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The Word today, Advent1A

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Nov 29, 2025
  • 3 min read

Updated: Jan 4


December 01 - December 06, 2025



Isaiah 4:2-6 The weekday readings of Advent open on a note of hope for healing and restoration. This reassuring reading invites us to acknowledge our need of bring washed clean, our need of the healing of the presence of the Lord.


Matthew 8:5-11 The faith of the centurion is indeed remarkable: “just give the word.” What “word” from the Lord do I need at this moment in my life?



Isaiah 11:1-10 The human hope for harmony is portrayed in this reading as a harmony in nature itself, even among the most unlikely animals.


Luke 10:21-24 Jesus pronounces a remarkable prayer in today’s gospel, a very encouraging prayer: we all stand before the mystery and the mercy of God, thank God!


St Francis Xavier, priest and religious


Isaiah 25:6-10 This reading is familiar from funerals; it offers a great vision of God and God’s gift of ultimate, comprehensive consolation. The idea that God will destroy death for ever was a hope at the time of writing; in our Christian faith we know that God has achieved this in Jesus.


Matthew 15:29-37 The compassion of Jesus is outstanding in this reading: it is he who names the need and supplies the food. What hunger does he identify in us today? How are we nourished by him?


St John Damascene, priest and doctor


Isaiah 26:1-6 As you listen, you may notice all the words to do with protection: strong city, gates, rock, citadel, forming a great call to faith and trust in God.


Matthew 7:21,24-27 It is always tempting to think that once you’ve said your prayers, you’re done. The prophets regularly pillory such static complacency and so does Jesus. In addition, awareness of local geography adds over to his words. In the Judean desert, there are dry river beds called wadis, subject to flash floods. To build on such an exposed foundation is the very height of foolishness.



Isaiah 29:17-24 As often in the Bible, there are promises to the deaf, the blind and the poor. Each of us is precisely dead, blind and poor and so the message is for us all today, if only we would look. We hold fast to conviction that the Lord is our light and our help.


Matthew 9:27-31 Miracle stories, like today’s, are always meant to be taken at two levels. Rather than wonder about the past, we could ask in the present, how am I blind? What is my need of the gift of sight which comes with faith?


St Nicholas of Bari, bishop


Isaiah 30:19-21,23-26 The prophet raises the hopes of his hearers with a grand vision of peace and prosperity, a gift of God himself. Such harmony and well being come from following the way offered by God. Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. (Psalms 1:2–3)


Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8 Again, it is the compassion of Jesus which is outstanding. He feels and he acts and he sends out. Our need for the word of compassion and the healing touch of God is great. Perhaps I too am being called to some ministry in the community of faith or in society at large?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025cw, November 30). First Sunday of Advent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/113025.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, 34 Christ the KingC

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Nov 22, 2025
  • 2 min read

November 24 - November 29, 2025


Sts Andrew Dũng-Lạc and his Companions, martyrs


Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 The book of Daniel is a book of protest, written in symbol or code. On the surface, it is about the time of Nebuchadnezzar, but in reality it is about the Syrian tyrant and persecutor, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. As in the time of Antiochus, the food laws were a test.


Luke 21:1-4 In an abbreviated version of a familiar story, Luke takes us to the heart of the matter of giving from within.


St Clement I, bishop of Rome, martyr; St Catherine of Alexandria, virgin and martyr


Daniel 2:31-45 Daniel is shown to be an interpreter of dreams. The real message is that seemingly all-powerful and ever-lasting systems of oppression come crashing down, without exception.


Luke 21:5-11 It is easy to misread the sign of the times and so Jesus warns his followers—and us —not to be deceived, especially by those making extravagant spiritual claims.



Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 Our expression “the writing on the wall” comes from this very famous story—a highly theatrical tale. The king is punished for robbing the Temple and Daniel interprets for him the fearful writing on the wall: you too will come crashing down!!


Luke 21:12-19 Our Gospel paints a picture of great distress and yet, in the last two sentences, provides the very message of hope we so badly need in our time.


