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“Not to Be Served But to Serve” (Mark 10:32-45) Let me start out our message today with a question. Here it is. Which of these two statements is true: a) “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none,” or b) “A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Which one is true? Actually, the correct answer is c) “both of the above.” A Christian is both a perfectly free lord of all and a perfectly dutiful servant of all. It was Martin Luther who set forth these two seemingly contradictory propositions in...

15 March 2024 Friday of the 4th week of Lent St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church, Baltimore, MD Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingWisdom 2:1,12-22 ©Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man and condemn him to a shameful deathThe godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:‘Our life is short and dreary,nor is there any relief when man’s end comes,nor is anyone known who can give release from Hades.Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys usand opposes our way of life,reproaches us for our breaches of the lawand accuses us of...

14 March 2024 Thursday of the 4th week of LentCrypt in the church of St Servatius at Quedlinburg, where Mathilda and Henry I are buriedReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingExodus 32:7-14 ©Moses pleads with the Lord his God to spare IsraelThe Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who...

“The Passion of Our Lord: Suffered under Pontius Pilate” (Mark 15:1-32) Tonight we continue our series on “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark.” During this series, we’re going through Mark chapters 14 and 15 piece by piece. Now we come to chapter 15. It’s Good Friday, when Jesus is handed over to the Roman governor to suffer and die. And so our theme tonight: “The Passion of Our Lord: Suffered under Pontius Pilate.” To set the scene: Jesus was betrayed and arrested the night before, was tried by the Jewish Sanhedrin, and found guilty of...

“The Passion of Our Lord: Truth on Trial” (Mark 14:53-72) It’s Thursday night, late. Overnight, really. Heading into Friday. And truth is on trial. Jesus is on trial. So is the Sanhedrin that is trying him. So is Peter, his disciple. And so are we, frankly. Who will pass the test? Let’s find out. And so our theme tonight: “The Passion of Our Lord: Truth on Trial.” Jesus is on trial. He’s appearing before the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. The council is comprised of the high priest, the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, and other representatives of the Jewish...

13 March 2024 Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent Cathedral of Seville main altar Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingIsaiah 49:8-15 ©On the day of salvation I will help youThus says the Lord:At the favourable time I will answer you,on the day of salvation I will help you.(I have formed you and have appointed youas covenant of the people.)I will restore the landand assign you the estates that lie waste.I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’On every roadway they will graze,and each bare height shall be their pasture.They...

12 March 2024 Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent Tomb Altar of St Fina, San Gimignano, Italy Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingEzekiel 47:1-9,12 ©Wherever the water flows, it will bring life and healthThe angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east...

11 March 2024 Monday of the 4th week of Lent Saint Vindicianus (Vindicien d'Arras) relics, Arras Cathedral, FranceReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingIsaiah 65:17-21 ©Be glad and rejoice for ever at what I am creatingThus says the Lord: Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness.’ I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No more...

10 March 2024 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) Shrine of St John Ogilvie, in St Aloysius', the main Jesuit church in Glasgow.Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Rose or Violet. Year: B(II).First reading2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 ©God's wrath and mercy are revealed in the exile and release of his peopleAll the heads of the priesthood, and the people too, added infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the Temple that the Lord had consecrated for himself in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, tirelessly sent them messenger after messenger, since he wished to spare...

9 March 2024 Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent (optional commemoration of Saint Frances of Rome, Religious) Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana in Rome Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingHosea 5:15-6:6 ©What I want is love, not sacrifice and holocaustsThe Lord says this:They will search for me in their misery.‘Come, let us return to the Lord.He has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us;he has struck us down, but he will bandage our wounds;after a day or two he will bring us back to life,on the third day he will raise usand we shall live...

“For God Loved the World in This Way” (John 3:14-21) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That of course is the famous John 3:16, part of the Holy Gospel for this day. “For God so loved the world.” But there’s a lot riding on that little word “so.” How do we understand it? Simply as “God loved the world so much,” and then we fill in what we think his loving the world must mean, based on our own opinions, not on...

“The Law of God Is Good and Wise” (Exodus 20:1-17) “The Law of God is good and wise”: So we just sang in the hymn. But is it? Is the Law of God really good and wise? I mean, yes, it does set God’s will before our eyes. And yes, it does show us the way of righteousness. However, the Law does doom us to death when we transgress. And we do transgress. A lot. So is the Law of God really all that good and wise? Really, when it dooms us? When it damns us? If so, what good...

“The Passion of Our Lord: Praying in Gethsemane” (Mark 14:32-52) So it’s Thursday night. Jesus and the disciples have been celebrating the Passover. At the end of that meal, Jesus institutes a new Passover, the new covenant in his body and blood. At the same time, Jesus knows that one of his disciples will betray him that very night and that he will be handed over to be killed. There’s a lot on his mind, to be sure! Now the meal has concluded. Jesus leads the disciples out of the city and up the Mount of Olives. Oh, they’ve been...

“The Passion of Our Lord: Blessing before Betrayal” (Mark 14:12-31) For these midweek Lenten services, we’re doing a series on “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark.” We’re working our way through Mark chapters 14 and 15, where Christ willingly enters into his time of suffering for our salvation. Last week we began with the account of Jesus being anointed with pure nard and then explaining that this was to prepare him for his burial. Our Lord knew what was coming, and still he went through with what lay ahead. That’s how strong his love for...

Students tabling at a Catholic university in Washington, D.C., drew butts on their foreheads and invited people to join them in celebrating “A** Wednesday,” an allusion to the first day of Lent, which is known as “Ash Wednesday.” Georgetown University is considered one of the oldest Catholic and Jesuit schools in the nation. According to its webpage, the university provides “students with a world-class learning experience focused on educating the whole person through exposure to different faiths, cultures and beliefs.” On Wednesday, America First Policy Institute’s Chief Engagement Officer Ashley Hayek shared a photo on X of multiple Georgetown students...

“The Passion of Our Lord: Anointed for Burial” (Mark 14:1-11) This year Ash Wednesday happens to fall on Valentine’s Day. And I think that’s a happy coincidence. Because on Valentine’s Day, our thoughts are all about love. And there is no greater love than the love that God has for us in sending us our Savior Jesus Christ. As it says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Or in 1 John chapter 4: “In this is love, not that...

10 April 2023Easter Monday Saint Magdalen of Canossa Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(I).First readingActs 2:14,22-33 ©God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to thisOn the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd in a loud voice: ‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your...

9 April 2023Easter Sunday Easter Sunday, St. Ann Roman Catholic Church, Washington, DC Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(I).First readingActs 10:34,37-43 ©'We have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection'Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and...

Saturday 8 April 2023Easter Vigil Easter Vigil at St. Anthony of Padua, Jersey City Readings at MassLiturgical colour: White.There is no Mass on Holy Saturday itself. Here are the readings for the evening Easter Vigil.First readingGenesis 1:1-2:2 ©God saw all that he had made, and indeed it was very goodIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit hovered over the water. God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God saw that light was good, and God divided light from...

“Why?” (Matthew 27:11-50) Why? That is the question of the day here on this Good Friday. We hear the question raised twice in our Gospel account. First, when the crowd is demanding that Jesus be crucified, Pontius Pilate asks, “Why, what evil has he done?” And then second, when Jesus is crucified, he himself asks, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These “why” questions are understandable, since none of this makes any sense--until we know the real reason for the “Why?” This whole entire episode--the trials, the beatings, the crucifixion: Why? Why did this take place? Why...