Lent 2026 Begins With an Invitation to Stop Hiding and Stand Before God Now, now — it is the Lord who speaks — come back to me with all your heart. Not tomorrow. Not when we have sorted ourselves out. Not after we have become the kind of person who is ready. Now. This is how the Church opens the season of Lent — with the voice of God through the prophet Joel, and it is not a gentle suggestion. It is an urgent, almost breathless call. The...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 28, 2025Liturgical Context: Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and JosephUSCCB Readings: Readings: First Reading: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-21 (or 3:12-17) Gospel: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 One-Sentence Theme: God incarnates into our household systems, honoring the family as the first church where covenant identity is preserved not in stone but...
Third Sunday of Advent: When & Where We Are in the Scripture Sunday, December 14, 2025 | Third Sunday of Advent, Year A The Readings First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10Responsorial Psalm: Psalm...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C) Readings: First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3...
If there were no Sunday obligation this year—no hell threat, no requirement—would we still come? Would we still show up to encounter God in our emptiness, or are we mostly trying to look like a...
There's a question haunting this Gospel: What happens Monday morning? The tax collector went home justified. And then what? Did he go back to the booth, back to neglecting widows and orphans, back...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 The Night That Changed Everything When & Where: Written around 50 BC by an Alexandrian Jew reflecting on the Passover...
A Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if Abel, the "good" brother in the Bible's first murder story, was actually disobeying God's instructions? What if Cain, the "bad"...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? A Jarring Shift: After last Sunday's tender invitation to call God "Abba, Daddy" in the Lord's Prayer, this week's readings might feel like spiritual...
A Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time What Do We Remember from Our Baptism? I was three months and four days old when I was brought to the church for my baptism. Like most of us, I have...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? After last week's readings following Moses through the desert, this Sunday takes us on a dramatic leap backward—almost 2,000 years before Christ—to...
CONTEXT The suggested meditation flows from the themes explored in today's readings and the unique tension of this feast day. For deeper biblical and theological context, explore the Feast of the Holy Family (Year A) - Biblical Background, which examines Sirach's defense of families under cultural pressure, the meaning of splanchna compassion in Colossians, and the Holy Family's vulnerability in Matthew's Gospel. For liturgical planning and the...
Placement: Beginning of liturgy, replacing standard penitential riteDuration: 4-5 minutesMinister's Note: Read slowly, with long pauses. Model stillness and groundedness. This is about creating...
A guided body prayer for post-Communion reflection. Second Sunday of Advent (Year A) - Experience CONTEXT & BACKGROUND This meditation emerges from today's Gospel (Matthew 3:1-12), where John...
A guided somatic meditation for post-communion adoration or personal Advent practice Introduction (spoken by the leader or read privately): In our Advent waiting, Christ invites us to keep watch...
TWELVE NAMES FOR JESUS: CHOOSING HOW TO ADDRESS HIM THIS WEEK Introduction This is the last Sunday we will see Jesus in his wholeness for nearly two months. As we prepare to meet him next week as...
FOR THE LEADER: We're doing this practice WITH the community, not TO the community, so let us use "we" language throughout. Let us warm, even playful tone at the beginning. This isn't heavy...
Post-Communion Reflection - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) We have just received the Body of Christ. We did nothing to earn this gift - Christ came to us freely. He placed himself in our...
CONTEXT FOR THESE INTERCESSIONS These prayers flow from the themes explored in today's readings and the unique tension of this feast day. For deeper biblical and theological context, explore the Feast of the Holy Family (Year A) - Biblical Background, which examines Sirach's defense of families under cultural pressure, the meaning of splanchna compassion in Colossians, and the Holy Family's vulnerability in Matthew's Gospel. For liturgical...
Context These intercessions flow from deep exploration of this Sunday’s readings. For the full theological and scriptural foundation of these themes, especially understanding the story of Ahaz's...
Context: These intercessions flow from the Sunday's deep exploration of baptism as present tense reality, the peaceable kingdom as the world we're baptized into, and the call to stop hiding behind...
Presider: As we begin this season of watchful waiting, let us bring our prayers before the Lord who comes to us in light. For Pope Leo and all who keep watch over the Church: that they may lead with...
NOTE FOR LITURGY PLANNERS These intercessions are offered as a complete set, but you are invited to choose 4-5 petitions that resonate most with your community's current needs. Select the prayers...
NOTE FOR LITURGY PLANNERS These intercessions are offered as a complete set, but you are invited to choose 4-5 petitions that resonate most with your community's current needs. Select the prayers...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, Moses raised his hands in prayer and his arms grew heavy, yet with the support of Aaron and Hur, Israel prevailed. A widow persisted in her cry for justice and was...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, Abraham left the crossroads of his father's journey and completed the path to God's promise. With the faith of those who know they are chosen and beloved, let us...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, we have learned that our life is hidden with Christ in God. With confidence in our Abba Father, let us bring our prayers before the One whose breath sustains us. For...
