The Narthex
The Need to Stop Grasping
Christ shows man the path by not 'grasping' himself but taking the form of obedient servant
By John M. Grondelski | September 16th 2025 11:56 AMLast Sunday’s Second Reading -- for the Exaltation of the Cross, which preempted the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time -- was St. Paul’s great hymn of Jesus’ self-emptying, his kenosis (Phil 2:6-11). One of the key texts in that hymn is verse 6, where Jesus is presented as treating divinity…
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 POSTMercy, Humility, & Hell-Fire
Mercy as concern for the other is prominent in Jesus’ Judgment
By John M. Grondelski | November 29th 2023 2:59 PMLast Sunday’s Gospel for the Solemnity of Christ the King is Matthew’s Last Judgment account. I have to admit I’m partial to that text because, prior to the 1969 Calendar Reform that inserted Christ the King as the last Sunday of the liturgical year, there was a kind of eschatological…
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