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The Word today, EasterC

Updated: Apr 27


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April 21 - April 26, 2025



Acts 2:14, 22-33 The cross was a shock to the first Christians and so was the resurrection. In this speech of Peter, we “overhear” the first disciples using the Old Testament—especially the psalms—to understand what had taken place. The primary proclamation is focused on Jesus of Nazareth.


Matthew 28:8-15 The central proclamation—Jesus’ appearance to the women at the tomb—is unique to Matthew. In effect, it places the previous proclamation of the angel on the very lips of Jesus himself. In this way, Matthew—ever the teacher—make the implicit explicit.



Acts 2:36-41 The opening verse is really the climax of yesterday’s reading. The rest responds to the question: if the Easter proclamation is true, what difference should it make and what should we do?


John 20:11-18 The question in today’s gospel is powerful: “Who are you looking for?” With this question the Gospel comes full circle, because the very first words of Jesus in this Gospel are “What are you looking for? The shift from “what” to “who” marks the Christian journey. We are not looking for philosophy but a person.



Acts 3:1-10 The healing at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. Already in Acts 2:43 we read: Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles. This story is not just a healing from the past but a metaphor for the present, offered to us today as believers who may feel paralysed.


Luke 24:13-35 The disciples on the road to Emmaus is a powerful account. At the centre stands a recognition/ accusation of “slowness of heart”, that is, resistance to the Easter proclamation. As we listen, we hear the stages or marks of an authentic journey to spiritual insight and faith.



Acts 3:11-26 Sometimes Christians today feel that the God of the Old Testament is somehow a different God. In contrast, the early Christians felt a very strong desire to show that the surprising outcome of Jesus life and ministry—his death and resurrection—was actually and in fact a fulfilment of things foreshadowed in the Old Testament. God’s continued fidelity was an important part of their faith.


Luke 24:35-48 Our Gospel today evokes several resurrection themes: failure to recognise the risen Lord, the gift of peace and the confirmation of the reality of the resurrection. Perhaps, however, the very last lines speak directly to us today: in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.



Acts 4:1-12 The religious authorities of the time were against the teaching of resurrection at all and very much against saying Jesus was risen. These are the very same people who brought about the crucifixion of Jesus. Here Peter, using the Old Testament, make the case for the resurrection of Jesus.


John 21:1-14 Chapter 21—an early addition to John —reminds us of the three-fold denial of Peter by means of his three-fold restoration. The fishing scene takes us back to the original call of Peter and his brothers. That earlier call is still “valid” and at the same time strengthened in the light of the resurrection.



Acts 4:13-21 The early Christians experienced opposition—but this only strengthened their courage. Anyhow, it looks as though those who were against them were “flummoxed” as we say!


Mark 16:9-15 These few verses—a very late addition to the Gospel text and not from Mark— form a kind of late synthesis of disparate material. Nevertheless, the Great Commission is repeated, for them and for us.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025ag, April 20). The Resurrection of the Lord. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042025.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent5C


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April 07 - April 12, 2025



Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 This dramatic reading follows on extremely well from yesterday’s Gospel about the woman caught in adultery. Many dimensions could help us, but perhaps the courage and intelligence of Daniel could be underlined.


John 8:12-20 The theme of judgement unites the two readings—by which standards do we judge? In the discussion with the Pharisees, the Fourth Gospel offers us a deep and still challenging understanding of Jesus. Who was he? Who is he?



Numbers 21:4-9 We know from our human experience that when something is harming us, we need to face it. Something of that ordinary experience lies beyond this extraordinary story. The image of the serpent lifted up is found on the lips of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, speaking of his own death and resurrection.


John 8:21-30 The image of “lifting up”—so central to John’s Gospel—is taken from the story of the bronze serpent. The evangelist reminds us of our need the healing that God provides in Jesus.



Daniel 3:14-20, 24-25, 28 In this dramatic illustration, faithfulness to the one true God is a deadly risk— and yet God shows himself to be faithful to all who are faithful to him.


John 8:31-42 In early Christian reection, Abraham was in everyone’s mind—notably in Paul’s but also as we see in John’s gospel. The big question being answered is, who is Jesus?



