Lenten Resources

  As we finish this week or reflecting upon our call to fearlessness and proclamation, we would benefit from recognizing that we, at times, must be the recipient of the message we proclaim. In today’s Gospel, we are presented by the surprising story of the Centurion and the power of his faith. It is remarkable…

  Our first reading today is a sad story. It is the recounting of the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile. Along with this story, I wish to comment on the difference between punishment and penance. When we fail to live up to the expectations placed on us, like the ones we have…

  Shifting gears today, let us briefly examine this often-heard Gospel passage, “Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” We might be tempted, as many are, to believe that by merely accepting or saying the name of Jesus into our lives ensures our salvation and entrance into the kingdom, but,…

  “In the spirit and power of Elijah, John will go before the Lord to prepare a people worthy of him.” This antiphon, taken from Lauds for today’s feast, beautifully captures the entire theme of this week, to go before the Lord to prepare a people worthy of Jesus Christ. We have been reflecting on…

  Continuing our journey toward fearless proclamation of the truth, we hear in today’s Gospel a very familiar phrase known as the Golden Rule, “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.” Yesterday, Jesus warned us against hypocritical judgment through self-examination, and today he warns us of the same thing, but by…

  In yesterday’s reflection, the twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we reflected on the need to fear no one and to boldly proclaim the truth. Today, we continue along that same path. For any journey to begin, one must, as you would expect, start at the beginning. This journey’s beginning is the self. Jesus warns…

    “Fear no one.” That’s a bold statement of Christ, fear no one. In life, we are confronted by many things and many people who challenge this statement, fear no one. I imagine we have all experienced that fear. It may be having to tell a parent you broke mom’s favorite vase; or that…

  Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a…

  Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a…

  Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a…

  Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a…

  Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a…

  Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a…

    Today’s liturgy begins with a quotation from Psalm 81: He fed them with the finest wheat and satisfied them with honey from the rock. This entrance antiphon is a clear reference to today’s first reading from the book of Deuteronomy, which recalls the 40-year journey of God’s people through the desert and how…

  “But I say to you…” With these words, we hear a turn from the Old to the New Covenant. What kind of mentality, what kind of attitude does one cultivate to enter this change, this movement? The answer in our Gospel today is decisiveness: “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’”…

  “But I say to you…” Jesus is talking about lust in our Gospel today. And what He has to say points right to the center of a person: to look lustfully is already committing adultery in the heart. It’s important to be clear about what is sinful here. It is the decision of that…

  “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” The righteousness that our loving Jesus calls us to is an intimate communion with Him. He is the Righteous One, the Holy One who has won our salvation. We connect with him…

  “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Jesus did not come to fulfill a text; he came to fulfill His Father’s will! When we translate this into our lives, we can immediately think of our practice of praying the Sacred Scriptures or lectio divina. Our goal is not to complete a certain…

  “(Y)our light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” To be of Christ, with Christ, a disciple of Christ – Christ in the world and yet in heaven too – is to live the truth in love. “The one who lives by the truth comes…

  “Blessed are…” The Gospel today is about the Beatitudes. They are Christ’s way of showing us our true greatness! Pope Francis tells us that they are Christ’s way of telling us what it means to be holy. The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card. So if anyone asks: “What must one do to…

    As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity, it is helpful to recall what we hear in our first reading today. Moses is addressing God: “This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins and receive us as your own.” I think that many Americans, including many Catholics,…

  Today is one of my favorite Gospel passages. We read of the poor widow who put her two cents in the collection. I see through my work in Conception’s Development Office, we receive donations ranging from large checks to 50 cents. It would be easy to scoff and think, “really? That’s it?” But the…

  When I read today’s readings, the first word that comes to my mind is perseverance. We all go through many trials and difficulties throughout our lives, sometimes on a daily basis. But we can offer all of those trials and difficulties to the Lord as an oblation of love and have faith. With God’s…

  In today’s reading, St. Paul tells us the following: “If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we persevere, we shall also reign with Him. But if we deny Him, He will deny us. If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny himself.” What St. Paul…

  For some people who know me, this might come as a shock, but I am a very shy person. However, when I get to know someone, I start to come out of my comfort zone. Today, St. Paul tells St. Timothy, “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power…

  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” This sentence is very hard to follow in real life. We give what belongs to the world what it needs, but we give God what belongs to Him, which is our whole self. This is a true struggle of our…

  In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus say before he gives up His Spirit, “I thirst.” He wasn’t only physically thirsty, but he was also spiritually thirsty. And He is still thirsty today. But what is He thirsty for? He is thirsty for you; he desires you! I am reminded of a letter that St.…

    When I was younger, if I became nervous or anxious about something, like a school presentation, a speech, or writing a reflection for the Online Spiritual Journey, my mom would tell me, “Breath in the Holy Spirit and breath out the Holy Spirit.” Jesus in the Gospel today breathes on the disciples and…

  “[Paul] remained for two full years in his lodgings. He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance, he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 28:30,31 So we come to the end of the Acts of the Apostles as we come near…

  [Jesus] said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John…

“Father, they are your gift to me.” John 17: 24 This is a profound and touching statement of our Lord! And it includes us – we are the Father’s gifts to Jesus. God the Father, by his graces, gives us over to the saving, redeeming love of his Son. One of the things this means…

  “I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth.” Jn 17:14, 16-17 I find something of a commentary on this text in our first reading today. St. Paul is speaking to his…

  “I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours…” John 17:9 To learn, ever so gradually, that we belong to the Father, that we are given to Christ by the Father – this dawning knowledge is a wonderful thing! But how do I learn…

  “In the world, you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” John 16:33 How do we “take courage?” I mean, how does one lay hold of it? Where do we get it? I offer two suggestions toward an answer. St. Benedict says that it is by cultivating and living humility…

    There is, deep in the human heart, a desire for fulfillment, for completion. We want to be completed! St. Paul, in our second reading today (Eph. 1:17-23) tells us how this comes about in Christ. I offer you something of an outline of what he’s saying.  To begin, there is “the Father of…