Today’s Readings – Saturday of Week 14 of Ordinary Time - First Reading

Commentary on Genesis 49:29-33; 50:15-26

We conclude our reading from the book of Genesis today. We hear Jacob giving his final instructions before his death. He wants to be buried close to his ancestors, Abraham and Isaac with their wives.

Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.


We read about this purchase on Friday of Week 13. There Abraham and his wife, Isaac and his wife and Jacob’s wife, Leah, were all buried.

Then Jacob, having given his final instructions to his sons,

...he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.


That is, he joined all of h … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Saint Benedict, Abbot and Co-Patron of Europe

Benedict of Nursia (circa 480—547), known as the Father of Western monasticism, had a huge influence in his own time and in succeeding centuries. His monks were a source of stability in the highly disordered state of Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire and the invasions of … Continue