22nd Sunday, Year A, First Reading (Jeremiah 20:7-9)

You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,”

Death of a Nation (Hosea 13:12-16)

12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record. 13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him, but he is a child without wisdom; when the time arrives, he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb. 14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I

God’s Anger (Hosea 13:9-11)

9 “You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your helper. 10 Where is your king, that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your towns, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? 11 So in my anger I gave you a king, and in my wrath I took him away. This

No Savior But God (Hosea 13:1-8)

When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died. 2 Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!” 3 Therefore they will

Ash Wednesday, First Reading (Joel 2:12-18)

(The St. Joseph’s Bible Study blog will have a number of activities for Lent including specific prayers and thoughts for each day. Every Tuesday there will be a reflection on one of the glorious mysteries of the rosary.) You can find a commentary on the second reading here: https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/ash-wednesday-mass-second-reading-commentary-2-corinthians-520-62/ and for the gospel here: https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2021/02/16/ash-wednesday-matthew-61-6-16-18/

Wealth (Hosea 12:7-14)

7 The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud. 8 Ephraim boasts,  “I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.” 9 “I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the

Israel and Its History (Hosea 12:1-6)

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. 2 The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;

God’s Love Song to Israel (Hosea 11:1-4)

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. 3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not

Israel’s Sin (Hosea 10:9-15)

9 “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained. Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah? 10 When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin. 11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put

Figs and Grapes (Hosea 9:10-17)

Wednesday is the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. A commentary on the first reading can be found here: https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2022/01/25/feast-of-the-conversion-of-st-paul-25-january-first-reading-acts-223-16/ 10 “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they