Daily Reflections
In today’s first reading from the first letter of St. John, we hear that, “We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” Upon reading this, the first thing that may come to mind is that we can get whatever we want as long as we…
Continue Reading “We celebrate a holy day adorned by three miracles: this day, a star led the Magi to the manger; this day, water was changed into wine at the marriage feast; this day Christ, for our salvation, willed to be baptized by John in the Jordan, Alleluia.” This Antiphon, which is chanted by…
Continue Reading“What are you looking for?” St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was born into an Episcopalian family in thoroughly Protestant society of the early United States. Accompanying her husband on a work trip to Italy, her husband died. Staying with a Catholic family during her period of mourning, she observed their piety even while she continued…
Continue ReadingThe late Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, confounded many with his philosophical distinction between different kinds of national intelligence issues. There were, he said, known knowns – those things we understand exist – and there are also unknown unknowns – things we are neither aware of nor understand. There are also unknown knowns. This…
Continue ReadingIn the movie 500 Days of Summer, a woman asks the sad sack protagonist why he became a greeting card writer when he had trained as an architect. He sardonically replied, “I figured, why make something temporary like a building, when I can make something like a greeting card that lasts forever.” The cutting…
Continue ReadingNot many of us have left Mass on Corpus Christi crying out: “Transubstantiation!” Not many of us here have probably ever left the Feast of Christ the King to shout: “Viva Cristo Rey!” Yet in the year 431 after the Council of Ephesus, the common folk of that city ran through the streets in…
Continue ReadingAs we become more technologically advanced the less we think about times and seasons. Even farmers who are tied to land and weather have found ways to overcome much. Here in the country, farmers’ wives lament that farm implements now have headlights and they plant and harvest without ending when the sun goes down.…
Continue ReadingI find myself jealous of the Evangelists at times—only four men got to write Christ’s story, inspired by the Holy Spirit. When we consider the differences in the gospels, we consider that they were not just chroniclers of facts but also storytellers. In other words, they used details to bring out greater meaning to…
Continue Reading When we imagine the Holy Family, we could imagine an idealized family – the first century version of Leave It to Beaver with unpleasant episodes being nothing more than worrying if Jesus prayed a little too much! The sweetly beautiful paintings and statues of a placid-faced Virgin Mother, wise-beyond-His-years Christ Child, and rock-solid St. Joseph might…
Continue ReadingWhen I was in third grade our house alarm went off in the middle of the night. All the bedrooms were upstairs, and we feared that an intruder had entered the house downstairs. My brothers and I ran to my parents’ bedroom. My Dad went downstairs to investigate. Alone. In the dark. Unarmed. While…
Continue ReadingSt. John is beautifully called, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” And, it’s true, Jesus loved John in a special way. In my experience, however, I come across a lot of faithful Christians who do not truly believe that they are loved by God. Because of their sins, past failures, or current struggles in life,…
Continue ReadingSt. Stephen did not die in vain. He witnessed the power and love of Jesus Christ even to the very end, and the Holy Spirit was powerfully at work in him. Those who were stoning Stephen “laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.” The man who would later…
Continue Reading We all want to be home for Christmas and will travel great distances to get there. We monks are happy to be home for Christmas, even though our home is not where our natural family lives but our monastic family. We decorate it similarly, and we have our own set of rituals and…
Continue ReadingOur bad tendency in the spiritual life is to want to do things on our own, separate from God, and we overemphasize our actions and our efforts. But, the problem is that we have focused so much on our action and human progress that we forgot the most basic aspect of our lives before…
Continue ReadingBoth Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and observed all the commandments of the Lord blamelessly, yet when the angel appeared to Zechariah, he struggled to believe the news spoken to him, and was punished for his doubt. We think of punishment in different ways—as a type of penalty for negative behavior or speech, but…
Continue Reading Mary received the Archangel Gabriel’s message—she received her call that she would be the mother of the Savior of the world. And, what happens shortly after is that—Mary sets out in haste—quickly, with purpose and conviction to visit Elizabeth. Mary, now with child, could have had every legitimate excuse not to make the…
Continue ReadingThis week, we have reflected on the joy of God’s presence, revealed through His transforming work, His faithfulness across generations, His strength in trials, and His surprising ways. Today, we gather all these threads together in the readings, which show us the culmination of joy in the fulfillment of God’s promises. In the Song…
Continue ReadingThis week, we’ve journeyed through the joy of God’s presence, revealed in His transforming work, His faithfulness through history, His strength in trials, and His surprising interventions in unexpected places. Today’s readings bring us to the ultimate surprise: God’s presence comes to us not only through His promises but in the Word made flesh,…
Continue ReadingThroughout this week, we’ve reflected on the joy of God’s presence: in His transforming work, His faithfulness through history, and His strength in our trials. Today, we see this joy breaking through in a surprising and profound way—God’s presence is often revealed through the utterly unexpected, challenging us to expand our faith and trust…
