Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ex 22:20-26, 1 Thes 1:5c-10, Mt 22:34-40
10-23-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Sounds simple, right? Not so much. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel can’t help but take us back to that age-old question: “And just who is my neighbor?” According to the Lord’s words in the reading from Exodus, our neighbors are the alien, the widow, and the orphan.
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Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is 45:1, 4-6, 1 Thes 1:1-5b, Mt 22:15-21
10-16-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
A mentor once told me that there is no sweeter sound than that of one’s own name. It communicates that one is seen, known, and cared for. We read in Isaiah today that God has chosen Cyrus and has called him by name. In the Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul and his followers “give thanks to God always” for all in the community, knowing that each brother and sister is “loved by God” and “chosen.”
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Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is 25:6-10a Phil 4:12-14, 19-20, Mt 22:1-14
10-09-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
Today’s Gospel comes from the latter chapters of Matthew, in which Jesus repeatedly speaks about our readiness for the end times and the coming judgment. This parable concludes with the striking image of a man being thrown out of the king’s feast because he was not dressed in a proper wedding garment. While Tradition has often used this passage to communicate the importance of being properly disposed when approaching holy Communion, we ought not forget its other sense. To find a place at both the earthly and the heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb, we must strive to clothe ourselves with righteous deeds (see Rev. 19:7-9), cooperating with the grace the Lord has given us in baptism.
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Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is 5:1-7, Phil 4:6-9, Mt 21:33-43
10-02-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
I enjoy thinking about what it would have been like to hear Jesus’ teachings as a first-century Jew. When Jesus calls out the current tenants of the vineyard as being unfaithful, disobedient servants, however, it may have left the crowd feeling a bit anxious. And really, Jesus could say this to each of us at times because, like the wild grapes in the vineyard, when left to our own devices, we also have a tendency to fall into sin and produce unsavory fruit.
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Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ez 18:25-28, Phil 2:1-11, Mt 21:28-32
09-25-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
Ask any long-time educator, and they’ll tell you we often learn more from our mistakes than from doing it perfectly from the start. Today's Gospel also seems to send the same message: Jesus tells us that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before the chief priests and elders.
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Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is 55:6-9, Phil 1:20c-24, 27a, Mt 20:1-16a
09-18-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
Writing to the Philippians while in prison, St. Paul feels complete peace about his fate. To stay on this earth means fruitful labor for him; to die means entering eternal life with God. Having lived apart from God in the past, he finds immense joy at being able to labor for the Lord, despite the suffering it entails.
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Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Sir 27:30-28:7, Rom 14:7-9, Mt 18:21-35
09-11-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
It strikes me that the real issue in the Gospel is that the first man whose debt the king forgives fails to see that his fellow servant who owes him a smaller debt is just like himself. “Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins?” Sirach asks.
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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ez 33:7-9, Rom 13:8-10, Mt 18:15-20
09-04-2026Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful DiscipleGrow as a Disciple: Pray, Study, Engage, Serve
St. Teresa of Calcutta once wrote, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” Community, when lived according to Christ’s command to love one another, fills us with joy and companionship. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that living as a Church also means holding one another accountable when a member of the community has gone astray.
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