The Liturgical Year

Fr Coleridge's writing, ordered around the liturgical year and the traditional Roman lectionary.

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Fr Coleridge's writing, ordered around the liturgical year and the traditional Roman lectionary.

Father Coleridge was responsible for 26 volumes on the life of Christ and related matters, and much of our work at The Father Coleridge Reader is based on making this work more widely known.

At the moment, our main way of progressing through his work is basing ourselves on the liturgical year. Each week, we provide Coleridge’s text dealing with the episode from the Sunday’s Gospel, according to the traditional Roman lectionary.

Here’s what we’ve republished so far.

Advent

Image: Fr Lawrence Lew OP.

First Sunday of Advent

1. Doomsday—Faith and Our Lord's promises to Catholics

2. Doomsday—Christ tells us to hope for it

3. Doomsday—Pretending it won't happen

4. Doomsday—Does Christ know the day?

5. Doomsday—'Watch, and be ready for your Lord to come'

Second Sunday of Advent

1. The Baptist's Final Witness—Why he sent his disciples

2. 'Art thou he that art to come?' The Baptist's Final Witness

3. St John the Baptist did NOT doubt—Christ's words prove it

4. The Baptist: the greatest prophet, but less than the least in the Kingdom?

5. Was St John the Baptist really the Prophet Elias/Elijah?

Third Sunday of Advent

• The Sanhedrin's inquiry into St John the Baptist

Fourth Sunday of Advent

1. St John the Baptist's preparation in the desert

2. Did St John the Baptist succeed in preparing for Christ's advent?

Seasonal: Winter (Pre-Christmas)

Advent in General

• Why Isaias prophesied that ‘a Virgin shall be with Child’

• Christ Unborn—THE pro-life devotion

• Christ Unborn—48 Meditations on Our Lord in the Womb

• Our Lady’s womb: Sanctuary of divine expectation and compassion

• Nine months of grace: the Sacred Heart’s preparation complete

The Immaculate Conception

1. The Immaculate Conception and Our Lady’s vocation

Christmastide

Christmas

1. Our Lady and St Stephen, the first martyr

2. Why Christ was circumcised—and who performed the rite

3. Why Christ was given the Holy Name 'Jesus'

Epiphany

Wiki Commons, Public Domain.

Epiphany

1. 'King, and God, and Sacrifice': How Epiphany reveals Christ’s mission

2. How did the Magi spent their time at Bethlehem?

Epiphany Octave

1. Why was Christ baptised by St John the Baptist?

Epiphanytide

Holy Family/First Sunday after Epiphany

1. Why did Jesus live in obedience to Our Lady and St Joseph?

2. How could Christ 'increase in wisdom and grace'?

Second Sunday after Epiphany

1. Why did Christ turn water into wine at the wedding of Cana?

2. Wedding at Cana: Who was the bridegroom?

Third Sunday after Epiphany

1. What did 'The Chosen' get right with 'Gaius' the Centurion?

2. Why did the Centurion say not to come 'under his roof'?

3. Was the Roman Centurion a warning for 'Abraham's children'?

4. How did the Centurion’s words come to be said at every Mass?

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

• Storm on the Lake—Why does Christ chastise his fearful apostles?

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

1. Devil's Seed—Heretics and the parable of the cockle and wheat

2. Why does God tolerate evil and heresy?

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

1. The Church and the parable of the mustard seed

2. The Church and the parable of the leaven

3. Parables, Exodus and Chastisement

Season: Winter (Post-Christmas)

The Conversion of St Paul

1. How was St Paul’s conversion unique?

2. What did St Paul do straight after his conversion?

The Purification (Candlemas)

1. How does Candlemas point to the Passover and to the Cross?

2. Why was Jesus so joyful at the Presentation in the Temple?

See also:

When did our Lady become the Mother of Sorrows?

Septuagesima

Image: Wiki Commons, Andrey Mironov, CC 4.0.