Continue ReadingThis week, we’ve been reflecting on the joy of God’s presence. First, we considered how God’s presence transforms curses into blessings and calls us to open our hearts in faith. Then, we marveled at His enduring presence in salvation history, working through generations to fulfill His promises in Christ. Today, our readings call us…
Continue ReadingBuilding on yesterday’s reflection, we continue to explore the joy of God’s presence—a joy that is not fleeting but rooted in the unfolding of His eternal plan. Yesterday, we saw how God’s presence transformed a curse into a blessing in the prophecy of Balaam and invited us to open our hearts to His authority.…
Continue ReadingToday’s readings draw us into the mystery of God’s presence—a presence that brings joy, not through human effort, but as a gift of grace to those who are open to receiving it. In Numbers, though summoned to curse Israel, Balaam is instead moved by the Spirit of God to proclaim blessing. His vision reveals…
Continue Reading Gaudete Sunday calls us to rejoice, a moment of lightness as we approach Christmas. Today’s readings are brimming with encouragement and hope, showing us how to live joyfully in the truth of God’s presence and His work in our lives. In the first reading from Zephaniah, we hear a powerful promise: “The Lord…
Continue ReadingThe Church has purposely set aside these four weeks before Christmas as preparation time. During this time, we are supposed to be preparing to meet our Lord. This means looking at oneself and recognizing what we need to fix or change so as to have a clean heart and soul to meet the Savior…
Continue ReadingI’m okay admitting that sometimes I need another person to help me see and understand something. Yes, it can be the case that I don’t understand something, and another person’s perspective helps to communicate what I need to know. I think that’s what Jesus is going in our gospel today. He’s calling out the…
Continue ReadingFor a second time this week, we honor our Blessed Mother. This time it is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Almost 500 years ago, a woman converted the New World to Catholicism. She did not do this for her own sake, but for the sake of the one she was carrying in…
Continue ReadingWhen I was a little kid learning how to ride my bicycle, I was terrified of getting the training wheels removed from the bike. When dad took them off, my older brother helped to calm my fears by running beside me while I was on my bicycle. He had one hand on the handle…
Continue Reading“Mostly” doesn’t cut it, not in God’s eyes. Jesus gives this image of a sheep that strayed away from the flock and got lost. The shepherd went looking for this lost sheep and with great joy found it. Out of 100 sheep, ONE went missing! There may be some who may believe that it’s…
Continue ReadingIt’s been 14 years since my mother passed away, and we’re coming up to Christmas. Every Christmas, she made hundreds of tamales! I miss her and her tamales! I remember saying to others, “my mom makes the best tamales, she makes them perfectly!” Of course, growing up around lots of Hispanics, I’d hear my…
Continue Reading We are in the second half of the football season. A lot of the players are getting hurt, getting tired, and the person who helps them stay fit is a person critical in sports—very critical, it’s the trainer. A trainer works with an athlete. They get the athlete physically ready, exercising with them…
Continue ReadingIsaiah today: The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, Jesus sends out his apostles: “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make…
Continue ReadingIsaiah today: “And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.” “The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD.” In the gospel, Jesus encounters two blind men—Have pity on us, Son of David. They did not need to ask Jesus to do anything, he knew what they longed for—to…
Continue ReadingAll the liturgical seasons have their own unique themes. Advent is a favorite liturgical season for many. What is so special about the season of Advent? Perhaps, that of all the seasons of the year, Advent is the most true to life. It is a time of waiting. A season of hope. We hope.…
Continue ReadingToday we have a look at Jesus the Savior and the one who provides. It is linked to another familiar passage of the prophet Isaiah 25. On this mountain the Lord will provide for all peoples A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain…
Continue ReadingToday’s passage from Isaiah is an insight to a messianic age when all is well and all is as God would have it be—as “in the beginning,” when creation and the world order have been restored and renewed. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,…
Continue ReadingThere is a definite beauty to the season of Advent. Though it begins on the first Sunday reminding us of the second coming of Christ, it moves day by day to have us consider how to prepare for that coming, as well as to recall the longings of ancient Israel for the long-awaited Messiah.…
Continue Reading Today is a day of new beginnings! Today we begin the season of Advent. The cycle of the Church’s liturgy begins anew. We begin again the cycle of celebrating and reflecting on the mysteries of our salvation. These are the themes of advent: the cycle of salvation—the time of salvation. The coming of…
Continue ReadingThis is the feast of St. Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, the first two apostles called by Jesus. Today’s gospel from Matthew 4:18-22 recalls that event: “Jesus…saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me,…
Continue ReadingIn the first reading from the Book of Revelation we hear a dramatic description of the overthrow of Death and Hades. John speaks of the holy ones who have turned to Christ—those souls who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and the word of God, who have come to life and now…
Continue ReadingIn the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah enumerates the glorious acts of the Lord, the many blessings bestowed upon a people he calls his own: “The loving deeds of the Lord I will recall: …He became their savior in every affliction,” his love and pity redeemed them, he lifted them up and carried them…
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