St Fergal, bishop and missionary


Daniel 6:12-28 In today’s story, the issue is worship of false gods. At the time of writing, Jews were persecuted and worship of their God was prohibited. The king is converted, but, as we see, not to compassion and mercy!


Luke 21:20-28 Jesus, in full apocalyptic mode, assures us that the struggles of the end are to be seen as labour pains, leading to new birth. The end is therefore not “the end.”



Daniel 7:2-14 Where did Jesus get the expression Son of Man from? In part from this very vision in the book of Daniel. Heavenly judgment is in progress and the mediator between God and humans is precisely “one like a son of man.”


Luke 21:29-33 Reading the signs of the times is the task of us all, that we may know the kingdom of God among us. It is not always easy.



Daniel 7:15-27 The message—in coded language—is the present seemingly everlasting oppression will come to a crashing end.


Luke 21:34-36 The final warning of the liturgical year is one of watchfulness. It would be easy to settle for a sentient existence, sleepwalking through life and satiating ourselves with distractions. We are called to greater awareness—and life!—than that.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025cu, November 23). The solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112325.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, 33C

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Nov 15, 2025
  • 3 min read

November 17 - November 22, 2025


St Elizabeth of Hungary, religious


1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-6 In the middle of the second century BC, a Syrian king, Antiochus IV, initiated a terrible persecution against the Jews and tried to obliterate their Temple and their religion. In Jewish tradition, he is remember till today as ha-rasha, the wicked one. From this reading you can see why.


Luke 18:35-43 Stories like this one are meant to be read at two levels. Jesus did indeed heal people; yet, the story is retold to help us to acknowledge our own need of light, faith and salvation.


Dedication of the basilicas of Sts Peter and Paul


2 Maccabees 6:18-31 The story of the persecution is illustrated in this fascinating vignette. The temptation to pretend is subtle, but the old man is not taken in.


Luke 19:1-10 This story—unique to Luke—is one of the stories most beloved of children, perhaps so account of the stature of Zacchaeus. The word “today” brings us into our own present moment.



2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 The stories of martyrs always fascinate and challenge us. But there is even more to this one than a noble of witness and fidelity. In this chapter 7, we begin to see the traces of faith in the resurrection and life after death. It wasn’t speculation that brought them to believe in life after death. Instead, it was a deep desire to believe in a faithful God, who would be faithful beyond death to those who were faithful to him to the point of death.


Luke 19:11-28 The image of the gentle Luke is somewhat dislodged by this challenging parable and even more by its conclusion. Perhaps originally, there were two separate stories, joined together here for greater impact. At the time of writing, those who refused the king would be understood to be Jesus’ contemporaries.



1 Maccabees 2:15-2 Under pressure of vicious persecution, the Jews eventually rebelled. We see the start of the Maccabean (the word means hammer) revolt in this story. There were many battles and, as is the way, the stability of the victory was assured by the chance death of Antiochus IV.


Luke 19:41-44 A church on the Mount of Olives commemorates this vignette—no doubt historical. The actually happened later to Jerusalem is read back, with the 20:20 vision of hindsight.


Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary


1 Maccabees 4:36-37,52-59 The story moves quickly to the restoration of the Temple. This rededication is still marked today with the eight-day festival of Hanukkah.


Luke 19:45-48 The Temple action—a very disturbing challenge at the time—is very briefly recounted here. Luke’s kindly attitude to the Temple accounts for the brevity and even the lightness of the reference.


St Cecilia, virgin and martyr


1 Maccabees 6:1-13 The last days of Antiochus IV are told with grim satisfaction. It is unlikely he made the conversion placed on his lips here, but it does tell us how the Jews understood his sudden death!


Luke 20:27-40 Jesus was an apocalyptic Jew, who believed along with the Pharisees in the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees were more committed traditionalists and rejected the relatively new teaching about life after death.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025cs, November 16). Thirty-third Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111625.cfm

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


 
 
 
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