Scripture Reflections for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"The “unlikely messenger” is a theme in literature that we see reflected in numerous works. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series comes to mind, in..."

"Friends, today’s Gospel reading makes it clear that if you are baptized, you are called to bring God’s word to others. This week, I share five recommendations as you follow..."

"For many people in the West, liberty seems to trump everything. We avatars of the egodrama, we worshippers at the altar of freedom, say that our choice is supreme. We..."

"For the next several weeks, we are going to be reading from Paul’s magnificent letter to the Ephesians. In our passage for today, we learn that we are situated within..."

"There is a sense in the Gospel of Mark that it was critical that the apostles go out as missionary disciples and preach what they have been taught. And it..."

"We spend a great deal of our lives preparing. School runs from infancy until we are ready to enter the adult world. For some people college or apprenticeship can extend..."

"Is it fear that prompts us to rely on modern technological advances in communication? An interesting question, perhaps. Are we too afraid to rely on the gift of memory? Is..."

"This week, Mark relays the story of Jesus giving the Twelve Apostles their “marching orders,” the instructions on how they would go out and spread the word to the world...."

"Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries."

"By the virtue of our baptism we have been consecrated and sent as missionaries of the Gospel. This is not by anyway an optional task. It is a Christian obligation...."

"Sometimes, I think the hardest thing about being Catholic is BEING Catholic. Many of us in this world call ourselves Christian and Catholic, but are we really living like Christ..."

"Amos stands on dangerous ground - Bethel is the religious centre of a breakaway kingdom in the Promised Land. As its priest, Amaziah, makes clear, the shrine legitimates the rule..."

"We learn very little about the lives of most of the prophets from their poetry and their writings. Amos was not a professional prophet, but a shepherd and a dresser..."

"If you walk the path of the prophet, you will abandon your own “career” and learn to follow the promptings of the Spirit. Also, you will be opposed. Once you..."