The Inner Word

1 Oct 2023

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

Do you at times feel so overwhelmed by your workload that you feel like responding “I will not”—like the first son in today’s parable—to a request for assistance or a pastoral task?

24 Sep 2023

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

Today’s gospel story of the laborers in the vineyard is a brilliant exposition of the all-too-human tendency to envy and even resent another’s good fortune. Who among us hasn’t experienced the feeling at some time or another?

17 Sep 2023

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

Not forgiving is an ingratitude. How could we not forgive others, when God has forgiven us so much?

10 Sep 2023

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

It is said that the United States is the most highly litigious society on Earth—not really a fact we need to celebrate. The Jewish community at the time of Jesus was no less disputative.

3 Sep 2023

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

The demands of discipleship are much on display in this week’s readings. Jeremiah felt caught between his call and its cost.

27 Aug 2023

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

The curious reading from Isaiah, the prophet—and therefore God—takes a side in a political dispute, ratifying the ascendancy of one official over another whose lifestyle had provoked God’s anger.

20 Aug 2023

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

In going to Tyre and Sidon Jesus had traveled to the edges of the territory to get away for a while from the conflicts his ministry was causing.

13 Aug 2023

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

When Peter’s faith began failing, he called out to Jesus to save him, and Christ reached out his hand to catch him.

6 Aug 2023

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

It was only Jesus, but they saw his glory.

30 Jul 2023

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

What’s in your heart?

The first reading from 1 Kings has a twist. We’re used to asking God for something; in this case God asks a question—and moreover promises to grant the request.