Posts by Tom Nash
Seek First God’s Kingdom and Riches
The Church is ramping up the call to holiness as we progress through the second full week of Lent. Indeed, today’s readings serve as a spiritual sobriety checkpoint, not only for the liturgical season but also our lives in general. If anyone doubts the prophetic nature of Jeremiah’s words, they need only look to what…
Read MoreThe Biblical Story of the Mass
If you’ve ever wondered why—at the Last Supper—Jesus offered his Body and Blood under the forms of bread and wine, today’s First Reading gives us insight: Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Who’s Melchizedek? He’s the ancient high priest who made an offering of bread and wine in the presence of…
Read MoreDo Not Presume Upon Your Salvation
As we advance toward the culmination of the liturgical year, we hear another Gospel reading in which Jesus conveys that we must render an account for our lives when we die. This message harmonizes with Catholic teaching that we are justified—and thus saved—by faith and good works. Protestant apologists counter with what they believe is…
Read MoreNo Resurrection? No Redemption
When Jesus says, “It is finished” (John 19:30), he speaks the truth in a qualified manner. The suffering aspect of Christ’s atoning sacrifice was completed through his Passion and death, and yet, to show the world he had definitively defeated sin, death, and the devil, Jesus needed to rise from the dead as he prophesied…
Read MoreDo Not Forget the Poor!
The leaders in ancient Israel forgot the source of their blessings, the Giver of their own gifts, and so they have inflicted injustice on the poor because they can: “They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and they take them” (Mic. 2:2). Today’s reading reminds me of King Ahab. He coveted the vineyard of Naboth…
Read MoreRemembering the Fundamentals
A short conversation on why Jesus came and the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the New Eve Today’s readings might seem like a downer the day after our celebration of Pentecost, the culmination of the glorious Easter season. And yet, upon closer examination, they remind us why Jesus came and triumphed over sin,…
Read MorePut to the Test by the Lord
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—a.k.a. Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (Dan. 1:6)—are put to the test in today’s First Reading. They are willing to die rather than betray the Lord through idolatry. So into the fiery furnace, they go. But not only does God preserve their lives, he also mercifully lets wicked King Nebuchadnezzar witness it, and…
Read MoreAnxious about Association with Jesus
Today’s Gospel Reading is brief, puzzling, and troubling. By this time in his earthly ministry, Jesus was attracting increasingly larger crowds, so much that it became “impossible” for him and disciples “even to eat” (Mark 3:20). Little wonder, given that Jesus had healed many, including cleansing a leper and casting out many demons (chapter 1).…
Read MoreNothing Will Be Impossible with God
As we draw close to Christmas, we anticipate that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isa. 7:14), as our First Reading proclaims. Some biblical scholars argue that the Hebrew word employed in Isaiah 7:14, alma, means “young maiden,” whereas Isaiah refrains from using a word that explicitly means…
Read MoreJustified by Faith and Works?
Our Protestant brothers and sisters will cite today’s First Reading as proof that we are justified by faith alone and not at all by works: “Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast” (Rom. 4:2). To be clear, the Catholic Church has always taught that salvation is…
Read More