Seasonal: Spring

Septuagesima and the state of the world before Christ

1. Absolute degradation—the state of the world before Christ

2. Three elements of false religions: apparent ‘good,’ human bad, satanic ugly

3. God used Greece, Rome and Israel to prepare for Christ’s advent

The Annunciation

1. Were St Joseph and Our Lady married before the Annunciation?

2. What do we really know about the Angel Gabriel?

3. How did Jesus respond when he first beheld his humanity in Our Lady’s womb?

Septuagesima Sunday

1. Is it unfair that 'the first will be last' in the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard?

2. Does your rank in the Church determine holiness and reward?

3. Why are good works worthless without charity?

4. Acting like this is why Catholics fall away

Sexagesima Sunday

1. How does the Parable of the Sower unlock all Christ's other parables?

2. How do the birds reveal a brutal war for the soul in the Parable of the Sower?

3. What if your faith is shallow, and you won’t know until it’s too late?

4. What makes for good soil in Christ’s Parable of the Sower?

Quinquagesima Sunday

1. What does Blind Bartimæus show us about calling upon Christ with faith?

2. Do the Gospels contradict each other about Blind Bartimæus?

3. Why did Christ invite Himself to the house of the hated Zacchæus?

Lent

Image: Fr Lawrence Lew OP.

Ash Wednesday

1. Why do we have to fast?

2. How can fasting help the soul—and the modern world?

First Sunday of Lent

1. What does Christ’s victory in the desert mean for us?

2. The most overlooked part of Christ's forty days in the desert

Second Sunday of Lent

1. Why did Christ reveal his transfigured glory before the Passion?

2. Why were Moses and Elias at the Transfiguration?

3. Why is the Transfiguration placed at the turning point of Christ’s public life?

4. What’s the link between the Transfiguration and the Baptism of the Lord?

5. Why did Christ command secrecy about the Transfiguration until after Easter?

Third Sunday of Lent

1. How did Christ turn back the charge of casting out devils by Beelzebub?

2. The moment Christ announces his invasion of Satan’s kingdom

3. Did Christ rebuke the woman who praised his Mother?

4. Why does Christ refuse to prove himself on demand?

5. Why does rejecting the truth lead to deeper darkness?

Fourth Sunday of Lent

1. Why did Christ and his Apostles withdraw before feeding the five thousand?

2. Why did Christ wait until evening to feed the multitude?

3. What does the multiplication of loaves teach about the Church and the Apostles?

4. Was Christ thinking of the Holy Eucharist when he multiplied the loaves?

Passiontide and Holy Week

Image by James Tissot (εditor’s own photo, public domain).

Passion Sunday

1. How did the Sanhedrin know Christ would affirm his divinity under oath?

2. Why did Christ call himself 'The Light of the World'?

3. What prevented the Jews from hearing Christ’s words properly?

4. Why did Christ say ‘The truth will set you free’?

5. Why does Christ say ‘You are of your father the devil’?

6. How is Satan ‘a murderer’ and ‘the father of lies’?

7. What did Christ mean by, ‘Before Abraham was made, I AM’?

Palm Sunday

1. Our Lord casts reserve aside and enters Jerusalem as Christ the King

2. How the raising of Lazarus ignited Palm Sunday

3. What was it about Palm Sunday that most surprised the Pharisees?

4. Why did Christ say the stones would cry out?

5. Why Christ wept over Jerusalem in Holy Week

6. How mere children shamed the Chief Priests in Holy Week

7. Holy Week's turning point was earlier than we think

8. Satan as 'the prince of this world'—cast out by Christ

9. Being 'lifted up' on the Cross was Christ's glory and desire

Holy Saturday

• How Christ Harrowed Hell

Eastertide

Easter Sunday

• What happened when Christ rose from the dead

• How Christ restored faith on the road to Emmaus

Low Sunday

1. What the risen Christ did when he met all the Apostles together

2. Easter's lasting gift: The power to forgive sin

3. Why the Church honours St Thomas despite his doubt

Good Shepherd Sunday (Second Sunday after Easter)

