News - February 2015 RSS Feed

Scripture readings for today: Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119; Matthew 5:43-48 Most people cringe when they hear Matthew 5:48: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” How is this possible?

Scripture readings for today: Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Psalm 138; Matthew 7:7-12 Today’s Gospel about persistence in prayer—to ask, seek, and knock—is not so much about wearing God down and getting Him to come around to our way of seeing and doing things but to get us to come around to His way of seeing and doing things.

By Father Bob Pagliari, C.Ss.R. Redemptorist missionary Rev. Thomas William Lacey died on February 22, 2015, at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, comforted by the prayers of his family and confreres.

Scripture readings for today: Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34; Matthew 6:7-15 For many people, to pray means asking for something: health, success, a relationship, etc. But for Jesus, to pray is to seek to be a son or daughter of God who remains always in His sight.

Scripture readings for today: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Psalm 19; Matthew 25:31-46 Matthew’s Gospel was written for a Church whose members were primarily Jewish. They believed they were going to be judged by God according to how well they lived the Torah.

By Father Bob Pagliari, C.Ss.R. Redemptorist missionary Rev. Thomas William Lacey died on February 22, 2015, at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, comforted by the prayers of his family and confreres.

Scripture readings for today: Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Matthew 1:12-15 The story of Noah includes one of the saddest lines in the Bible: “When the Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was grieved” (Genesis 6:5-6).

Scripture readings for today: Isaiah 58:9-14; Psalm 86; Luke 5:27-32 Levi (Matthew) had one of the most despicable jobs in Israel: he was a tax collector, not for the local Jewish government but for the occupying Romans.

Scripture readings for today: Isaiah 58:1-9; Psalm 51; Matthew 9:14-15 Are you planning to fast this Lent? Fasting is a time-proven practice. But what kind of fasting will you do? In the book of the Prophet Isaiah, the people ask, “Why do we fast, and you do not see it?

Scripture readings for today: Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Luke 9:22-25 Early Christians, like the Israelites, had a keen understanding that they were “people of the way,” called to move and grow and love with God.

Scripture readings for today: Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 In the early Church, Lent was the process developed to welcome new members. As they prepared themselves, a season before Easter evolved of renewal for the already baptized and confirmed.

Father John McLoughlin, C.Ss.R., of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish and School in Ephrata, Pa., will be among those receiving the 2015 Distinguished Pastor Award from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) for his dedication and commitment to excellence.