"Stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

The Gospel for this Third Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2012,  gives us a shocking picture of Jesus. The gentle savior has turned violent.
He erupts into anger as he sees merchants vend oxen, sheep and doves in
the temple, sees money-changers doing commerce in God’s house.  Our
Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.



The account of the

"He cured many who were sick with various diseases."

In this Sunday’s Readings, February 5, 2012, we are invited to reflect on the meaning of suffering in the life of the Christian. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Suffering in the Life of the Christian

Sunday's
Scripture readings find poor Job saying that life is nothing but
drudgery. Every so often, we also hear someone lament

"What is this? A new teaching with authority."

In this Sunday's Readings, January 29, 2011, the Gospel finds Jesus going to the synagogue in Capernaum with four of
his disciples where people are astonished that He teaches with such
authority. And then he casts out a demon from a possessed person. Our
Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Jesus - The Holy One of God

What
is

"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

This Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 , 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we have the call of the first Apostles.
Mark gets down to business fast, here in only verse sixteen of his
Gospel we find Jesus calling Simon and his brother Andrew and then
having gone on a little further He calls the sons of Zebedee, James and
John. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and

“What are you looking for?”

In this Sunday's Readings - Second Sunday In Ordinary Time (2B), January 15, 2012 - John the Baptist looks hard at Jesus and says, ‘Look there is the Lamb
of God.’ The two disciples with him immediately follow Jesus. Our
Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Behold the Lamb of God

At
the beginning of Advent we received a beautiful

"Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Jesus has some words this Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, about investing what we receive. He tells the famous parable of the talents.
The man who receives five talents, put them to work and made an
additional five. The second receives two and makes two more. But the man
who receives one talent, buries it. Jesus calls him "wicked" and
"lazy." Our Discussion Questions will

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"

We are back in the vineyard again this Sunday, October 2, 2011, immersed in another of
Matthew's complex Gospel parables. Sunday's Gospel parable is often
called the parable of the wicked tenants. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.



Jesus told these parables in answer to the question: "What is the kingdom of God like?"
As in

"Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you."

The Parable of the Two Sons
for Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011, which is unique to the Gospel of Matthew is probably one of the most
easily understandable of all the parables of Jesus. It describes a
situation we can all identify with and one that we surely all have
experienced. Some call this four verse parable the Better of Two Bad
Sons. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible

"Are you envious because I am generous?"

It's September 18, 2011 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - and this Sunday's gospel parable of the workers in the vineyard
serves as a corrective to false notions of entitlement and merit. The
story reflects the socio-economic background of Palestine at the time
of Jesus. The parable is offensive to us and it challenges our sense of
justice. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday

"If your brother sins against you..."

Our Gospel this Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time), is taken from a section of St Matthew’s Gospel in which he considers forgiveness in the community and how to deal with sinners. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

A Brother Who Has Sinned

Matthew
adapts sayings of the historical Jesus to address the

"O woman, great is your faith!"

In this Sunday’s Gospel for August 14, 2011 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jesus heals the daughter of the Canaanite woman because her faith was so great.  He rebuked the disciples because their faith was too little. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

These readings fare among the most difficult passages in the Bible.

"Give them some food yourselves."

The miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish that is mentioned in this Sunday's Readings - July 31, 2011 - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - is so central to the gospel message that it is one of the few miracles found in all four gospels. It help us recognize the gifts we have been given and the responsibility we have to give them to others. Our Discussion Questions will guide your

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed"

Once again in this week's Gospel passage for July 17, 2011, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, images of growing trees, shrubs and plants provide us with powerful insights into the quiet and slow ways that God's Kingdom grows among us and within us. This Sunday we have three parables set before us. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church

"Whoever has ears ought to hear."

This Sunday's Parable of the Sower for July 10, 2011 - 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

To respond to this parable adequately, we must view it from two different angles.

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son"

This Sunday - June 19, 2011 - we celebrate the solemnity of the Blessed Trinity. The Triune nature of God is the principal mystery of the Catholic faith. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

The Very Mystery of God

What we know about God is not made up, not a fable invented by our ancestors. What we know about God is

"He will give you another Advocate to be with you always"

This Sunday, May 29, 2011, is the last Sunday of Easter. We are being prepared for the Ascension of Jesus, which comes next week. He has risen from death and now he is ready to be human in another way, that is, to go to up to heaven, as we hope we will too. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

This week, the

"I am the way and the truth and the life."

In the Gospel for this Fifth Sunday in Easter, May 22, 2011, Jesus invites us to let go and trust in Him. He declares that He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

This Sunday's Gospel text is taken from St. John's account of the Last Supper. That the Church gives us this

"I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved."

In the Catholic tradition this Fourth Sunday after Easter - celebrated this year on May 15, 2011 - is called Good Shepherd Sunday. It is also kept as a Special Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and the Religious Life. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

The Good Shepherd Discourse

God's image as

"I am the light of the world."

Sunday’s Gospel is about the cure of a blind man—and about the blindness of those who think they can see. Our Discussion Questions for April 3, 2011 - the Fourth Sunday of Lent - will guide your Online Sunday Bible Study sessions with your family, friends and church groups.

Light and darkness

The drama of John 9, the Man Born Blind, is the story of a simple man open to God’s presence and

“This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

Last week we saw Jesus being tempted just like the rest of us. It was so human. This Sunday - the Second Sunday of Lent -  we see Him transformed into dazzling light. Not so human. What is going on? Is He trying to teach us something? Our Discussion Questions will guide your Online Sunday Bible Study sessions with your family, friends and church groups.

Abraham, Moses Elijah and Jesus

Fr. Alex