First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 28 (Year C) Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

“The days are surely coming” is a phrase often repeated in prophetic texts of the Old Testament. It is usually followed by a detailed description of what God is going to do for Israel — most often, it will be a glorious and prosperous future.

“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.” (Matthew 2:18, quoting Jeremiah 31:15)

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Nov. 11 (Year B) 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 29 (Year B) 2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15

NEW YORK – Joy has to be rooted in the fullness of reality, the suffering of the Cross, the glory of the Resurrection and the providence of God, not in a gooey meringue of sweetness.

There is an old joke among Catholics that if you want to quote something from the Bible, ask a good Protestant.

MANILA, Philippines – Remember what Jesus' cross stands for, and don't misuse the Bible to justify the death penalty, said the Philippines' Catholic bishops.

There’s a haunting text in the Book of Revelations where poetic image, for all its beauty, can be dangerously misleading. The author there writes: “So the angel swung his sickle over the Earth and cut the Earth’s vintage. He threw it into the great winepress of God’s fury.”

A colleague of mine shares this story: Recently, after presiding at Eucharist, a woman from the congregation came up to him with this comment: “What a horrible Scripture reading today! If that’s the kind of God we’re worshipping, then I don’t want to go to Heaven!”

The Church must uphold “the objective truths of Sacred Scripture” in the face of a secular culture that poses a grave challenge to the Christian view of family, Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins told the Synod of Bishops meeting in the Vatican.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B) June 14, (Ezekiel 17:22-24; Psalm 92; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34)

Human beings are competitive and love the feeling of pride that comes with achievement. They are also impatient — they want what they want, and they want it now, as the radio commercial goes. The Scriptures teach us another lesson — God’s ways are not ours, nor is God’s sense of time.

One of the joys of the Easter season, just concluded, is the ample readings from the Gospel of John. Indeed in the final days of the Easter season, as Pentecost approaches, the Church gives us at Holy Mass the last verses of John, culminating with the summary of the Christian life given to Peter by Jesus: “Follow me!”

VATICAN CITY - Europe's Christians must speak with one voice to defend religious liberty and to ensure desperate migrants are treated fairly, Pope Francis said.

Sometimes you can see a whole lot of things just by looking. That’s one of Yogi Berra’s infamous aphorisms. It’s a clever expression of course, but, sadly, perhaps mostly, the opposite is truer. Mostly we do a whole lot of looking without really seeing much. Our eyes can be wide open and we can be seeing very little.

Eternity has more kinds of rooms than this world does.

This is a thought inside the head of Marilynne Robinson’s fictional character, Lila, in Robinson’s recent novel. Lila has reason to think that way, that is, to think outside the box of conventional religious piety because her story is not one that fits piety of any kind.