Shawn The Baptist - Sunday Scriptures

The Perfect End In this weekend's gospel, Jesus continues where he left off last week with more hard sayings about what it really means to keep the law. Just when we might be thinking that it is impossible to really keep the commandments, Jesus offers this consoling summation. "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Well, that certainly doesn't seem to offer much comfort. Just in ca...

Fulfilling the Law in Our Hearts Sometimes we think of the Old Testament as the time when God had all those rules and laws. We think that Jesus came and did away with all those silly rules and just told us to love everybody. Today's gospel shows us that this is hardly the case. Jesus tells us plainly that he has come not to abolish even the smallest part of the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus takes...

Catholic Schools Week The Rite of Baptism reminds parents that they are to be "the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith...may they be also the best of teachers." Parents have a sacred role in helping their children to know and love God and, ultimately, to arrive together in heaven. Our Catholic schools have long be a valuable tool in assisting parents in this mission. Today we beg...

Despite changing circumstances of life, our true identity was established at our baptism. We are the beloved of God and He is pleased with us.

Explore the significance of Epiphany and its connection to Easter. Discover how traditions shape the calendar year.

Today's feast, which would seem to be about Mary, is another example of Mary protecting her son...but this time in the realm of theology.

The readings for the Mass of Christmas During the Day are not often used but are essential for understanding the true meaning of Christmas.

The readings at Midnight Mass remind us of the light coming into the world at Christmas... and that darkness does not overcome it.

One of the most beloved songs of Advent is the famous "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Yet, few people are aware of the origin of this classic.

Balaam and His Advent Donkey The time of Advent and Christmas is filled with traditional stories. The greatest story ever told is that of the birth of Jesus. We've got stories of shepherds and magi. We even have beloved secular stories like The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol. One lesser known classic Christmas story is actually found in the book of Number in chapters 23 and 24. Our first reading...

Like Israel, our borders are often attacked. God says, "Fear not!" He comes to be our vindicator and wants to bring peace to our borders.

Prepared for a Mission In today's celebration we recognize the great gift that God gave to Mary in protecting her from all stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother Anne. In this singular privilege, we see that God had a mission in mind for Mary from before she even existed. Indeed, he had her in mind right from the beginning in Genesis when the first...

In today's first reading the prophet Isaiah gives us an even greater symbol than a Christmas tree for this time of year...the Christmas stump.

Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary all give us key insights to living Advent well.

Now but Not Yet As we celebrate this last Sunday in Ordinary Time we honor Jesus Christ our King. We celebrate and look forward to his return in glory. Yet we also prepare to "start over" at the beginning as the season of Advent begins next weekend. So is it the end or the beginning? Well, it's both. The kingdom of God which we celebrate is truly present "now," but is also "not yet" fully here and...

Expecting Fire Today's Gospel paints what seems to be a pretty bleak picture of discipleship. If you follow Jesus, he promises that everyone will hate you and you'll be killed. Rather than happy days without end, Jesus promises his followers suffering and trials. As we come to the end of our liturgical year, we should see these sufferings not as a destructive force, but rather as a purifying fire....

A Marriage Proposal from God In today's Gospel, some of the Jewish leaders try to trap Jesus in what appears to be a debate about marriage laws. However, the supposed question is really a subtle attack on the teaching about the resurrection. Jesus of course does not fall into the trap. Rather, as he so often does, he turns the tables and uses it as an opportunity for teaching. However, Jesus' answ...

Priesthood Sunday This Sunday the Church gives us a day to celebrate priesthood. It also happens that All Saints Day is tomorrow. As we look at the history of the priesthood we are thankful for all the great saints that God has called to this ministry and the many ordinary priests that have impacted our lives. When we look at the beginning of the New Testament priesthood, we of course look at the...

The Fight, The Race, and the Faith In today's second reading, St. Paul writes to his beloved disciple Timothy and offers a sort of farewell address. In summing up his life, St. Paul beautifully states that he has "fought the good fight," "run the race," and "kept the faith." St. Paul reminds us that this life is not all about peace and contentment. It's a fight, a battle. We've got to fight and fi...

A God of Opportunities Sometimes it seems as though God does not hear our prayers. We pray and pray about things that are really important but there seems to be no answer, or at least not the answer we want. We might be tempted to grow weary and quit praying. We might even get mad at God. This reminded me of the movie Evan Almighty from 2006. There is a great scene where Evan's wife and "God" sit...

Who Do You Have to Thank? Today we read in our gospel about 10 lepers who are all healed by Jesus. However, only one returns to thank Jesus. We might look at this and think the the moral of the story is clear; 1 leper is thankful and 9 are ungrateful. Maybe there's a deeper message. I would think that all 10 lepers were very thankful. The difference with the one that comes back is that he knows no...

A normal person sleeps inside on a nice soft bed. Not Scout. Scouts like a challenge because it brings out the best in us.

Jesus Christ died for our sins because we really needed to be saved, to go heaven. Jesus died that he might give us the Church, his bride.

The Monty Python Black Knight embodies denial. Discover insights from this classic scene about facing our own wounds in life.

The Cost of Discipleship Jesus gives us several hard sayings in today's gospel that make it sound pretty tough to be a disciple. "Hate your father and mother...take up your cross...renounce all your possessions." In the middle of these sayings he gives us two parables. If you build a tower, you need to make sure you have enough resources. If you go into battle you need to know if you have the stre...