“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and… began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger…
“When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all…
The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man.” “Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Knowing their malice,…
The Gospel story is about celebrating a wedding. But those who are invited “refused to come.” “Some ignored the invitation and went away.” “The rest laid hold of the messengers, mistreated them, and killed them.” Other messengers went to “the main roads and invited” all “to the feast,” “and the hall was filled with…
Jesus told a parable “to the chief priests and the elders,” “There was a landowner who planted a vineyard… Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one…
“Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, “A man had two sons. To the first he said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He…
Isaiah tells us of the distance between “the Lord” and the people. Those who are obedient should “call on the Lord while he is near.” To those who are disobedient and thus far from the Lord, he says, “Turn to the Lord for mercy… as high as the heavens are above the earth, so…
Today’s Old Testament reading focuses on the Chosen people to whom the Lord God Yahweh says, “I have appointed you watchman for the house of Israel.” “If I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall…
“Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to…