AD SENSE

15th Sunday B: Called and Sent out

  Thomas O’Loughlin

Introduction to the Celebration

We assemble as a people who have been called to be bearers of God’s love to all humanity.

Saints Peter and Paul -June 29

 
Starter Story:
The year was 1770, and in a small Italian church, two altar boys prepared for Benediction. Annibale Della Genga and Francesco Castiglioni entered the sacristy, put on their albs, and grabbed the heavy brass candlesticks. And then they began to bicker.

July 4th: American Independence Day

 July 4 Saturday (U. S. Independence Day reflections on next page): Matthew 9:14-17: 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is  taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.  17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is  put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm

13th Week: June 28 – July 3:

 13th Week: June 28 – July 3: 

June 28 Monday (St. Irenaeus, Bishop, Martyr)

The context: Today’s Gospel passage explains the cost of Christian discipleship and the total commitment, wholehearted constancy, and sacrificial ministry that the Christian mission requires.

13th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, June 28

13th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, June 28

Genesis 18:16-33 / Matthew 8:18-22

Abraham bargains with God; "What if you find ten good people?" 

14th Sunday: Jesus in this Home Town; No prophet is accepted in...

  

 Michel DeVerteuil 
Textual Comments

The gospel passage for this Sunday is St Mark’s version of Jesus’ return to his home town of Nazareth, accompanied by his disciples. He began to teach in Nazareth, and many were astonished by what they saw in him. They wondered where all this wisdom had come from. What they saw was very different from what others had seen. This man was one of them, in the deepest sense; they knew him and his family. The people of the town would not accept him; even though they had heard of his outstanding accomplishments in other places, they could not see what made him so special.

13 Sunday B: Talitha Koum: Healing is a Compassionate Ministry

 
Sickness and death have a way of shearing through the veneer of our self-importance and social status. These things touch us at our most vulnerable point. Sickness and death strip us of our illusions and remind us that, no matter how important we are in the eyes of others, we are still human—still very limited and transient citizens here on earth.

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, June 26

 12th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, June 26

Genesis 18:1-15 / Matthew 8:5-17

 Sarah laughs; "Is anything too marvellous for God?" 

In 1842, members of the U.S. Congress laughed when Samuel Morse explained his ideas for sending messages through a wire.

June 24: Nativity of John the Baptist

 The Lord called me: You are my servant.

This is the second of the four “servant songs” in Isaiah. (Isaiah 40-50). These songs exalt the perfect Israelite, whose suffering saves many people. (Isaiah 53: ii). In one sense, the songs apply to Israel and to all of its great leaders; but in another sense, they apply ultimately and uniquely to Jesus alone. (Acts 3:13,26)

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, June 22

 12th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, June 22

Genesis 13:2, 5-18 / Matthew 7:26, 12-14

Abraham and Lot separate; "If you prefer to go left, I'll go right."

Paul Kruger, the great African statesman, lived at the turn of the century.