11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); June 18, 2023 Ex 19:2-6a. Ps. 100. Rom 5:6-11. Mt 9:36-10:8 Deacon Jim McFadden This Sunday we are again faced with the themes of call and discipleship. Today’s readings involve a slightly different perspective in which the demands of discipleship lead to being sent: to be an apostle.
2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); 1-15-2023 Is 49:3,5-6. Ps 40. 1 Cor 1:1-3. Jn 1:29-34 Deacon Jim McFadden We are now in Ordinary Time, where we move from being in control of our clock with all of our purposeful controlled activity, to simply hanging out with Jesus as we reflect on what it
Why are the Saints Happy? All Saints (C); November 1, 2022 Rv 7:2-4,9-14. Ps 24. 1 Jn 3:1-3. Mt 5:1-12a Deacon Jim McFadden Last month I was watching an episode from HBO’s The Wire, in which a detective, by the name of Freeman (more of a description than a proper name), said to the
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); 10-30-2022 Wis 11:22-12:2; Ps 145; 2 Thes 1:11-2:2; Lk 19:1-10 Deacon Jim McFadden Zacchaeus is the “chief tax collector,” the head honcho of those who were despised because he lined his own pockets with money extorted from his fellow Jews and who was a quisling of Rome as
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 28, 2022 Sir 3:17-18, 20,28-29. Ps 68. Heb 12:18-19,22-24a. Lk 14:1.7-14 Deacon Jim McFadden At the mid-point of the ‘90s blockbuster film Titanic, the Leonardo DiCaprio character, spread-eagled with his arms extended on the stern of the ship, boasts loudly, “I am the King of the
Everyone is Called to Discipleship 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); July 17, 2022 Gn 18:1-10a. Ps 15. Col 1:24-28. Lk 10:38:42 Deacon Jim McFadden This vignette of Martha and Mary has a way of bugging us. Let’s face it: most of us are not contemplatives in the same way that say, Trappist monks are;
One of the more challenging units in the Frosh theology course that I teach is the doctrine of the Trinity. Trying to explain the Trinity to a 14 year old is no easy task. When I ask them, “Do we believe in the Father-God, the Son-God, the Holy Spirit-God,” they intuitively say “No.” When I
7th Sunday in O.T. (C); 02-20-2022 1 Sm 26:2,7-23. Ps 103 1 Cor 15:45-49. Lk 6:27-38 Deacon Jim McFadden The Sermon of the Mount, which may be construed as Jesus’ State of the Kingdom address, is in two parts: (1) the Beatitudes, which describes what it’s like to live in the Kingdom of God
24th Sunday in O.T. (B); 9-12-2021 Is 50:5-9a. Ps 116. Jas 2:14-18. Mk 8:27-35 Deacon Jim McFadden We know this scene well: Jesus is the area of Caesarea Philippi and asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27). After the report of the common consensus, he probes further by asking
19th Sunday in O.T. (B); 8-8-2021 1 Kgs 19:4-8. Ps 34. Eph 4:30-5:2. Jn 6:41-51 Deacon Jim McFadden Homer’s Odyssey…Herman Melville’s Moby Dick…Jack Kerouac’s On the Road—all have something in common: as the main characters make their way through their respective narrative, they point to the journey of life and remind us that we
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; 12-28-2025 Sir 3:2-6. Ps 128. Col 3:12-21. Mt 2:13-15, 19-21 Deacon Jim McFadden On this first Sunday after Christmas, the Liturgy invites us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family…
Christmas (A) ; 12-25-2025 Is 52:1-7. Ps 97. Heb 1:1-6 . Jn 1:1-18 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…
4th Sunday of Advent (A); December 21, 2025 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…
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