist, a gritty, down-to-earth, ‘in your face’ prophet. His clothing is coarse: “John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and…
1st Sunday of Advent (A); 12-1-2019 Is 2:1-5 Ps 122 Rom 13:11-14 Mt 24:37-44 Deacon Jim McFadden As we enter into the great season of Advent, we await the coming of the Lord. Our first reading is taken from the prophet Isaiah, often referred to as the prophet of Advent since we rely so…
CHRIST THE KING (C); November 24, 2019 2 Sm 5:1-3 Ps 122 Col 1:12-20 Lk 23: 35-43 Deacon Jim McFadden Today we come to the end of the liturgical year, the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. The Gospel from Luke presents the kingship of Jesus as the culmination of…
33rd Sunday in O.T. (C); November 17, 2019 Mal 3:19-20a Ps 98 2 Thes 3:7-12 Lk 21:5-19 Deacon Jim McFadden; SJB “And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession…And I will have compassion on them” (Mal 3:17): these words come to us from the last page of…
28th Sunday in O.T. (C); October 13, 2019 2 Kgs 5:14-17 Ps 98 2 Tim 2:8-13 Lk 17:11-19 Deacon Jim McFadden From a worldly perspective, the worst thing a powerful person can do is admit his/her weakness to others. As we scan our political landscape, humility is in short supply. That’s one reason so…
27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C); October 6, 2019 Hb 1:2-3; 2:3-4. Ps 95:1-2, 6-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10 Deacon Jim McFadden Can’t you just feel for the prophet Habakkuk? The poor guy faces violence and destruction and he yells out to God: “I cry for help but you do not listen!…
26th Sunday in O.T.; September 29, 2019 Am 6:1a, 4-7 Ps 102 1 Tm 6:11-16 Lk 16:19-31 Deacon Jim McFadden Many of us find the homeless to be unnerving and annoying. They disrupt businesses in downtown areas. They relieve themselves in public, creating health issues. And, sometimes they’re just scary. Recently, going to and…
Our God is Awesome, but Strange 24th Sunday in O.T. (C); Sept. 15, 2019 Ex 32:7-11,13-14 Ps 51 1 Tim 1:12-17 Lk 15:1-32 Deacon Jim McFadden; SJB Let’s face it: the God that Jesus reveals does not operate according to the way we go about doing things. We’re given a heads-up in the…
23rd Sunday in O.T. (C); 9-8-2019 Wis 9:13-18b Ps 90 Phlm 9-10,12-17 Lk 14:25-33 Deacon Jim McFadden Luke tells us that great crowds were following Jesus; he was a very popular man, a fascinating figure. If Jesus were physically with us today, he’d be all over the Internet, the focus of blogosphere scrutiny. He’d…
21st Sunday in O.T. (C); 8-25-2019 Is 66:18-21 Ps 117 Heb 12:5-7,11-13 Lk 13:22-30 Deacon Jim McFadden A few years ago an inmate at Folsom Prison approached me and said, “Deacon, I came across a number in Scripture that says only 150,000 people are going to be saved. If that’s so, I don’t stand a…
The Cross is the Way Home 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 30, 2026 Jer 20:7-9. Ps 63. Rom 12:1-2. Mt 16:21-27 Deacon Jim McFadden After establishing Peter as the rock of his Church, Jesus then begins to speak…
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 23, 2026 Is 22:19-23. Ps 138. Rom 11:33-36. Mt 16:13-20 Deacon Jim McFadden Midway through his public ministry, Jesus ventured with his disciples to the northern reaches of the Promised Land, to the…
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 16, 2026 Is 56:1,6-7. Ps 67. Rom 11:13-15,29-32. Mt 15:21-28 Deacon Jim McFadden Today’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28) presents us with a unique example of faith in Jesus’s encounter with a Canaanite woman,…
WWW.DEACONJIM.BLOG 