1. Why does Christ call the Chief Priests 'thieves and robbers'?

2. Why Christ is ‘the door’ through which every good shepherd must come

3. ‘I am the Good Shepherd’—What that means for Christians

4. Why did the Good Shepherd tell the wolves they had no power over his life?

5. Effect of ‘The Good Shepherd’ on the different classes of the Jews

Third Sunday after Easter

1. What did Christ leave unsaid on the night he was betrayed?

2. Why the Church reads the Last Supper discourses in Eastertide

3. Why Christ compared Christian joy to giving birth

Fourth Sunday after Easter

1. Why did Christ leave things unsaid before the Ascension?

2. How does the Holy Ghost lead the Church into all truth?

3. Does the Church still possess the gift of prophecy?

Fifth Sunday after Easter

1. What is the difference between prayer before and after the Cross?

2. How does the power of the Apostles’ prayer continue in the Church?

3. How Christ’s plain words before the Cross reveal his love for the Apostles

4. Why Christ says ‘Have confidence, I have overcome the world’

Ascension

1. Who was at the Ascension of Christ?

2. What the Ascension teaches about prophecy and false religious expectations

3. Why is Christ’s Ascension still hidden in mystery?

4. Why Our Lady remained after Christ’s Ascension

Ascension-Pentecost

1. What made the Church’s first novena so powerful?

2. Peter’s first act as pope, election of St Mathias

Pentecost

1. How Pentecost confirmed Mary’s mission as Mother of the Church

2. How St Peter’s Pentecost sermon revealed the Church’s mission

3. Mary and Converts: How Our Lady shaped the first Christians after Pentecost

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Seasonal: Summer

The Sacred Heart

1. Why did blood and water flow from the Heart of God?

2. The Church and the piercing of Christ’s Sacred Heart

The Nativity of St John the Baptist

1. Was Our Lady present at the birth of St John the Baptist?

2. St Zachary and the Nativity of St John the Baptist

Ss Peter and Paul

1. Why did Christ ask Peter three times, ‘Lovest thou Me?’

2. What does ‘Feed My sheep’ really mean for Peter’s role in the Church?

The Visitation

1. Why didn’t Our Lady tell Saint Joseph about the Incarnation before the Visitation?

2. The hidden presence of Saint Joseph at the Visitation

3. How the Visitation made St John the Baptist the first to adore Christ

The Transfiguration

1. Why did Christ reveal his transfigured glory before the Passion?

2. Why were Moses and Elias at the Transfiguration?

3. Why is the Transfiguration placed at the turning point of Christ’s public life?

4. What’s the link between the Transfiguration and the Baptism of the Lord?

5. Why did Christ command secrecy about the Transfiguration until after Easter?

The Assumption

1. What St Martha’s bustling zeal teaches about spiritual priorities

2. What St Mary Magdalene teaches us by sitting at Jesus’ feet

3. Why does the Church recall St Mary Magdalene at the Assumption?

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Time after Pentecost

Trinity Sunday

1. What Trinity Sunday tells us about the Church’s indefectible authority

2. What St Luke reveals about the Church’s mission and the Holy Ghost

3. Why does Saint John seem to end his Gospel twice?

Second Sunday after Pentecost

1. Christ’s warning: The Banquet will go on—with or without you

2. How the call to the Church passed from Israel to the Gentiles

Third Sunday after Pentecost

[TBC]

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

1. How Christ turned Simon Peter’s trade into a parable of Christian ministry

2. Why are zeal and effort not enough in apostolic work?

3. What do St Peter’s bursting nets reveal about dangers to the Church?

4. Who is always at the centre of Christ’s ‘lake miracles’?

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

1. What Christ teaches about contempt, anger, and judgement of others

2. What kind of anger deserves the fires of hell?

3. Does non-Catholic worship please God?

4. Reconciliation must be sought before the Day of Judgment

5. How Christ refers to Purgatory in his warning about sinful anger

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

1. The feeding of the four thousand was a second, separate miracle

2. How did the second multiplication of the loaves flow from the first?

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why did Christ warn of false teachers so early in His ministry?

