Gospel Commentary - The Arlington Catholic Herald

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Faith / Your Faith / Gospel Commentary

The transfiguration is encouragement for us

As we follow Christ further into the wilderness of Lent, our Gospel for this Sunday presents us with a bit of a surprise: The transfiguration. We might have expected a passage about prayer, fasting, or almsgiving, or perhaps repentance. Instead, we have Mark 9:2-10, where Peter, James and John behold the glory of God radiating through Christ’s humanity.

2/24/21

RICHARD A. MISERENDINO

On the battleground

On the first Sunday in Lent, we always hear the account of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness. The church wants us to know the 40 days of Lent which have just begun are a participation in Christ’s 40 days in the desert. His 40 days are our 40 days, and what he accomplished then he seeks to accomplish in us now.

2/16/21

STEVEN OETJEN

Childlike faith

We are just a month out from the end of the Christmas season, yet we have in our Gospel today a powerful example of childlike faith. A leper comes up to Jesus, kneels down and pleads, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”

2/10/21

Jack Peterson
The devil’s use of half truths

The Gospel for this Sunday presents us with a flurry of activity, set at the beginning of Christ’s public life. In the space of a few lines, the Lord Jesus has healed Simon’s mother-in-law, healed the diseases of the crowd, cast out many demons, gone to spend the night in prayer, been pursued by the whole town and gone on to preach elsewhere. We see here the dynamism and urgency of the love he bears toward the people of Galilee and, through them, toward us as well. Yet there are strange things tucked away in this continuous stream of ministry, and we would do well not to miss them. More

2/2/21

JOSEPH M. RAMPINO

God’s authority and spiritual warfare

Repeatedly throughout the Gospels, those who hear Jesus are struck by a stark difference between his message and those of other contemporary religious authorities. The words typically used to describe the Lord’s message are power and authority. Unlike others in the world, Christ’s preaching and message has power to move mountains and heal hearts, authority to command, commend, save, transform and transfigure. Jesus has this power and authority because he is the Author, he is God. All of history is really his story, and it is in his creative Word that we live and move and have our being. Without Christ, we can do nothing. His power is the literal omnipotence of God, and his word bears the mark of authority because it is none other than the eternal Word of God. More

1/27/21

RICHARD A. MISERENDINO

Embarking on the ‘way’

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Hearing those few words, the two brothers Simon and Andrew immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus. Then Jesus calls another set of brothers, and James and John also follow him. Just like that, these four men begin on the “way.”More

1/19/21

STEVEN OETJENEmbarking on the ‘way’

What are you looking for?

The pandemic has turned our world upside down. Sometimes it feels like we are athletic shoes being tossed around in the clothes dryer, rather disoriented and out of control. Our normal life and routines have been completely disrupted. During moments of great turmoil or change, we often ask about the meaning of life.More

1/11/21

JACK PETERSON

Mary and Joseph fulfill long-awaited prophecies in an ordinary way

Each year, on the Sunday following Christmas, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Our Gospel reading this year from Luke presents us with a fascinating window into their actual family life. Here, we catch a glimpse of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem:More

12/22/20

FR. RICHARD A. MISERENDINO

A sacramental worldview

The annunciation is one of the most commonly depicted scenes in sacred art. It is a scene on which we Catholics often meditate, whether we are looking at an image of it or we are praying the rosary or the Angelus. As we near the end of the Advent season, let us consider the annunciation not as something that we merely think about but as something that we can touch. That is, let us consider it with a sacramental worldview.More

12/17/20

FR. STEVEN OETJEN

You are called

A fitting celebration of Christmas demands preparation. It demands an effort to ponder the depth of the beauty and mystery of God’s love and truth poured out in this seismic event that took place in the fullness of time in the tiny town of Bethlehem. For this, we need a period of spiritual preparation. Hence, the church provides us with the four weeks of Advent.More

12/11/20

FR. JACK PETERSON

Single-minded devotion

This second week of Advent draws up before our eyes the vision of John the Baptist, mighty in word and deed, the great Forerunner of the Messiah. Mark’s Gospel paints for us an evocative picture of this desert-dwelling man, dressed in camel hair, living on locusts and honey, and proclaiming repentance. What do these details tell us about John the Baptist, and why is he so important for us, even today?More

12/3/20

FR. JOSEPH M. RAMPINO

An ETA for the end times?

As we begin the season of Advent and a new liturgical year, our Gospel reading for this week is the traditional exhortation — keep watch. We begin each Advent remembering Christ will come again, yet we do not know specifically when Our Lord will return at the end of all things. Still, Jesus reminds us that we are like servants and door guards who know that the return is imminent. Thus, we ought to be ready at a moment’s notice to receive our master with all preparations and honor. More

11/23/20

FR. RICHARD A. MISERENDINO

The rightful king

A peculiar feature of the early Israelite people, from the time of Moses to the time of the Judges, was that they had no earthly king. They had various kinds of leaders — priests, prophets, judges — who served as mediators through whom God led. But they had no king, because the Lord himself was the king of his people. It was for God and God alone to rule.More

11/22/20

Steven Oetjen

Prepare early

In 1849, at the age of 7, after making his first holy Communion, St. Dominic Savio wrote a series of resolutions in his personal notebook. He declared the following: “I will go to confession often, and to holy Communion as often as my confessor allows, I will keep Sundays particularly holy, my friends will be Jesus and Mary, and I will choose death rather than sin.” More

11/5/20

JOSEPH M. RAMPINO

The saints help us homeward

All Saints’ Day is a great day for remembering who we are and who we’re meant to be.More

10/28/20

RICHARD A. MISERENDINO

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