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C Celebrant: Like Abraham, we approach our loving God with bold confidence, bringing the needs of our world to the One who delights in our every prayer. Reader:...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 28, 2025Liturgical Season: Christmas Octave - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and JosephLiturgical Year: Year AUSCCB Readings: One-Sentence Theme: God incarnates into our household systems, honoring the family as the first church where covenant identity is preserved not in stone but in the living relationship between generations. WHERE ARE WE? In the Christmas Octave We are still within the eight days of...
QUICK REFERENCE December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)Liturgical Color: Violet/Purple (Rose may have been used on Gaudete Sunday)Fourth Advent Candle: Angel's Candle / Love CandleUSCCB...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 7, 2025Liturgical Season: Second Sunday of Advent, Year AReadings: Isaiah 11:1-10 | Psalm 72 | Romans 15:4-9 | Matthew 3:1-12Theme: Baptism calls us out of hiding to...
Entering the Season of Threefold Coming Advent begins. But not as our culture often imagines it - not primarily as a countdown to Christmas, not as premature celebration with nativity scenes and...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)Readings: USCCB Lectionary #162 One-Sentence...
"Ordinary" doesn't mean "less important." It means ordinary as whole—encountering Jesus complete, not through a seasonal lens. QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 16, 2025Liturgical Season: 33rd Sunday...
The Pharisee isn't a cartoon villain. He's exhausted. He's been showing up faithfully for YEARS while others flake. He fasts twice a week—do YOU? He tithes on everything—do YOU? His resentment...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Reflection for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Running in the Dark The city empties under evacuation orders. Every screen flickers blue against abandoned streets while mechanical voices...
Reflection for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if the most dangerous thing in the world isn't nuclear waste that stays lethal for 100,000 years, but a Gospel that stays troublesome for...
A Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C There are crossroads in this world that even biblical fathers never dared to leave behind, purposedly settling down between grief and...
QUICK REFERENCE December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)Liturgical Color: Violet/Purple (Rose may have been used on Gaudete Sunday)Fourth Advent Candle: Angel's Candle / Love CandleUSCCB Readings for December 21, 2025 One-Sentence Theme: At the threshold of Christmas, we encounter two fathers—one who refuses God's sign through control, one who receives it through surrender—and discover that Emmanuel comes anyway, calling us to...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 28, 2025Liturgical Season: Christmas Octave - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and JosephLiturgical Year: Year AUSCCB Readings: One-Sentence Theme: God...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 7, 2025Liturgical Season: Second Sunday of Advent, Year AReadings: Isaiah 11:1-10 | Psalm 72 | Romans 15:4-9 | Matthew 3:1-12Theme: Baptism calls us out of hiding to...
Entering the Season of Threefold Coming Advent begins. But not as our culture often imagines it - not primarily as a countdown to Christmas, not as premature celebration with nativity scenes and...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)Readings: USCCB Lectionary #162 One-Sentence...
"Ordinary" doesn't mean "less important." It means ordinary as whole—encountering Jesus complete, not through a seasonal lens. QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 16, 2025Liturgical Season: 33rd Sunday...
The Pharisee isn't a cartoon villain. He's exhausted. He's been showing up faithfully for YEARS while others flake. He fasts twice a week—do YOU? He tithes on everything—do YOU? His resentment...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Reflection for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Running in the Dark The city empties under evacuation orders. Every screen flickers blue against abandoned streets while mechanical voices...
Reflection for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if the most dangerous thing in the world isn't nuclear waste that stays lethal for 100,000 years, but a Gospel that stays troublesome for...
A Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C There are crossroads in this world that even biblical fathers never dared to leave behind, purposedly settling down between grief and...
Placement: Beginning of liturgy, replacing standard penitential riteDuration: 4-5 minutesMinister's Note: Read slowly, with long pauses. Model stillness and groundedness. This is about creating space, not filling it. For the full theological and scriptural foundation of this practice, especially understanding the story of Ahaz’s refusal to receive the sign from God and St. Joseph’s receptiveness and to dig deeper into Jesus’ lineage, see...
CONTEXT The suggested meditation flows from the themes explored in today's readings and the unique tension of this feast day. For deeper biblical and theological context, explore the Feast of the...
A guided body prayer for post-Communion reflection. Second Sunday of Advent (Year A) - Experience CONTEXT & BACKGROUND This meditation emerges from today's Gospel (Matthew 3:1-12), where John...
A guided somatic meditation for post-communion adoration or personal Advent practice Introduction (spoken by the leader or read privately): In our Advent waiting, Christ invites us to keep watch...
TWELVE NAMES FOR JESUS: CHOOSING HOW TO ADDRESS HIM THIS WEEK Introduction This is the last Sunday we will see Jesus in his wholeness for nearly two months. As we prepare to meet him next week as...
FOR THE LEADER: We're doing this practice WITH the community, not TO the community, so let us use "we" language throughout. Let us warm, even playful tone at the beginning. This isn't heavy...
