In Other Words

11 May 2014

Fourth Sunday of Easter; Good Shepherd Sunday, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

4 May 2014

Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.

27 Apr 2014

Solemnity of the Second Sunday of Easter; Divine Mercy Sunday, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”

20 Apr 2014

Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord (Easter Sunday), Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.c

13 Apr 2014

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

6 Apr 2014

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

Martha said, “Master, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you.”

30 Mar 2014

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. He spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.

23 Mar 2014

Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem.

16 Mar 2014

Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him.

9 Mar 2014

First Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

The Sunday gospel in everyday English

Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test.’ The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.” Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”