The Narthex
The Unity of the Moral Life
The social order is not insulated from the Law of God
By John M. Grondelski | September 4th 2024 11:26 AMLast Sunday’s readings focused on the unity of the moral life, the common thread connecting the readings. Because some clergy might have been inclined to focus on the “heart,” on the intention of the moral agent, let’s take a step back and see all the readings in one big picture.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTChoosing & Seeing Christ
Three thoughts about the readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By John M. Grondelski | August 26th 2024 8:51 PM“Accompaniment” is a buzzword in the Francis papacy. It’s striking, then, that it appeared in the Gospel last Sunday, though not exactly in the manner to which current ecclesiastics have grown accustomed. Sunday’s Gospel wrapped up the Eucharistic teaching of Jesus we have been reading from John 6 these last…
READ FULL BLOG POSTEzekiel & the Ecclesia
Are we serious about the cleansing of the temple?
By John M. Grondelski | August 22nd 2024 12:09 PMIn the middle of summer in Year II of the weekday lectionary, the Church’s First Reading includes excerpts from the major prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel wrote during and after the Exile. To situate the story: For those who remember their grade school world history, Israel was at the western end of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLife, Death, & Assumption
The Solemnity is a pro-life holy day that reveals Mary’s model of greatness
By John M. Grondelski | August 19th 2024 12:14 PMAs the Solemnity of the Assumption once more fades away for another year, some parting thoughts on the significance of the feast: One: It's a Pro-life Holy Day Three unborn children appear in the readings for the Solemnity, one in the First Reading, two in the Gospel. The child in…
READ FULL BLOG POSTResurrection, Ascension, Assumption
The Resurrection is the 'first fruits' of the total harvest at the end of the world
By John M. Grondelski | August 15th 2024 12:15 PMThe Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when she was taken body and soul to heaven, might seem to have affinities to the Resurrection and Ascension. Let’s examine them. First of all, the Assumption is not a resurrection. In proclaiming the dogma of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII took pains…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTransfiguration Is What Christian Life Is All About
The Transfiguration points towards the Resurrection and the Last Day
By John M. Grondelski | August 6th 2024 11:49 AMToday is the Feast of the Transfiguration. Celebrated in the midst of summer, it perhaps gets short shrift from many Catholics. Catholics more regularly are reminded of the Transfiguration each year on the Second Sunday of Lent, when we read of it in one of the three Synoptic Gospels. It’s…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMunus docendi
Christ offers us a different way of seeing, thinking, and doing
By John M. Grondelski | July 23rd 2024 12:14 PMThe Church along with her leadership has three munera, three offices and duties: teaching, governing, and sanctifying. These three responsibilities are prominent in last Sunday’s readings. The munus docendi (the office of teaching), on which I’ll focus, is prominent in the Gospel. The details of Jesus’ arrival on the other…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRepentance Is the Message
What the Church’s 'welcome' should be, putting aside 'accompaniment'
By John M. Grondelski | July 15th 2024 11:57 AMSunday’s Gospel recounted Jesus dispatching His Apostles, two by two, on their first missionary internship. They are dispatched to the neighboring villages in Israel and Judea, a fairly circumscribed venue considering they will ultimately be sent “to all nations” (Mt 28:19). That Gospel is instructive as to how the Church…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTen Forbidden Words
Why shouldn't Louisiana be free to speak the words of the Ten Commandments?
By John M. Grondelski | July 11th 2024 11:54 AMMost Supreme Court cases go by their official names. Some get nicknames. The nickname for Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation is the “Seven Dirty Words Case.” It upheld the right of the FCC to regulate indecent language on the public airwaves. (Yes, in theory the FCC can turn off…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGod's Ordering of the Waters
Jesus' calming of the Sea of Galilee was a window into the first day of creation
By John M. Grondelski | June 25th 2024 2:16 PMLast Sunday’s readings had a lot to say about the waters. The primary focus was on the Gospel, in which Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Many Biblical commentators note that Jesus’ miracles can be grouped into two primary categories: miracles concerning nature (like this one) and…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Only God Can Make a Tree'
Jesus was a carpenter; His sayings and parables show a predilection for trees
By John M. Grondelski | June 17th 2024 12:05 PMSunday’s readings said a lot about trees and their growth. The First Reading spoke about God, who fosters some trees and withers others. The Gospel spoke of the tiny mustard seed that produces a large tree. The Catholic poet Joyce Kilmer wrote a poem, “Trees,” that was once standard fare in…
READ FULL BLOG POSTβρέφος
Luke uses the same word for the newborn Jesus and the unborn John
By John M. Grondelski | May 31st 2024 3:10 PMToday is the Solemnity of the Visitation, commemorating when Mary -- in her first trimester -- made a 90-mile trip from Nazareth in Galilee to Ein Karem in Judea to tend to her “kinswoman” Elizabeth, in her third trimester. We will celebrate the birth of John the Baptist next month,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTOn Ecclesiastical Growth
I do not believe the “Holy Spirit” is leading us into ecclesiastical shrinkage and retreat
By John M. Grondelski | May 1st 2024 12:05 PMA subtle aspect of last Sunday’s First Reading has to do with ecclesiastical growth. The main thrust of the reading was the suspicion with which the Church in Jerusalem (i.e., Peter and the other Apostles) initially received Paul, former persecutor and now evangelist, who “spoke out boldly in the name…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA 'Come to Jesus' Message
Christian 'welcome' goes through sin, repentance, and conversion
By John M. Grondelski | April 15th 2024 11:48 AMThe past few years have seen a preoccupation in various ecclesiastical quarters about the Church’s “welcome.” It’s a strange preoccupation for an institution that has been around roughly two millennia and hitherto seemed to lack neither clarity about its welcome message nor success in its promotion. This year’s readings for…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Earliest Christians Were Not Proto-Socialists
Acts 4 was not a people's republic with some holy water added
By John M. Grondelski | April 8th 2024 11:50 AMActs 4:32-35 speaks of the spiritual and temporal unity of the early Christian Church, exemplified in the common holding of property. The text no doubt makes visions of socialist sugar plums dance in some “social justice-plus” types' heads. I hate to wake them up from their dreams. The Church in…
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