When Jesus came to Nazareth, we read in this Sunday’s gospel, he “went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day” and read from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. But if he were to speak in a synagogue, church, or mosque in the U.S. today, how many young people would be there . . .

Thousands of years ago a Jewish priest named Ezra stood on a special platform “that had been made for the occasion” and interpreted the law to the people, and many who heard him were moved. On Monday President Barack Obama also stood on a special platform that had been made for the occasion . . .

The reading from 1 Corinthians this Sunday explains that each member of the body of Christ plays a role which supports the whole. Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner aircraft was supposed to work in a similar way, with parts manufactured all over . . .

All of the ordinances of the Lord are just and the decrees trustworthy, the psalmist affirms this Sunday. Last Saturday the Vatican’s chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., said much the same of President Obama’s legislative proposals and executive orders for curbing gun . . .

“That things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.”

Eighty-eight percent of Americans favor background checks on gun-buyers at gun shows, 65 percent support banning high-capacity ammunition clips, and 58 percent would back a ban on assault weapons.