VATICAN CITY - A homily at Mass is not a mini catechism class, the Vatican says in a new document on homilies, but it is an opportunity to explain Church teaching using the Scripture readings and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

They came by the thousands. Young and old, men and women, Francophone and English, the able-bodied and the infirm, they came despite the driving, biting snow and blustery wind to a church in Montreal in mid-December to bid farewell to hockey legend Jean Beliveau.

As a young girl, I would sometimes accompany my grandmother to church on Sunday, which always meant attending Sunday school. I always looked forward to Sunday school because the lessons were centred on Bible stories and candies were awarded for memorizing Bible verses. In my youth, believing was joyful and it always included the Bible. 

Sometimes certain texts in the Bible make you wonder: Is this really the Word of God? Why is this text in Scripture? What’s the lesson here?