Today’s Readings – Wednesday of Week 13 of Ordinary Time - First Reading

Commentary on Genesis 21:5,8-20

At last God keeps his promise and Sarah, old though she is, bears her one and only son, the son through whom the promises to Abraham and his descendants will be kept. Abraham himself is exactly 100 years old.

The child Isaac grew and on the day that he was weaned Abraham threw a large feast. Weaning took place in the ancient Near East between the ages of two and three. However, when Sarah saw her son Isaac playing with his half-brother, Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the maidservant, she became very angry (while there is an impression in the story that Isaac and Ishmael are the same age, Ishmael would have been in his mid teens by this time). Sarah had not forgotten how Hagar had mocked her for sterility and not being able to give Abraham a son. She was a … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Saint Oliver Plunkett, Bishop and Martyr

Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland in 1629 of well-to-do Anglo-Norman parentage. He was related by blood to a number of landowning families, such as the Earl of Fingall, Earl of Louth and Lord Dunsany. Until the age of 16, he was educated by his cousin, Patrick Pl … Continue