LITURGY PLANNER – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

SUNDAY PREP

CATHOLIC WOMEN PREACHJEFF CAVINSBISHOP GOLKAKNOW BEFORE YOU GOONE MINUTE HOMILYPRIESTS FOR LIFESOCIETY OUR LADY OF TRINITYWORD ON THE WORD

↩️ ↪️ Catholic Women Preach

11th Sunday of Year (A)

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↩️ ↪️ Jeff Cavins

11th Sunday of Year (A)

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↩️ ↪️ Bishop James Golka

11th Sunday of Year (A)

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Timestamped Summary

God desires a loving relationship with humanity, offering salvation and freedom through His word, the Eucharist, and His Commandments, which are intended to lead us to a full and authentic life.

00:00 The 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time marks the return to a counting of Sundays, reflecting on the many ways Jesus comes to save us through God's word and the Eucharist.
00:39 God desires a covenant relationship with humanity, where He gives Himself to us and we respond with obedience, protected by the law, including the Ten Commandments.
01:14 God's Commandments and teachings are intended to free us, not constrict us, and lead us to a more full and authentic life.
01:37 God responds to our troubles and abandonment with deep compassion, moving towards us with love and involvement, especially in times of despair.
02:22 Our identity is that we are beloved children of God, chosen by Him not because we merit it, but as a gift of His grace.
02:50 God desires to reveal Himself and save us, and we are here by God's purpose, not by accident, to experience His compassion and richness.

↩️ ↪️ Know Before You Go

11th Sunday of Year (A)

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↩️ ↪️ 1-Minute Homily

11th Sunday of Year (A)

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Summary

Is God’s love truly unconditional? Hi, I’m Christian Verghese, SJ, and this is my One-Minute Reflection. Most of us have heard that ‘there are no conditions on God’s love for us.’. Yet God says in today’s first reading from Exodus, “If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people.”. Sure sounds like a condition to me! IF you listen to my voice and IF you keep my covenant, then…you’ll have my love. So often we might think “I’ll never meet the conditions of this love!”. But in Jesus, we have a new covenant. Paul says, God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more is God’s love than any condition! How much more can we rejoice that we are now. God’s disciples whose sins Christ died for! May we rest in the sure knowledge of Christ’s love for us, no matter what.

↩️ ↪️ Priests for Life

11th Sunday of Year (A)

THE WORD THIS WEEK infographics are created using using GOOGLE’S AI Gemini 2.5 Pro. You are free to use the above infographic in any non-profit ministry. Please give credit to TheWordThisWeek.net and PRIESTS FOR LIFE.

Timestamped Summary

Christians have a divine responsibility to protect and care for unborn children, recognizing them as God's possession, and to support parents in choosing life over abortion.

00:00 God's laborers must gather and care for the troubled and abandoned people, who are His special possession, to cure them of spiritual and physical ravages.
01:02 Abortion is essentially stealing God's possession, and the core debate revolves around the question of ownership, not when life begins.
01:49 The mother must intervene for her child, advocating that the child's life belongs to God, inspiring hope and strength in parents to choose life.
02:13 Jesus' command to raise the dead includes speaking up for unborn children and providing alternatives and assistance to their parents to prevent abortion.

↩️ ↪️ SOLT Liturgy Prep

11th Sunday of Year (A)

THE WORD THIS WEEK infographics are created using using GOOGLE’S AI Gemini 2.5 Pro. You are free to use the above infographic in any non-profit ministry. Please give credit to TheWordThisWeek.net and Society of Our Lady video series "Liturgy Prep."

Timestamped Summary

God wants us to know we are His beloved and chosen, and that He is always with us, offering connection and alleviating feelings of loneliness, and that we should share this Good News with others.

00:00 God invites us to know we are his beloved, chosen and special possession, belonging to him alone.
00:41 We are beloved and chosen, as revealed through Scripture, where Jesus' heart is moved with pity for the crowds, showing the Father's loving care for us as His people and sheep of His flock.
01:21 Jesus is addressing feelings of loneliness, relating it to experiences of isolation and depression, and offering connection.
01:36 Jesus reveals the Father's heart, proclaiming that He is with us, and we are not alone, and commands us to share this Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
02:09 Share God's love by letting others know they're not alone through simple acts like a phone call or visit.

↩️ ↪️ The Word on the Word

11th Sunday of Year (A)

THE WORD THIS WEEK infographics are created using using GOOGLE’S AI Gemini 2.5 Pro. You are free to use the above infographic in any non-profit ministry. Please give credit to TheWordThisWeek.net and EWTN video series "The Word on the Word."

Timestamped Summary

Christ's death saves humanity, and understanding this is rooted in the distinction between being "righteous" and being "good", particularly in the context of Romans 5:7.

00:00 Humanity is saved by Christ's death, as discussed in the second reading from the letter to the Romans.
00:21 The key to understanding Romans 5:7 lies in the distinction between "righteous" and "good", where a "good" person is one who is magnanimous, or generously forgiving, especially towards others.

LITURGY PLANNING

Liturgy Notes

11th Sunday of Year (A)

Fr. Lawrence Mick's Column will return next week

11th Sunday of Year (A)

Corpus Christi Planning Notes

by Fr. Lawrence Mick

The Word and the Bread

Our first reading for this solemnity includes lines that will be familiar to people: “not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus quotes those lines in response to the temptation in the desert right after his baptism by John the Baptist. Neither Moses nor Jesus were referring directly to the Eucharist, but we might ask ourselves how well we live by “every word” that comes forth from the mouth of Jesus.

The Double Command at the Last Supper

At the Last Supper, he spoke words that we recall in the midst of the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass: “Take and eat ... this is my body. Take and drink ... this is the cup of my blood.” We do rather well at heeding his first command, but many Catholics still reject his second one, taking only the bread at Communion and passing by the cup.

There are probably many reasons for this behavior. One of the biggest is that we are still trying to recover from centuries when church leaders denied the cup to the faithful. Old habits die hard, and nowhere is this truer than in ritual behavior. Many Catholics grew up taking only the bread, and they simply continue that practice.

Obstacles to Receiving the Cup

Some people are concerned about health issues. Some may be alcoholic and need to avoid all alcohol. Some may have a cold and are simply being considerate of others. Some just don’t see any good reason to share the blood of Christ, whether through lack of catechesis or refusal to accept such education.

It might be helpful for planners to query a number of parishioners who skip the cup as to why they make this decision—not in a judgmental way but just seeking to understand. That might give a more solid basis for efforts to lead parishioners to fully participate in this sacrament as Jesus intended.

If the issue is understanding why the church restored Communion from the cup, you can offer explanations in the bulletin or in homilies. If the concern is medical, you can provide statements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that assure people that this is not a problem, etc.

Actions, of course, speak louder than words. Planners should also consider whether parish practices contribute to the problem. If Communion is offered under only one species at some Sunday Masses, this surely reinforces the sense that it doesn’t really matter. The same is true for daily Masses, funerals, weddings, and all other Masses. If presiders and parish leaders don’t clearly value Communion under both species, why would we be surprised if parishioners get that message?

Another indicator that Communion from the cup is not valued is having too few ministers of the cup at Masses. If this results in “traffic jams” during the Communion procession, many will simply skip the cup rather than wait behind a line of people.

And if there is regularly too little wine to last throughout the Communion procession, that also communicates a belief that it really is not important. (This may happen occasionally if you misjudge, but if it is happening often, increase the amount of wine in the cups to avoid running out.) Err on the side of plenty rather than scarcity.

Full Series: Cycle A Resources