First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 28 (Year C) Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

“The days are surely coming” is a phrase often repeated in prophetic texts of the Old Testament. It is usually followed by a detailed description of what God is going to do for Israel — most often, it will be a glorious and prosperous future.

“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.” (Matthew 2:18, quoting Jeremiah 31:15)

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Nov. 11 (Year B) 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 29 (Year B) 2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15

NEW YORK – Joy has to be rooted in the fullness of reality, the suffering of the Cross, the glory of the Resurrection and the providence of God, not in a gooey meringue of sweetness.

There is an old joke among Catholics that if you want to quote something from the Bible, ask a good Protestant.

MANILA, Philippines – Remember what Jesus' cross stands for, and don't misuse the Bible to justify the death penalty, said the Philippines' Catholic bishops.

There������Ƶapp a haunting text in the Book of Revelations where poetic image, for all its beauty, can be dangerously misleading. The author there writes: “So the angel swung his sickle over the Earth and cut the Earth������Ƶapp vintage. He threw it into the great winepress of God������Ƶapp fury.”

A colleague of mine shares this story: Recently, after presiding at Eucharist, a woman from the congregation came up to him with this comment: “What a horrible Scripture reading today! If that������Ƶapp the kind of God we’re worshipping, then I don’t want to go to Heaven!”

The Church must uphold “the objective truths of Sacred Scripture” in the face of a secular culture that poses a grave challenge to the Christian view of family, Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins told the Synod of Bishops meeting in the Vatican.