Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a Second Kings deals mainly with the wars between Judah and Israel and the attacks on them from outside. The situation became even more critical when the Assyrians invaded, first in the 9th century B.C. and more vigorously in the 8th. Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), fell in 721, […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Jeremiah 20:10-13 Jeremiah’s prophetic career extended from his youth in 626 B.C. to a date considerably later than the ruin of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Thus he witnessed the brief renewal of the covenant people under Josiah; the latter’s death in 609 at Megiddo; the obstinate, weak, and futile resistance of Josiah’s successors to Babylon; […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) Cycle A
Introduction Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established in honor of Christ present in the Eucharist. Its purpose is to instruct the people in the mystery, faith, and devotion surrounding the Eucharist. The celebration of the feast evolved during the 13th and 14th centuries. The Berengarian heresy of the mid-11th century (named after Berengar of Tours) taught that […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Cycle A
Introduction The doctrine of the Trinity describes the unique ways that we experience God’s presence in our lives. It is a confusing doctrine, even for adults, because it seems to imply three gods who are yet One God. When we speak of the mystery of creator and creation, we can only apprehend that mystery by […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: Pentecost Sunday Cycle A
Introduction Pentecost is an Israelite-Jewish festival. In Exodus 23:14-17 it is called simply the harvest festival, the feast of first-fruits of the grain harvest. In Exodus 34:22 it is called the feast of weeks, the first-fruits of the grain harvest. In Leviticus 23:15-21 the feast is reckoned by counting seven weeks from the beginning of […]