Today’s Readings – Thursday of Week 25 of Ordinary Time - First Reading

Commentary on Haggai 1:1-8

For these two days we take our readings from Haggai, one of the lesser known of the so-called Minor Prophets. The whole book consists of only two chapters and both our readings will be taken from the first chapter.

The Jerusalem Bible notes:

"The last, post-exilic, period of prophecy opens with Haggai. The change is striking. Before the Exile the watchword of the prophets was Punishment. During the Exile it became Consolation. Now it is Restoration. Haggai appears at a critical moment in the development of Judaism; the birth of the new Palestinian community. His short exhortations are precisely dated, August and September of 520 BC. The first Jews to return from Babylonia to rebuild the Temple were quickly discouraged. The prophets Hagga … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest

Vincent de Paul (Vincent Depaul) was born on 24 April, 1581, of a Gascon peasant family in Pouy, in the south-east of France. He went to a Franciscan school in Dax and graduated in theology at Toulouse University.  He remained in Toulouse until he went to Marseilles to collect an inherita … Continue