Letters From Home

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Wednesday of the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time by Dr. John Bergsma.

Ordinary Weekday First Reading: Ezekiel 34: 1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Alleluia: Hebrews 4: 12
Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Dr. Scott Hahn.

ASSUMPTION OF THE Blessed Virgin MARY Solemnity, No obligation this year to attend Mass / Day First Reading: Revelation 11: 19a; 12: 1-6a, 10ab
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 45: 10, 11, 12, 16
Second Reading: First Corinthians 15: 20-27
Gospel: Luke 1: 39-56

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Readings:
Jeremiah 38:4–6, 8–10
Psalm 40:2–4, 18
Hebrews 12:1–4
Luke 12:49–53

Our God is a consuming fire, the Scriptures tell us (see Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 4:24). And in this week’s Gospel, Jesus uses the image of fire to describe the demands of discipleship.

The fire He has come to cast on the earth is the fire that He wants to blaze in each of our hearts. He made us from the dust of the earth (see Genesis 2:7) and filled us with the fire of the Holy Spirit in Baptism (see Luke 3:16).

We were baptized into His death (see Romans 6:3). This is the baptism our Lord speaks of in the Gospel this week. The baptism with which He must be baptized is His passion and death, by which He accomplished our redemption and sent forth the fire of the Spirit on the earth (see Acts 2:3).

The fire has been set, but it is not yet blazing. We are called to enter deeper into the consuming love of God. We must examine our consciences and our actions, submitting ourselves to the revealing fire of God’s Word (see 1 Corinthians 3:13).

In our struggle against sin, we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our own blood, Paul tells us in this week’s Epistle. We have not undergone the suffering that Jeremiah suffers in the First Reading this week.

But this is what true discipleship requires. To be a disciple is to be inflamed with the love of the God. It is to have an unquenchable desire for holiness and zeal for the salvation of our brothers and sisters.

Being His disciple does not bring peace in the false way that the world proclaims peace (see Jeremiah 8:11). It means division and hardship. It may bring us to conflict with our own flesh and blood.

But Christ is our peace (see Ephesians 2:14). By His Cross He has lifted us up from the mire of sin and death—as He will rescue the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 38:10).

And as we sing in the Psalm this week, we trust in our deliverer.

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Saturday of the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time by Mr. Clement Harrold.

Ordinary Weekday / Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary / Pontian, Pope, Martyr, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyr First Reading: Ezekiel 18: 1-10, 13b, 30-32
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 51: 12-13, 14-15, 18-19
Alleluia: Matthew 11: 25
Gospel: Matthew 19: 13-15

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Friday of the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time by Dr. John Bergsma.

Ordinary Weekday / Jane Frances de Chantal, Married Woman, Religious Founder First Reading: Ezekiel 16: 1-15, 60, 63 or 16: 59-63
Responsorial Psalm: Isaiah 12: 2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
Alleluia: First Thessalonians 2: 13
Gospel: Matthew 19: 3-12

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. Clare by Dr. Scott Hahn.

Clare, Virgin, Religious Founder Obligatory Memorial First Reading: Ezekiel 12: 1-12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 78: 56-57, 58-59, 61-62
Alleluia: Psalms 119: 135
Gospel: Matthew 18: 21 – 19: 1

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Feast of St. Lawrence by Dr. John Bergsma.

Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr Feast First Reading: Second Corinthians 9: 6-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 112: 1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9
Alleluia: John 8: 12bc
Gospel: John 12: 24-26

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. Dominic by Dr. Scott Hahn.

Dominic, Priest, Religious Founder Obligatory Memorial First Reading: Ezekiel 1: 2-5, 24-28c
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 148: 1-2, 11-12, 13, 14
Alleluia: Second Thessalonians 2: 14
Gospel: Matthew 17: 22-27

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Feast of the TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD by Mr. Clement Harrold.

First Reading: Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 97: 1-2, 5-6, 9
Second Reading: Second Peter 1: 16-19
Alleluia: Matthew 17: 5c
Gospel: Luke 9: 28b-36

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Friday of the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time by Dr. John Bergsma.

Col 1:24–2:3, Psalm 62:6-7, 9, Lk 6:6-11

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