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…
15th Sunday in O.T. (B); July 11, 2021 Am 7:12-15. Ps 85. Eph 1:3-15. Mk 6:7-13 Deacon Jim McFadden When college and NFL coaches prepare for the upcoming game, they just don’t wing it, especially if they want to keep their lucrative jobs! Rather, they develop very specific game-plans, working with their offensive and…
11th Sunday of O.T. (B); June 13th, 2021 Ez 17:22-24. Ps 92. 2 Cor 5:6-10. Mk 4:26-34 Deacon Jim McFadden The recent cyber- attacks on our country—such as on Colonial Pipeline in May which led to gas shortages and even dangerous situations caused by panic buying and on JBS meat processing which lead to…
2nd Sunday of Easter (Mercy Sunday); April 11, 2021 Acts 4:32-35. Ps 118. 1 Jn 5:1-6. Jn 20:19-31 Deacon Jim McFadden The seven weeks between Easter Sunday and Pentecost constitutes the Easter season. While lest well known than Advent or Lent—people will give you quizzical looks when you say “Happy Easter” well into May—the…
3rd Sunday of Lent (B); 3-7-2021 Ex 20:1-17. Ps 19. 1 Cor 1:22-25. Jn 2:13-25 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s Gospel, in the second chapter of John, Jesus goes to the temple in Jerusalem and finds merchants selling oxen, sheep, and doves to sacrifice as well as money-changers sitting at their tables. Using a…
2nd Sunday of Lent (B); 2-28-2021 Gen 22:1-2,9a, 10-13. Ps 116. Rom 8:31b-6:34. Mk 9:2-10 Deacon Jim McFadden During the 2nd Sunday of Lent we come across a most troubling story in the first reading that is traditionally called the “Binding of Isaac.” The story is terrible, not just because it involves human sacrifice,…
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); October 11, 2026 Is 25:6-10a. Ps 23. Phil 4:12-20. Mt 22:1-14 Deacon Jim McFadden The parable we hear in today’s Gospel tells us a lot about the Kingdom of God, which is likened…
27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); October 4, 2026 Is 5:1-7. Ps 80. Phil 4:6-9. Mt 21:33-43 Deacon Jim McFadden The parable about the mismanagement of the vineyard tells us a lot about the Kingdom of God, the choices we…
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); September 27, 2026 Ez 18:25-28. Ps 25. Phil 2:1-11. Mt 21:28-3 Deacon Jim McFadden In a past issue of the Catholic Herald (September/October 2020), the newsmagazine for the Diocese of Sacramento, there is a…
