Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 3rd Sunday of Advent Cycle B

3rd Sunday of Advent

For the past two weeks we have heard of the Lord’s coming as judge of all at the end of time. The Priest wears penitential purple during this season to help us realize our part in turning from God’s covenant and participating in acts of darkness (sin), although pink or rose may be worn on […]

Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 2nd Sunday of Advent Cycle B

2nd Sunday of Advent

Introduction Advent is really a season in two parts, with the 1st two weeks concerned with the Lord’s coming as Judge of all at the end of time and the 2nd two weeks serving as the proximate preparation for His coming in the flesh. Our activities, like the Church’s readings, should reflect that dual character. The Old Testament […]

Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading – Exodus 22:20-26 Like his forebears, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob led a semi-nomadic existence in Canaan. He was forced by a severe famine to emigrate with his entire family to Egypt, where they settled around the beginning of the eighteenth century before Christ. Over the next 400 years the Scriptures tell us nothing about […]

Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A

29th-Sunday-in-Ordinary-Time

1st Reading – Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 Cyrus was the founder of the Persian empire and as King of Persia he led the overthrow of the occupation by the Babylonians of Syria and Palestine in 539 B.C. The name Cyrus means shepherd, in Hebrew the name is koresh (from which David Koresh of Branch Davidian fame coined his […]

Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading – Isaiah 25:6-10a The first twelve verses of the 25th chapter of Isaiah are psalms (songs) of thanksgiving and prayer. The first of these psalms (verses 1 through 5) is a hymn to Yahweh for safe refuge. It celebrates the victory of Yahweh as something that has already taken place. The third (the last half of […]