Jesus teaches two lessons about our journey to holiness in today’s Gospel. First he “debunks” an idea. In his day, people believed that when fatal tragedies happened (caused by humans or nature), it was because people had sinned. He tells them: No — actually, the only thing that causes true… The post March 23, 3rd Sunday of Lent, Slow Work: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

In all three cycles of our liturgical year, the Gospel for the second Sunday of Lent is the Transfiguration. The first Sunday of Lent focused on how our journey to holiness includes overcoming temptations and their resulting sins. This second Sunday presents our final goal, not only for Lent but… The post March 16, 2nd Sunday of Lent, Transfiguration: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

We begin our six Sundays of Lent with Luke’s Gospel account of Jesus’ temptations in the desert. Mark’s short Gospel, written around 70 C.E. (Christian Era), only says that Jesus was tempted. But about 15 years later, Luke and Matthew expanded Mark’s account by describing three different temptations of Jesus… The post March 9, 1st Sunday of Lent, Temptations: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

There’s not, it seems to me, a central message in today’s Gospel. Instead, Luke the evangelist presents Jesus’ teaching by using a string of pithy parable-like sayings. In Hebrew Scripture, sayings like this are part of “Wisdom Literature,” and so our Year C lectionary pairs our Gospel with a passage… The post March 2, 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Wisdom: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

Today’s Gospel continues the verses from Luke’s version of the famous sermon Jesus gave — which is called the “sermon on the mount” in Matthew’s Gospel. It is a long Gospel and contains many of the most challenging of Jesus’ teachings. Maybe that’s just what we need, though, because Ash… The post February 23, 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Challenges: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

Today we hear Luke’s version of a time Jesus gave a famous sermon; in Matthew’s Gospel, it’s called the  “sermon on the mount,” although in Luke’s account, Jesus stands on level ground. Both Gospels begin with “the beatitudes.” But Luke’s list of beatitudes is shorter than Matthew’s and more focused… The post February 16, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, The poor: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

There are some interesting details in today’s Gospel about the miraculous catch of fish. Jesus got into Simon’s (Peter’s) boat because the crowd was pressing in on him so much that he could not make himself heard. He had Peter take the boat “a short distance from the shore” so… The post February 9, 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Discipleship: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

It wasn’t easy for the apostles to figure Jesus out. At one point, Jesus even asked them: “Who do men say I am?” The Scriptures for this Sunday are answering that question by presenting Jesus to us in two ways. First, Jesus is a little human child. He is flesh… The post February 2, Presentation of the Lord, More than meets the eye: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

Life is going along just fine for Tevye, a poor Jewish man in a Russian village in the early 20th century.  Then things begin to fall apart as his daughters step out of their traditional roles and challenge the custom of arranged marriages. Not only does generational clash result, but… The post January 26, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Tradition: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more

When I lived in the Jerusalem area for 12 weeks, and when I attended my niece’s Hindu wedding, I experienced wedding celebrations that lasted several days! Monsignor Charles Pope, in his blog for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., says that in Jesus’ time, “weddings typically extended over a period of… The post January 19, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Wedding: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood ..read more