Post-Communion Reflection - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) We have just received the Body of Christ. We did nothing to earn this gift - Christ came to us freely. He placed himself in our...
Context These intercessions flow from deep exploration of this Sunday’s readings. For the full theological and scriptural foundation of these themes, especially understanding the story of Ahaz's refusal to receive the sign from God and St. Joseph's receptiveness and to dig deeper into Jesus' lineage, see the Biblical Resources for this Sunday. Celebrant Introduction: Brothers and sisters, as we prepare to welcome Emmanuel—God with us—we...
CONTEXT FOR THESE INTERCESSIONS These prayers flow from the themes explored in today's readings and the unique tension of this feast day. For deeper biblical and theological context, explore the...
Context: These intercessions flow from the Sunday's deep exploration of baptism as present tense reality, the peaceable kingdom as the world we're baptized into, and the call to stop hiding behind...
Presider: As we begin this season of watchful waiting, let us bring our prayers before the Lord who comes to us in light. For Pope Leo and all who keep watch over the Church: that they may lead with...
NOTE FOR LITURGY PLANNERS These intercessions are offered as a complete set, but you are invited to choose 4-5 petitions that resonate most with your community's current needs. Select the prayers...
NOTE FOR LITURGY PLANNERS These intercessions are offered as a complete set, but you are invited to choose 4-5 petitions that resonate most with your community's current needs. Select the prayers...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, Moses raised his hands in prayer and his arms grew heavy, yet with the support of Aaron and Hur, Israel prevailed. A widow persisted in her cry for justice and was...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, Abraham left the crossroads of his father's journey and completed the path to God's promise. With the faith of those who know they are chosen and beloved, let us...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, we have learned that our life is hidden with Christ in God. With confidence in our Abba Father, let us bring our prayers before the One whose breath sustains us. For...
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C Celebrant: Like Abraham, we approach our loving God with bold confidence, bringing the needs of our world to the One who delights in our every prayer. Reader:...
QUICK REFERENCE December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)USCCB Readings Readings: First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6. Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7 Gospel: Matthew Matthew 1:18-24 One-Sentence Theme: Two fathers in the Davidic line—one who refuses God's sign and destroys his son, one who receives God's sign and adopts a son not his own—reveal what makes us capable of receiving Emmanuel....
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 28, 2025Liturgical Context: Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and JosephUSCCB Readings: Readings: First Reading: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm...
Third Sunday of Advent: When & Where We Are in the Scripture Sunday, December 14, 2025 | Third Sunday of Advent, Year A The Readings First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10Responsorial Psalm: Psalm...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C) Readings: First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3...
If there were no Sunday obligation this year—no hell threat, no requirement—would we still come? Would we still show up to encounter God in our emptiness, or are we mostly trying to look like a...
There's a question haunting this Gospel: What happens Monday morning? The tax collector went home justified. And then what? Did he go back to the booth, back to neglecting widows and orphans, back...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 The Night That Changed Everything When & Where: Written around 50 BC by an Alexandrian Jew reflecting on the Passover...
A Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if Abel, the "good" brother in the Bible's first murder story, was actually disobeying God's instructions? What if Cain, the "bad"...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? A Jarring Shift: After last Sunday's tender invitation to call God "Abba, Daddy" in the Lord's Prayer, this week's readings might feel like spiritual...
A Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time What Do We Remember from Our Baptism? I was three months and four days old when I was brought to the church for my baptism. Like most of us, I have...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? After last week's readings following Moses through the desert, this Sunday takes us on a dramatic leap backward—almost 2,000 years before Christ—to...
Third Sunday of Advent: When & Where We Are in the Scripture Sunday, December 14, 2025 | Third Sunday of Advent, Year A The Readings First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 146:6-10Second Reading: James 5:7-10Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11 This Sunday - Gaudete Sunday, "Rejoice Sunday" - stands as the rose-colored candle in our Advent wreath, a flicker of joy in the midst of purple penitence. But what kind of joy? What kind of...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 28, 2025Liturgical Context: Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and JosephUSCCB Readings: Readings: First Reading: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C) Readings: First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3...
If there were no Sunday obligation this year—no hell threat, no requirement—would we still come? Would we still show up to encounter God in our emptiness, or are we mostly trying to look like a...
There's a question haunting this Gospel: What happens Monday morning? The tax collector went home justified. And then what? Did he go back to the booth, back to neglecting widows and orphans, back...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 The Night That Changed Everything When & Where: Written around 50 BC by an Alexandrian Jew reflecting on the Passover...
A Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if Abel, the "good" brother in the Bible's first murder story, was actually disobeying God's instructions? What if Cain, the "bad"...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? A Jarring Shift: After last Sunday's tender invitation to call God "Abba, Daddy" in the Lord's Prayer, this week's readings might feel like spiritual...
A Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time What Do We Remember from Our Baptism? I was three months and four days old when I was brought to the church for my baptism. Like most of us, I have...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? After last week's readings following Moses through the desert, this Sunday takes us on a dramatic leap backward—almost 2,000 years before Christ—to...
