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The Word today, 22C

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 30, 2025
  • 3 min read


September 01 - September 06, 2025



1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 St Paul is answering a question of the Thessalonians: when our Lord comes again will those already dead be at a disadvantage? The response uses two kinds of language: apocalyptic and relational. It is likely that the second, relational language will speak more directly to us today.


Luke 4:16-30 Luke expands a simple, historical incident into a great tableau, thus furnishing a key to the whole Gospel, from the proclamation to Jesus through the inclusion outsiders to his death and resurrection in the Holy City.



1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 The Thessalonians also had a second question: when will the end be? Paul is cautious and uses a series of metaphors: (i) a thief in the night: the second coming is unpredictable; (ii) giving birth: the Lord’s coming is inevitable; (iii) helmet and breastplate: how will we prepare. (This verse is omitted in the lectionary should be restored—this is always allowed.)


Luke 4:31-37 Following yesterday’s tableau, Luke shows us Jesus a prophet, powerful in word and deed.


St Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, doctor


Colossians 1:1-8 In this opening thanksgiving, we hear something of the life of the church in Colossae, in modern-day Turkey. We learn that Paul was not the teacher of the Colossians, but a certain Epaphras.


Luke 4:38-44 In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is help up mainly as a prophet. But his original in God is not forgotten. It falls to the demons— whose know their catechism—to remind us of the deep identity of Jesus.


St Mac Nissi, bishop


Colossians 1:9-14 How will the Colossians feel as they hear this passage? It is always a pleasure to know that someone is praying for you.


Luke 5:1-11 The call stories in Mark and Matthew are stripped of all human interest and even psychological probability, leaving the sovereign call of Jesus to stand out. However, in this great story, Luke furnishes us with a reason for the “yes” of Peter and the others. Luke also does not want us to leave the miracle in the past; instead he wants to us ask, what experience of Jesus drew me in the first place and what experience of Jesus today keeps me “in” right now?


St Teresa of Calcutta


Colossians 1:15-20 Today we hear the most famous passage in the letter to the Colossians. It is just amazing that such profound claims are made about a Galilean peasant preacher, executed by the Romans as a criminal, only a short time before.


Luke 5:33-39 The Jesus revolution was also a revolution of received ideas and practices. The great “novelty” of the Gospel—God’s untrammelled compassion and eager love—calls for novelty in how we “practice” the faith, even today. Yes, the old is good, but even more so is the new.



Colossians 1:21-23 In this reading, “foreigners and enemies” means really non-Jews or Gentiles. Now that all the Gentiles—including us today—have been included in salvation, a certain way of life is expected of us.


Luke 6:1-5 We could be bold here and ask what were the Pharisees themselves doing in a cornfield anyway on the Sabbath day? That would be to miss the point: Jesus has authority, even over the Sabbath—a mighty claim, given that the Sabbath was traced to creation itself and to the Ten Commandments.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025bx, August 31). Twenty-second Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/083125.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, 21C

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 23, 2025
  • 3 min read

August 25 - August 30, 2025


St Louis; St Joseph of Calasanz, priest


For the next week and half or so, we hear from 1 Thessalonians, the first letter of Paul to come down to us. Evidently Paul had evangelised city of Thessalonica about the year AD 49. He then moved on through Athens to Corinth. In the meantime, the new believers in Thessalonica experienced some kind of oppression or harassment. They contacted Paul and he sent Timothy. The letter is in response to Timothy’s report.


1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10 We begin reading today from the earliest surviving Christian document, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Paul had founded this community in Greece and then had to move on. Subsequently, they experienced considerable hardship on account of being believers. Paul writes to reassure them and to answer some questions they sent him.


Matthew 23:13-22 The Jesus of this story is stern, but be careful not to leave it in the past. His teaching is for us today as well.



1 Thessalonians 3:7-13 In our first reading today, Paul summarises his great love for the Christians in Thessalonica. It is a striking expression of real emotional dependence— something we might be uncomfortable with today. He brings this section to a conclusion with a prayer that God might allow him to visit them.


Matthew 23:23-26 The temptation is always present to let punctilious observance of the rules takes the place of true religion — “justice, mercy and good faith.” Perhaps it is simply easier?


