“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1). The reader of this verse from St John’s Gospel is brought to understand that a great event is about to take place.
“And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Mt 21:9).
I am the way, the truth and the life. In these clear and unmistakable words Our Lord traces out for us the true path that leads to everlasting happiness.
“He has been raised; he is not here. But go into Galilee; there you will see him” (cf. Mk 16:6-7).
“Our transgressions and our sins are upon us; they weigh us down; and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” (Ezekiel 33:10).
In the principal feasts of the liturgical year the Gospels mention the presence of women. Christmas, the Annunciation, the Visitation—all go without saying, because the New Eve, the Woman, is central.
All of the apostles reclining around the table at the Last Supper ask this question; one of them, Judas, asks it just to keep up appearances. He is about to set up Jesus for arrest and condemnation.
Throughout Lent the Roman liturgy often sings of the “rewards” or fruits of fasting and penance: sobriety and clarity of mind, a humbled heart, works of mercy, and forgiveness of sins—rewards that are gifts from God and which dispose us to an even greater attentiveness to Him.
“But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me’” (Mk 14:6).
Holy Week is beginning, and we recall Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. St. Luke tells us: As they approached Bethpage and Bethany, near the hill named after the Olive Trees, he sent two of his disciples telling them: Go to the village opposite you. As you enter, you will find a young donkey on which […]
Now that we are at the beginning of Holy Week, and so very close to the moment when the Redemption of the whole human race was accomplished on Calvary, it seems to be an especially appropriate time for you and me to reflect on how Our Lord Jesus Christ saved us, and to contemplate this […]
During this week which Christians traditionally call holy week, we are given another chance to reflect on and to re-live the last hours of Jesus’ life. All the things brought to our mind by the different expressions of piety which characterize these days are of course directed to the resurrection, which is, as St Paul […]
