Scripture Reflections for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

"It was after Jesus had fed the 5000 and before he fed 4000 more, that the Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem made their approach to Jesus. Having fed so..."

"It is all so simple. And so true. Our faith, the foundation, the principals, His Word. It really is simple, but we make it complex."

"As children we were told always to wash our hands before meals. Nowadays we’re much more conscious of the need for cleanliness to avoid spreading diseases. Cleanliness is a matter..."

"Why is religion so important? It is because it puts us in touch with a special revelation from God that we would not otherwise receive. The Jews believed that through..."

"Some of us like to follow the rules. Today’s readings are about rules and the spirit behind them, and they offer important and challenging lessons."

"Ritual washing using drinking-water: William Barclay in the ‘daily study bible’ tells the story of an old Jewish rabbi in the Roman prison diagnosed with acute dehydration which would have..."

"This week we make the shift from John 6 and its Eucharistic theme (which has occupied us for the past five weeks) back to reading through Mark’s account of the..."

"Our beautiful opening prayer today embraces the theme running through all the readings: “Almighty God, every good thing comes from you. Fill our hearts with love for you, increase our..."

"I’ve just been visiting my godson, ten years old and a budding composer. He asked me what makes a good piece of music. I said to him you need a..."

"Every so often it's worth asking ourselves what we mean when we say certain things; and this perhaps all the more so when we are dealing with religious language, or..."

"The Gospel narratives often present Christ in controversy with Jewish religious leaders: the Gospel, the good news, was not always welcome, or accepted. These challenges to Our Lord's teaching and..."

"Keep the commandments of the Lord your God, just as I lay them down for you. Keep them, observe them and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and..."

"Friends, the more we revere something, the more we surround it with laws. The most important thing in our lives is to be in harmony with God, and so we..."

"All of today’s readings pertain to law. We Americans are a fairly litigious society. Lawyers are thick on the ground and many of our Founding Fathers were students of law...."

"One of the great tensions in the spiritual life is between loving the law and being free of the law. I argue in this homily that learning to swing a..."

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