St Monica, wife and mother


1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 It might seem strange to us, but one of the things the Thessalonians resented about Paul was his refusal to take money from them! In a way, he had insulted them, but he defends his motives with great energy.


Matthew 23:27-32 The attack on “show” religion continues fiercely. It is important to try to hear this both in the present and personally. It is much easer to leave it in the past and think of others. The last line is unexpectedly robust!


St Augustine, bishop and doctor


1 Thessalonians 3:7-13 In our first reading today, Paul summarises his great love for the Christians in Thessalonica. It is a striking expression of real emotional dependence— something we might be uncomfortable with today. He brings this section to a conclusion with a prayer that God might allow him to visit them.


Matthew 24:42-51 We can sleepwalk through life but luckily life itself has a way of keeping us alert and awake.


The beheading of St John the Baptist


1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Ethical issues are always present. How should the Thessalonians behave, so as to distinguish themselves from the surrounding, much more lax culture? The general advice given then is still valuable today.


Mark 6:17-29 The gospel—special for the feast—tells the story of the death of John the Baptist. It is a grisly end for a great prophet, facing death at the whim of his enemy.


St Fiacre, monk


1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 In this short reading Paul affirms the Thessalonians before he exhorts them to even better behaviour. The topic— brotherly love—is never, ever out of date.


Matthew 25:14-30 Today’s parable is undoubtedly severe, especially towards the end. The overall message, however, stands: we have all receive graces and gifts—but how do we use them?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025bv, August 24). Twenty-first Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082425.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, 20C

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 16, 2025
  • 3 min read

August 18 - August 23, 2025



Judges 2:11-19 The book of Judges tells of the intermediate time between the entry into the Land and the setting up of a monarchy. Many, many times, it tells of the people falling into idolatrous practices with disastrous consequences.


Matthew 19:16-22 A failed calling is always tough to listen to. It does remind us that we become disciples not because we choose it but rather the Lord chooses us.


St John Eudes, priest


Judges 6:11-24 In response to social chaos and religious idolatry, God appoints leaders for his people, called “judges.” Today we hear of the call of Gideon and of his encounter with God, a memorable tale.


Matthew 19:23-30 The question of Peter might seem strange, but riches were regarded as a blessing from God. How could a gift from God hinder us? Thus we see the values of the kingdom are quite “alternative.”


St Bernard, abbot and doctor


Judges 9:6-15 Our reading today is a justly famous parable from the Old Testament. Using the imagery of trees in a forest looking for a ruler, it warns against setting up a monarchy because only God should be the king over Israel. The shade of the thorn bush offers more than “pleasant coolness in the heat”! Monarchies, we are told, colonise and exploit and therefore be careful in wishing for one.


Matthew 20:1-16 This passage can surprise and even offend still. It is, of course, no basis for labour relations but a great basis for God-relations! Such a relief that we don’t have to merit it or earn it in any way—all is grace.


St Pius X, bishop of Rome


Judges 11:29-39 This “text of terror” is a dreadful warning against losing faith and making foolish oaths. It is not at all a moral story but rather an illustration of terrible consequences when the centre does not hold.


Matthew 22:1-14 To “get” this parable, it is vital to hear it on two levels. There is the level of the historical Jesus, using traditional festal and nuptial imagery for the kingdom. There is the level of church, looking back and what actually happened to Jesus, the messiah and prophet.


Our Lady, mother and queen


Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14-16, 22 The wonderful short novel which is the book Ruth begins in a sombre way, with three deaths and three widows. Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law is exemplary. (Not really suitable for weddings, however!!).


Matthew 22:34-40 Asked a penetrating question, Jesus as a good Jew gives two answers. The first is really the Sh’ma Yisrael, recited three times daily by observant Jews. The second great principle comes from a somewhat unlikely source, the book of Leviticus.


St Rose of Lima, virgin; St Eugene, bishop


Ruth 2:1-3,8-11,4:13-17 The women in this story are not without initiative. Of course, Ruth’s reputation of faithfulness is very attractive and, as an extra bonus, a foreigner enters the lineage of the future David. Thus the book counters any exclusionary nationalism.


Matthew 23:1-12 Jesus is hard on the outward display of religion and the piling up of titles. It can still disturb today. Does Jesus have an alternative, another way? Yes—in a word, service.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025bt, August 17). Twentieth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081725.cfm

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


 
 
 
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