Reflections on the Sunday Gospel (YEAR A)

We live in an unprecedented time that has threatened to upend our daily rhythms, our work, our homes - even our faith. More than ever, we need books like Reflections on the Sunday Gospel to stir us to hope, to comfort, to peace. We need to remember what we live for and how good God is.

These reflections - published in English for the first time, drawn both from homilies given by Pope Francis and readings from the Fathers of the Church, including Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, and Saint Ambrose - do more than offer a way to enter into the liturgical year with weekly readings to enrich your devotional time. They offer Christ, and the power of his resurrection. They offer his words of assurance: 'I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world'.

Ultimately, as Pope Francis guides us through these timeless words, we will glean how even the giants of the faith needed God as much as we do, and how we can draw near to a good and faithful God no matter where we are or what season we're in.

The first Pope of the Americas, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, hails from Argentina. The 76-year-old Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos Aires is a prominent figure throughout the continent, yet remains a simple pastor who is deeply loved by his diocese, throughout which he has travelled extensively on the underground and by bus during the 15 years of his episcopal ministry.

He was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936, the son of Italian immigrants. His father Mario was an accountant employed by the railways and his mother Regina Sivori was a committed wife dedicated to raising their five children. He graduated as a chemical technician and then chose the path of the priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. On 11 March 1958 he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. He completed his studies of the humanities in Chile and returned to Argentina in 1963 to graduate with a degree in philosophy from the Colegio de San Jose in San Miguel. From 1964 to 1965 he taught literature and psychology at Immaculate Conception College in Santa Fe and in 1966 he taught the same subject at the Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires. From 1967-70 he studied theology and obtained a degree from the Colegio of San Jose.

He was elected Supreme Pontiff on 13 March 2013.

We live in an unprecedented time that has threatened to upend our daily rhythms, our work, our homes - even our faith. More than ever, we need books like Reflections on the Sunday Gospel to stir us to hope, to comfort, to peace. We need to remember what we live for and how good God is. These reflections - published in English for the first time, drawn both from homilies given by Pope Francis and readings from the Fathers of the Church, including Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, and Saint Ambrose - do more than offer a way to enter into the liturgical year with weekly readings to enrich your devotional time. They offer Christ, and the power of his resurrection. They offer his words of assurance: 'I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world'.Ultimately, as Pope Francis guides us through these timeless words, we will glean how even the giants of the faith needed God as much as we do, and how we can draw near to a good and faithful God no matter where we are or what season we're in.

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