Word Wide Open: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood Christ (A) - 6/7/26

First Reading (Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a)

A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy.

Moses said to the people:

"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,

has directed all your journeying in the desert,

so as to test you by affliction

and find out whether or not it was your intention

to keep his commandments. 

He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,

and then fed you with manna,

a food unknown to you and your fathers,

in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,

but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

"Do not forget the LORD, your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

that place of slavery;

who guided you through the vast and terrible desert

with its saraph serpents and scorpions,

its parched and waterless ground;

who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock

and fed you in the desert with manna,

a food unknown to your fathers."

 

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why is it so easy to doubt God in times of suffering?

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.  

Brothers and sisters:

The cup of blessing that we bless,

is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?

The bread that we break,

is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Because the loaf of bread is one,

we, though many, are one body,

for we all partake of the one loaf.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What does it mean that we partake of one loaf?

Gospel (John 6:51-58)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give

is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 

Jesus said to them,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you do not have life within you. 

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day. 

For my flesh is true food,

and my blood is true drink. 

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him. 

Just as the living Father sent me

and I have life because of the Father,

so also the one who feeds on me

will have life because of me. 

This is the bread that came down from heaven. 

Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,

whoever eats this bread will live forever."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why were the crowds shocked/questioning the Lord? Why is the Eucharist so important to our Catholic faith?

Word Wide Open: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (A) - 5/31/26

First Reading (Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9)

A reading from the Book of Exodus.

Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai

as the LORD had commanded him,

taking along the two stone tablets.

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there

and proclaimed his name, "LORD."

Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,

"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,

slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."

Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.

Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord,

do come along in our company.

This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins,

and receive us as your own."

 

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How can we find favor with God?

Second Reading (2 Corinthians 13:11-13)

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.  

Brothers and sisters, rejoice. 

Mend your ways, encourage one another,

agree with one another, live in peace,

and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

All the holy ones greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

and the love of God

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why is a community of encouragement and affirmation so important?

Gospel (John 3:16-18)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might not perish

but might have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,

but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? How are we sent out by the Lord? What are we supposed to do?

Word Wide Open: Pentecost Sunday (A) - 5/24/26

First Reading (Acts 2:1-11)

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,

they were all in one place together.

And suddenly there came from the sky

a noise like a strong driving wind,

and it filled the entire house in which they were.

Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,

which parted and came to rest on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in different tongues,

as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven

staying in Jerusalem.

At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,

but they were confused

because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,

"Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?

Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?

We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,

inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,

Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,

Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,

as well as travelers from Rome,

both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,

yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues

of the mighty acts of God."

 

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What does the Holy Spirit allow us to do?

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13)

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.  

Brothers and sisters:

No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;

there are different forms of service but the same Lord;

there are different workings but the same God

who produces all of them in everyone.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit

is given for some benefit.

As a body is one though it has many parts,

and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,

so also Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,

whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,

and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why does the Holy Spirit enable us to say Jesus is Lord??

Gospel (John 20:19-23)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

On the evening of that first day of the week,

when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,

for fear of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said to them, "Peace be with you."

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

"Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,

and whose sins you retain are retained."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? How are we sent out by the Lord? What are we supposed to do?

Word Wide Open: The Ascension of the Lord (A) - 5/17/26

First Reading (Acts 1:1-11)

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

In the first book, Theophilus,

I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught

until the day he was taken up,

after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit

to the apostles whom he had chosen.

He presented himself alive to them

by many proofs after he had suffered,

appearing to them during forty days

and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While meeting with them,

he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,

but to wait for “the promise of the Father

about which you have heard me speak;

for John baptized with water,

but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

When they had gathered together they asked him,

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons

that the Father has established by his own authority.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

throughout Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were looking on,

he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,

suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.

They said, “Men of Galilee,

why are you standing there looking at the sky?

This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven

will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

 

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What power does the Holy Spirit give us?

Second Reading (Ephesians 1:17-23)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians.  

Brothers and sisters:

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation

resulting in knowledge of him.

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,

what are the riches of glory

in his inheritance among the holy ones,

and what is the surpassing greatness of his power

for us who believe,

in accord with the exercise of his great might,

which he worked in Christ,

raising him from the dead

and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,

far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,

and every name that is named

not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things beneath his feet

and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body,

the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How is the Church the body of Christ?

Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,

to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

Then Jesus approached and said to them,

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? How do we make disciples of all nations? How is the Lord with us until the end of the age?