Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Friends for this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, our first reading from the prophet Isaiah and our Gospel from Matthew both have a section that’s a little weird. While most preachers skip over these sections to get to the better-known and understandable parts, I want to dwell, on purpose, on the strange parts—and they have to do with the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Mass Readings:
Reading 1 — Isaiah 8:23—9:3
Psalm — Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
Reading 2 — 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
Gospel — Matthew 4:12-23 or 4:12-17

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