2. What is the ‘appetite for destruction’ that drives false prophets?

3. Why the Apostles and New Testament so fiercely condemned heresy

4. What the founders of heresies and false religions have in common

5. ‘Wolves in sheep’s clothing’ – perfect description of heretical teachers

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

1. The Unjust Steward: The most difficult parable of them all?

2. How can money build eternal friendships?

3. Trying to serve God and Mammon is impossible

4. Why guilty consciences mock Christ and his Church

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

0. Why Christ wept over Jerusalem in Holy Week

1. Cursing the fig tree: Jesus’ strangest miracle?

2. Christ’s cleansing of the Temple – and what happened next

3. How Jesus explains the cursing of the fig-tree

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why the Pharisee’s prayer was not heard

2. Why the Publican’s prayer was heard – and how ours can be too

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

1. What Christ’s seven steps in healing the deaf and dumb mean for Christians today

2. The link between the healing of the deaf-mute and the Agony in the Garden

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Have we made the wrong assumptions about the Good Samaritan parable and its context?

2. External rituals and theological debates are nothing without love

3. The Good Samaritan and using religion as an excuse for neglect

4. Why Jesus is the Good Samaritan of the parable

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

0. The final stage of Our Lord’s pre-Passion ministry

1. Why scandals are inevitable – and are especially evil in the clergy

2. The power of faith in seemingly impossible situations

3. Even the best are ‘unprofitable servants’ – and this is a source of joy

4. What are we supposed to learn from the healing of the ten lepers?

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. God will not be outdone in protecting his servants

2. Are we the ‘slaves’ of God – and what happens if we refuse his dominion?

3. If we are the ‘slaves,’ what kind of Master is God?

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why did Christ choose Naim for his first raising of the dead?

2. The raising of the widow’s son at Naim – how it unfolded

3. Why YOU are the dead son of the Widow of Naim

4. The effect of raising the Widow’s Son at Naim

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why did Christ provoke His enemies with miracles on the Sabbath?

2. Why humility is a better route than pride

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. How love of God and neighbour outweighs every sacrifice in the Law of Moses

2. What is the meaning of the ‘fourfold’ love of God?

3. Why did Our Lord ask, ‘What think you of Christ, whose Son is he?’

4. How Christ used David’s Psalm to expose the misconceptions of his enemies

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why Jesus’ timing in healing and forgiving the Paralytic was important

2. Who was in the crowd of religious leaders when Jesus healed and forgave the Paralytic?

3. Why Jesus said ‘Thy sins are forgiven’ before healing the Paralytic

4. How Jesus used the Pharisees’ doubts to make his point

5. Can men receive the power to forgive sin?

6. The value of priests and confession, proved by the healing of the Paralytic

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why did Christ speak of a wedding feast after condemning the priests?

2. The terrifying warning of the parable of the wedding feast

3. ‘The Wedding Garment’ and membership of the Church

4. ‘The Wedding Garment’ and supernatural charity

5. The Parable of the Wedding Feast and the judgement of the wicked

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Why does Christ rebuke those who seek signs and wonders?

2. Does St John’s Gospel contain non sequitur phrases?

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

• 'The Measure of Forgiveness'—Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

• Should we pay taxes?

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

• Jairus’ Daughter and the Bleeding Woman

Seasonal: Autumn

Our Lady of Compassion (Sorrows)

1. How Mary united both perfect sorrow and peace during the Passion

2. How Our Lady consented to and ‘co-offered’ Christ’s sacrifice

Michaelmas and other Feasts of the Holy Angels

1. The scandal caused by clerical contentions

2. The cost of clerical ambition

3. Why mortification is necessary for anyone working for God

4. ‘Become as little children’ – but how, and why?

Christ the King:

1. Why did the priests tell Pilate that Jesus claimed to be King?

2. How is Christ’s Kingdom ‘not of this world’?

3. Why did Pilate keep asking Christ whether he was really a King?

• The Sermon on the Mount—the New Law at the New Sinai

• The Beatitudes—why Christ says the persecuted and poor are 'blessed'

• The price of delay in relieving the souls in Purgatory

• Our Lady, the Rosary and the Holy Souls – the breviary of the laity

• What are the warnings that the final storm approaches?

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

1. Jerusalem's Doom—Christ's prophecy of chastisement

2. Jerusalem's Doom—Signs of its approach

3. Jerusalem's Doom—Persecution of Christians

4. Jerusalem's Doom—Prophecy of chastisement fulfilled

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