Scripture Reflections for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"The readings for this Sunday focus on the theme of death, and God’s power over it. They discuss God’s relationship with, and intentions for, the natural world: topics that resonate..."

"So much has changed over this past year, but one of the changes that is very noticeable is our attitudes towards touching people. Before the pandemic, nothing could be less..."

"Two women alone in the middle of crowds! The first woman is older. No one else is mentioned in her story except the doctors who were no help. She is..."

"Every society is built upon symbols. In our own time, the symbols of the dollar and euro signs and the golden arches of McDonald’s seem to resonate particularly strongly, while..."

"Friends, in our Gospel today, we find two stories tensely intertwined—and both contain great suffering and great healing. Through this passage, we are reminded that even in the midst of..."

"The Book of Leviticus outlines laws, practices and directives of things, people and animals that are unclean and shouldn’t be touched. But Jesus decisively touches the unclean, allows himself to..."

"In order to understand the power of our Gospel reading for this week, we must attend to the book of Leviticus. In that great rule-book of Israelite life, we hear..."

"The story about Ann Jillian (an American singer and actress) is quite inspiring to hear. It is all about her victory over breast cancer. In the year 1985, the then..."

"These are wise words from the book of Wisdom today. So often we witness or experience bad things in the world, or suffer from afflictions and we may ask, “How..."

"The first reading tells us that death and sickness came into the world, through the devil's envy. God's response to this tragedy of sin and death was to send his..."

"It's the robust earthy physicality of Mark's story that calls for reflection. Back on 'the other side', the west bank of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus has a big crowd,..."

"The Book of Wisdom offers us the strange assertion that God did not make death, for he formed humanity to be imperishable. This revelation directs us towards the truth that..."