Genesis 17:3-7 The reading today picks out an emblematic story about Abraham, as a preparation for the Gospel, where Abraham is mentioned again. He was the original man of faith, our father in faith, as Hebrews puts it, who put his trust in God and in a way God puts his trust in Abraham.


John 8:51-59 In the Fourth Gospel, there are seven I AM sentences, usually qualied by some image or afrmation such as the good shepherd. The I AM in today’s reading is without qualication, an absolute claim to identity with God. While clearly “theological, it may have a grounding in history: Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am.” (Mark 14:61–62).



Jeremiah 20:10-13 Right up to today, good people are made to suffer when they tell the truth and say it like it is. This was true also in the past: Jeremiah suffered greatly for his convictions and prophecies, in the same way as Jesus would, much later.


John 10:31-42 As often in John’s gospel, we are overhearing later disputes about the identity of Jesus and the arguments for and against. Only in the light of the resurrection did the early Christian really grasp who Jesus was and who the risen Jesus is today.



Ezekiel 37:21-28 This short reading was written a time of national disaster and disgrace. As we listen, we might keep in mind what picture of God comes out of this picture? Can it help me or us today?


John 11:45-56 Today, our reading takes us to the consequences of the story of Lazarus. John’s Gospel is looking back after many year’s of prayer and reection. The evangelist see that the cause of Jesus’ death was really who he was — the Messiah and the Son of God. Ironically, Caiaphas speaks the a deep truth, even if he doesn’t know what he is really saying: it is better for one man to die for the people.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025ac, April 6). Fifth Sunday of Lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040625-YearC.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent4C


ree

March 31 - April 05, 2025



Isaiah 65:17-21 Exultant optimism is perhaps not the mood of the times, but, it is the mood of this passage from Isaiah. One line anticipates the Gospel: no more will be found the infant living a few days only. Even the exaggerations are delightful.


John 4:43-54 John’s Gospel tells this familiar story with an intriguing twist: the parent is rst called a “court ofcial,” then a “man” and only towards the end, “the father.” For us all, some roles are more fundamental than others.



Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 “Awash with life” might be a good description of Ezekiel’s “vision” of the Temple. Exuberance is everywhere: And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal. The Gospel takes up the water image in a remarkable vision of healing.


John 5:1-3,5-16 As you listen to this story, you might bear in mind the corresponding one about about the man born blind in John 9. Both “patients” are put under enormous pressure. Under that pressure, the man born blind becomes stronger; in this Gospel, the man crumbles and betrays Jesus. What does being under pressure for the faith do to me?



Isaiah 49:8-15 The feeling of being abandoned led the prophet to afrm that God, like a mother to us, never ever forgets her people.


John 5:17-30 Part of the background to the opening verses is a contemporary Jewish discussion about whether God could really have ceased from creating, as it says in Gen 2:2. Part of the foreground is an anticipation of the raising of Lazarus, who will “hear his voice and live.”



Exodus 32:7-14 In this disconcerting story, God is furious that the people have so quickly abandoned him. Moses reminds God of who God is and so God relents, thanks be to God.


John 5:31-47 This compact reading can upset us today because of the robust comments of Jesus. In reality, we are eavesdropping on the later conversation between Christian and Jews. The evangelist parades before us ve “witnesses” to Jesus: the Father, John the Baptist, his own deeds, the Scriptures and, nally, Moses himself. The reading calls us all to give an account of the hope that is within us.



Wisdom 2:1,12-22 There is a contemporary ring to this reading from the book of Wisdom: the godless resent the faith of the believers. Such resentment foreshadows the reaction to Jesus.


John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 Jesus certainly disconcerted those who met him, as we hear in this reading. Who is he really? Where is he from? Who sent him?



Jeremiah 11:18-20 Jeremiah, always in difculty because of his calling, places his full and total trust in God. The psalm captures it well: Lord God, I take refuge in you.


John 7:40-52 Again, there is a contemporary ring about the range of opinions and the discord triggered by the person and presence of Jesus. What do I believe? What difference does it make?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025aa, March 30). Fourth Sunday of Lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 
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