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

Commentary on Genesis 28:10-22

Today and tomorrow we read of two strange experiences which Jacob has. On the way from Beersheba to Haran, Jacob stops for the night. Haran, we may remember, was the place between Ur and Canaan where Abraham lived before moving down to Canaan. It was there, too, that he had found Rachel, the wife of his son Isaac.

Using a stone for a pillow, Jacob lies down to sleep just where he is. As he sleeps, he has a dream. He sees a staircase reaching from the earth right up to heaven. And on it there were angels or messengers of God going up and down. We normally speak of “Jacob’s Ladder” but, in fact, the Hebrew word sullam, means a stairway.

The image in Jacob’s dream is derived from the Babylonian ziggurat or temple tower. On the outside was a fl … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Sunday of Week 14 of Ordinary Time (Year C)

Commentary on Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12,17-20

It is always an experience for people who are committed Christians to be living among people for whom God in practice hardly exists; people who seem to have little direction and meaning in their lives beyond having a j … Continue