Word Wide Open: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (C) - 9/14/25

First Reading (Numbers 21:4b-9)

A reading from the Book of Numbers.

With their patience worn out by the journey,

the people complained against God and Moses,

"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,

where there is no food or water?

We are disgusted with this wretched food!"

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,

which bit the people so that many of them died.

Then the people came to Moses and said,

"We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.

Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us."

So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,

"Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,

and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live."

Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,

and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent

looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

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 blame God for our problems?

Second Reading (Phillipians 2:6-11)

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

Brothers and sisters:

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name

that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

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 empty ourselves?

Gospel (John 3:13-17)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

"No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For 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.

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 does believing in Jesus give us eternal life? What are ways we can share in the cross of Christ?

Word Wide Open: The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) - 9/7/25

 

First Reading (Wisdom 9:13-18b)

A reading from the Book of Wisdom.

 Who can know God’s counsel,

 or who can conceive what the LORD intends?

 For the deliberations of mortals are timid,

 and unsure are our plans.

 For the corruptible body burdens the soul

 and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.

 And scarce do we guess the things on earth,

 and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;

 but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?

 Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom

 and sent your holy spirit from on high?

 And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

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 does our human nature impact our soul?

Second Reading (Philemon 9-10, 12-17)

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

I, Paul, an old man,

and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,

urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,

whose father I have become in my imprisonment;

I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.

I should have liked to retain him for myself,

so that he might serve me on your behalf

in my imprisonment for the gospel,

but I did not want to do anything without your consent,

so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.

Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,

that you might have him back forever,

no longer as a slave

but more than a slave, a brother,

beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,

as a man and in the Lord.

So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.

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? Who are God’s messengers in our lives?

Gospel (Luke 14:25-33)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,

and he turned and addressed them,

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,

wife and children, brothers and sisters,

and even his own life,

he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me

cannot be my disciple.

Which of you wishing to construct a tower

does not first sit down and calculate the cost

to see if there is enough for its completion?

Otherwise, after laying the foundation

and finding himself unable to finish the work

the onlookers should laugh at him and say,

‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’

Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down

and decide whether with ten thousand troops

he can successfully oppose another king

advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?

But if not, while he is still far away,

he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.

In the same way,

anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions

cannot be my disciple.”

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? Does Jesus want us to hate our families or our own lives? What does carrying our crosses look like?

Word Wide Open: The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) - 8/31/25

First Reading (Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.

My child, conduct your affairs with humility,

 and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.

 Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,

 and you will find favor with God.

 What is too sublime for you, seek not,

 into things beyond your strength search not.

 The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs,

 and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.

 Water quenches a flaming fire,

 and alms atone for sins.

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 does the Lord make his name known?

Second Reading (Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a)

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. 

Brothers and sisters:

You have not approached that which could be touched

and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness

and storm and a trumpet blast

and a voice speaking words such that those who heard

begged that no message be further addressed to them.

No, you have approached Mount Zion

and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,

and countless angels in festal gathering,

and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,

and God the judge of all,

and the spirits of the just made perfect,

and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,

and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.

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? In what ways do we need discipline to grow in our faith?

Gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine

at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,

and the people there were observing him carefully.

He told a parable to those who had been invited,

noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,

do not recline at table in the place of honor.

A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,

and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,

'Give your place to this man,'

and then you would proceed with embarrassment

to take the lowest place.

Rather, when you are invited,

go and take the lowest place

so that when the host comes to you he may say,

'My friend, move up to a higher position.'

Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.

For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,

but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Then he said to the host who invited him,

"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,

do not invite your friends or your brothers

or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,

in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Rather, when you hold a banquet,

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

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 can we strive to enter through the narrow gate? How do we make sure the Lord knows us?

Word Wide Open: The Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) - 8/24/25

First Reading (Isaiah 66:18-21)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.

Thus says the LORD:

I know their works and their thoughts,

and I come to gather nations of every language;

they shall come and see my glory.

I will set a sign among them;

from them I will send fugitives to the nations:

to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,

to the distant coastlands

that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;

and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.

They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations

as an offering to the LORD,

on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,

to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,

just as the Israelites bring their offering

to the house of the LORD in clean vessels.

Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

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 does the Lord make his name known?

Second Reading (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13)

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. 

Brothers and sisters,

You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:

"My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord

or lose heart when reproved by him;

for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;

he scourges every son he acknowledges."

Endure your trials as "discipline";

God treats you as sons.

For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?

At the time,

all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,

yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.

Make straight paths for your feet,

that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

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? In what ways do we need discipline to grow in our faith?

Gospel (Luke 13:22-30)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

Jesus passed through towns and villages,

teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.

Someone asked him,

"Lord, will only a few people be saved?"

He answered them,

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate,

for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter

but will not be strong enough.

After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,

then will you stand outside knocking and saying,

'Lord, open the door for us.'

He will say to you in reply,

'I do not know where you are from.

And you will say,

'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'

Then he will say to you,

'I do not know where you are from.

Depart from me, all you evildoers!'

And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth

when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

and all the prophets in the kingdom of God

and you yourselves cast out.

And people will come from the east and the west

and from the north and the south

and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.

For behold, some are last who will be first,

and some are first who will be last."

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 can we strive to enter through the narrow gate? How do we make sure the Lord knows us?

Word Wide Open: The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) - 8/17/25

First Reading (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.

In those days, the princes said to the king:

"Jeremiah ought to be put to death;

he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,

and all the people, by speaking such things to them;

he is not interested in the welfare of our people,

but in their ruin."

King Zedekiah answered: "He is in your power";

for the king could do nothing with them.

And so they took Jeremiah

and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,

which was in the quarters of the guard,

letting him down with ropes.

There was no water in the cistern, only mud,

and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Ebed-melech, a court official,

went there from the palace and said to him:

"My lord king,

these men have been at fault

in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,

casting him into the cistern.

He will die of famine on the spot,

for there is no more food in the city."

Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite

to take three men along with him,

and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before

he should die.

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 do people so easily reject God’s will?

Second Reading (Hebrews 12:1-4)

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. 

Brothers and sisters:

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us

and persevere in running the race that lies before us

while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,

the leader and perfecter of faith.

For the sake of the joy that lay before him

he endured the cross, despising its shame,

and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.

Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,

in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin

you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

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 do we run the race well?

Gospel (Luke 12:49-53)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I have come to set the earth on fire,

and how I wish it were already blazing!

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,

and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division.

From now on a household of five will be divided,

three against two and two against three;

a father will be divided against his son

and a son against his father,

a mother against her daughter

and a daughter against her mother,

a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

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? What does it mean that Lord wants the world on fire? Does the Lord want us divided from our families?