The Lion of Judah is no tame lion. Neither is he predictable. While walking along the streets of Jerusalem one day, Jesus sees a common enough sight in the Holy City. There is a disabled person by the side of the road begging (John 9). What else is the poor man to do? He has […]
Today’s Gospel comes from Mark 12:28-34. In the Gospel a Scribe asks Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” And Jesus replies, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this; love your neighbor […]
“Most theologians talk too much. They should pick up a broom and sweep the room. That says enough.” – Mother Teresa After reading today’s Gospel Readings, I could not help but think of Mother Teresa and this quote. To understand why, one would have to imagine that he is in the presence of Jesus […]
A single story that brings your child’s heart nearer to God is worth an infinite number of likes and shares on Facebook. Your Internet audience might include any number of people — friends who are already convinced, strangers who will never be convinced, and people who will forget what you said a minute later. Rarely […]
From today’s gospel: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” An interesting choice of words from the Angel Gabriel, “Favor with God”. This has to be where Mary’s fullness of grace comes in because if I was told I had favor with God and then my life went on the […]
Some people try to get rich quick by aiming for a $400 million jackpot, and others try to lose weight quick through fad diets. These methods very rarely work even among worldly goals; why would we expect them to work any better in our spiritual lives, where perseverance bears the reward? There is no get […]
Lent’s a time of introspection. We read Exodus, and watch the Israelites grumbling, even after the amazing things God had done for them (Ex 17:3-7). In them, we recognize ourselves. For many of us, then, Lent is time for the spiritual equivalent of New Year’s resolutions. We set aside work on ourselves for forty days […]
Today’s Gospel from Luke is one many know and love; the parable of the prodigal son. This is a great reading to meditate and reflect on during Lent. I’m not going to ask you if you’ve ever been the prodigal son or daughter. I’m going to ask you this: How many times have you been […]
If you’ve ever been betrayed by a best friend or by someone you loved deeply, remember that Jesus was, too. Judas was a part of Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus called him, chose him, spent every day in his company as they traveled together preaching the good news. At the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the […]
Thursday MARCH 20, 2014 Gospel LK 16:19-31 As an Eastern Catholic, we are taught early on to fight death at all costs. Contrary to popular belief, death is not natural and is actually a result of sin. As a result of sin every man and woman, whether a pious believer or an atheist, will one day taste death. In this […]
A reflection on today’s Sacred Scripture: “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him” (Matthew 1:24). When I discovered that today’s Gospel Reading was about Joseph and his “yes” to becoming the foster father of Jesus, I began to hunt for my grade school St. Joseph Missal. What a treasure! Happy memories […]
Jesus warned to not be like the scribes and Pharisees, “For they preach but they do not practice,” another way of looking at that, “practice what you preach.” Likewise, many of us can think of at least one example in our lives, either now or in the past, when this could be said about us. […]
Before reading this reflection, please meditate on today’s readings. Because it is preparation for the Christian life, the Old Testament is characterized by at least these two ideas: We should do things for the glory of God; therefore, we should hold fast against sin. As then, as now, there are no excuses for sin, and […]
Imagine: you are ten years past customary retirement age. It’s time finally to kick back and relax. You live in a great city where everything is at your fingertips – shopping opportunities, cultural events, all your relatives and lifelong friends. Suddenly God appears and tells you to pack up, uproot your life, and march into […]
”He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). While driving home, I was stopped at a red light behind a brand new pickup truck that was flaunting a hateful, anti-Christian bumper sticker. I was stunned by the wicked display […]
The readings for today stress God’s powerful gift of forgiveness and his demand that we share this forgiveness with others. Even the wicked can be saved, the reading from Ezekiel reminds us, because “if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, … he shall surely live, he shall not die.” And […]
“Ask and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7). If you’ve ever experienced the power of a novena, you can truly understand these words of Jesus told by St. Matthew in today’s Gospel. Novenas are often discovered out of despair, when your own […]
Epistle Reading: Jonah 3:1-10 Gospel Luke 11:29 There are a lot of people in the world like Jonah, full of zeal and devotion to their cause. Many dismiss them as crazy. Priests are inundated and end up spending copious amounts of time listening to bizarre stories of people who tell stories almost as outlandish as the reading we […]
Jesus says, “This is how you are to pray.” We are, then, blessed with the most beautiful prayer, shared with us by Jesus: The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father. Today, we are still in the early days of our 2014 Lenten journey. How many of us are asking Jesus to teach us […]
In a way, the whole message of the Gospel is summarized by the Triduum. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil are themselves paralleled, too, by long swaths of human history. Humanity was in communion with God, and then fell into sin and denial of God, only to have God go very far to […]
Mass Readings for Saturday, March 8: Isaiah 58:9-14; Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 5:27-32 In today’s first reading from Isaiah he tells us what to do to lead a holy life according to God. “If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; the light shall become for you like midday; then the […]
As I crossed the great divide of puberty, I formed a vivid image of God.. He was a grumpy old man on a throne with a frown on his face. Every time anyone tried to have a little fun, he’d shout “Thou shalt not!” But to really live and not just exist, you had to […]
Reading: Is 58:1-9; PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19 The words of the first reading from Isaiah 58:1-9 are like brilliant beams of light, cutting through any false notions we might have about this season of repentance that we call Lent. Often we tend to think of Lent as a time to share in the suffering of Christ yet when we […]
A reflection on the Responsorial Psalm for today (PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6) and the Gospel (LK 9:22-25) Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Next to the […]
