The Gospel narrative for the feast of the Holy Family places Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the Temple as they come to Jerusalem to present the child Jesus to the Lord, pursuant to the dictates of the Law of Moses.

This…

The secularization of Christmas by contemporary society, and its overemphasis on the material aspects of what began as a religious celebration challenges Catholics and other Christians to utilize the season of Advent for its true purpose: preparation for Christmas.

The secularized…

The parable of the vineyard and the tenants effectively encapsulates salvation history. Jesus uses this parable to explain the history of the Chosen People and how they (the ancestors of the chief priests and elders) continually rejected prophets (the servants)…

Our Lord outlines for us one of the most important disciplines that Catholics and all Christians should take to heart: fraternal correction. In a society where many people lack moral courage, the authentic practice of fraternal correction is more urgent…

This week’s Gospel passage is so well-known and beloved that it has even garnered its own cliché, “walk on water.” The dramatic scene of Jesus walking across the water and Peter walking on the water toward Jesus is the highlight…

Most versions of the Bible depict this week’s Gospel passage as the “Parable of the Sower” or the “Parable of the Seed.” These titles focus the readers’ attention upon Our Lord (the sower) or the seed (the Word of God).…

In St. Matthew’s recounting of the calling of the Twelve Apostles, he provides us with the names of the men chosen by Christ to be His most intimate friends and to whom He would give the authority to lead the…

Until recent years, it had been very common to see a sign that read “John 3:16″ at football games, usually held by a spectator sitting behind the goalposts that could be seen when an extra point was being attempted after…

Scripture scholars tell us that it is most likely that Jesus spoke the words in John 14 while He was teaching in Capernaum, a town on the Sea of Galilee, which was the base of Jesus’ preaching ministry. In Capernaum, pilgrims can still visit the synagogue where Jesus taught the doctrine of the Eucharist (John 6), which is located next to a series of primitive dwellings that formed a cluster of homes.

The last sentence of the Easter Sunday Gospel reads, "For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead." St. John's insight gives us clear evidence that the resurrection of Christ confounded the Apostles. Like the Apostles, we ask, "What does the resurrection really mean? What did the Apostles see in the empty tomb and why should it gives us new hope in life beyond death?"

In the Gospel account, we observe that while Mary Magdalene was the first to arrive at the tomb, it was Peter and John who were the first to examine the evidence that Christ had been resurrected. St. John devotes painstaking detail regarding the status of the burial cloths and the cloth that covered Our Lord's head in the tomb. The original Greek text reveals much more about the status of the burial cloths than our English translation.