As we continue our Sunday celebration, I offer this version of "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love":
03 November 2024
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today the Church celebrates the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time The assigned readings are Deuteronomy 6:2-6, Hebrews 7:23-28,
and Mark 12:28b-34.The Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 18 (Psalm 18:2-4, 47-51).
For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:
YouTube: Responsorial Psalm / 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time Yr B / CBW#203 / Psalm 18
The Gospel reading is as follows:
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.' The second is this:'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Reflections related to these readings:
Word on Fire: The Highest Good Is God Alone (Cycle B * 31st Week of Ordinary Time)
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life.
National Vocations Awareness Week
National Vocation Awareness Week, celebrated this year during the week of 3-9 November, is an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations. NVAW began in 1976 when the U. S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year for NVAW. In 1997, this celebration was moved to coincide with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Beginning in 2014, NVAW was moved to the first full week of November.
Media report:
Reflection Starter from Pope Francis
"In the Gospel of the Day (Mk 12:28-34), the Lord says to the disciple of every age that what counts on our journey is not external practices, such as burnt offerings and sacrifices, but the readiness of heart with which we open ourselves to God and other people in love." - Pope Francis
02 November 2024
On a Connecticut Window Artist's Nontraditional Canvas and Other New England-related Topics
A number of articles/posts have recently been published on a variety of New England-related subjects worth considering.
To access some of these, please visit:
New Haven (CT) Register: West Haven window artist thrives with 'nontraditional canvas' (22 DEC 23)
Only In Your State: Vermont: These 10 Photos of Vermont In The 1950s Are Mesmerizing
Birthday Blessings, Dan!!!
Birthday greetings to nephew Daniel, whose birthday is today!!! May this day, and each day of the coming year, be richly blessed!!!
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Purgatory and its effects that prepare us to enter Heaven.
Herod and Mary
A paranoid ruler feels so threatened by manipulative forces around him that he suspects his children are trying to overthrow him, leading him to torture and execute them. No, it's not the plot of some new TV show. It's a piece of history about King Herod, the man who ordered the murder of all boys under age two after hearing from the Magi that the king of the Jews was born in Bethlehem.
Matthew's gospel only gives a taste of Herod's evils. But now, his story - as well as a contrasting one about a model of holiness - is being told by television legend Kathie Lee Gifford in the new book Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior, co-authored with Dr. Bryan Litfin.
During a Christopher Closeup interview, Kathie Lee told me that a trip to Israel a little more than 10 years ago changed her understanding of Scripture. She said, "Unless we study what the original languages of the Scriptures were and are - meaning Hebrew in the Old Testament, Greek in the New [Testament] - we are not hearing the word of God. We've been reading the King James version of the Bible and thinking that's the only [one]. . . . That's where we all learned Jesus was a carpenter. Well, guess what? He was not a carpenter. There was no buildable wood in first century A.D. Everything was stone. . . . So, when I started learning how to study the Hebrew . . . and the Greek . . . it lit a fire in my very bored and lukewarm faith."
During that trip, Kathie Lee first heard about Herod's background. "He murdered anybody that was a true enemy or [that] he thought might become [one]," she explained. "He was a paranoid man, but incredibly gifted, probably the greatest architect that has ever lived. . . . This man was so genius, he found a way to pour concrete 150 feet into the Mediterranean Sea and build a marina for Caesar's ships. That's the way Pontius Pilate got there."
Despite Herod's many sins, in his own mind, he believed he was favored by God. "Herod wanted to be his own god," Kathie Lee said. "He knew there was a God out there that he kind of needed, and he'd give money to everything. Every time he'd honor a Roman god or a Greek god, it would anger the Jews and the Zealots. . . . It was a melting pot of disaster and chaos waiting to happen. . . . How truly relevant his story is even now. People are doing this all over the world, still this kind of evil. So, it's always been here, but God has always had a presence in the midst of it."
God's presence in Herod and Mary obviously comes from the second of those two names: Mary, the mother of Jesus. Kathie Lee included Mary as a contrast to the self-absorbed, power-hungry, violent way that Herod lived his life. She said, "I want to give people hope, and nobody represented hope more than a little Jewish virgin. . . . Born into poverty . . . certainly not born into what the world would say would be greatness. But she found favor with God. Why? Because of her pure heart, because of her spirit, because of her goodness."
Kathie Lee hopes that people who read Herod and Mary find it enlightening from a historical perspective, but that it also offers them light on the best way to live their lives. She concluded, "God Himself became one of us so He could walk humbly with us. We're all sinners saved by grace."
This essay is a recent "Light One Candle"
column by Tony Rossi, Director of Communications, The Christophers; it is one of a series of
weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current
events.
Background information:
The Christophers
Reflection Starter from Harry Truman
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry Truman
01 November 2024
"Rejoice with All the Saints"
As we continue our All Saints Day celebration, I offer this version of "Rejoice with All the Saints":
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