Gospel Reflections

The Anointing: Scott Hahn on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord The Liturgy last week revealed the mystery of God’s plan—that in Jesus all peoples, symbolized by the Magi, have been made “coheirs” to the blessings promised to Israel. This week, we’re shown how we claim our inheritance.…

Our True Home: Scott Hahn on the Feast of the Holy Family Why did Jesus choose to become a baby born of a mother and father and to spend all but His last years living in an ordinary human family? In part, to reveal God’s plan to make all people…

What Do We Do? Scott Hahn on the 3rd Sunday of Advent The people in today’s Gospel are “filled with expectation.” They believe John the Baptist might be the messiah they’ve been waiting for. Three times we hear their question: “What then should we do?” The messiah’s coming requires every…

The Road Home: Scott Hahn on the 2nd Sunday of Advent Today’s Psalm paints a dreamlike scene—a road filled with liberated captives heading home to Zion (Jerusalem), mouths filled with laughter, tongues rejoicing. It’s a glorious picture from Israel’s past, a “new exodus,” the deliverance from exile in Babylon. It’s…

Why does Mary have so many feast days and names? Christians first began celebrating feast days in honor of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in the fifth century. That celebration (originally called the Feast of the Dormition and now known by Roman Catholics as the Solemnity of the Assumption) was…

A Royal Truth: Scott Hahn on the Solemnity of Christ the King What’s the truth Jesus comes to bear witness to in this last Gospel of the Church’s year? It’s the truth that in Jesus God keeps the promise He made to David of an everlasting kingdom, of an heir…

Hope in Tribulation: Scott Hahn on the 32nd Sunday In this, the second-to-last week of the Church year, Jesus has finally made it to Jerusalem. Near to His passion and death, He gives us a teaching of hope—telling us how it will be when He returns again in glory. Today’s…

The Widows’ Faith: Scott Hahn on the 32nd Sunday We must live by the obedience of faith, a faith that shows itself in works of charity and self-giving (see Galatians 5:6). That’s the lesson of the two widows in today’s liturgy. The widow in the First Reading isn’t even a…

The Law of Love: Scott Hahn on the 31st Sunday Love is only law we are to live by. And love is the fulfillment of the Law that God reveals through Moses in today’s First Reading (see Romans 13:8–10; Matthew 5:43–48). The unity of God—the truth that He is one…