Daily Reflections
We could hardly imagine a more desperate moment of prayer than the one described in our first reading. Queen Esther representing her entire Jewish people was about to plead her case before the King and the outcome would determine the future existence of her people. She and her maids were preparing for this encounter…
Continue ReadingIf there is one thing that seems to drive commercial advertising these days, it seems to be the accepted first principle that every new product must be tagged as “new and improved.” The “new and improved” syndrome may have been at play when the crowds pressured Jesus for more and more miraculous signs. They…
Continue ReadingIt would seem that the format for making a promise in times past was a bit more formal than today. It was common for people to say “I give you my word,” or “my word is my bond.” Today, the most likely setting for those words is in the sacrament of marriage where the…
Continue ReadingHave you ever wondered if there is a difference in motivation to follow a posted list of “dos and don’ts” and the motivation to follow a spoken list of “dos and don’ts” by someone you know? Maybe our own childhood experience or raising children can add some insights here. I suggest that our Lenten…
Continue ReadingIsn’t it true everyone loves a story, even if we’ve heard it over and over? It’s easy to remember family get-togethers when someone begins telling stories that trigger other stories about the funny things that happened, or the exciting times with rescues just in time, or the hard times when everyone had to…
Continue ReadingJesus said to The Pharisees, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” St. Isidore of Seville says, “Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin, all hope consists in confession; in confession, there is a…
Continue ReadingI remember a couple of years ago when my brother got married, he and his wife took a bus around Kansas City to take pictures, while all the guests were waiting on them to arrive. They arrived late because the bus got lost to the reception venue, so all of the guests waited and…
Continue ReadingToday Moses tells us in our first reading, “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving Him, and walking in His ways, and keeping His commandments, statutes, and decrees, you will live and…
Continue ReadingAs I read today’s readings, the word that comes to mind is humility. Yesterday we ate, drank, and were merry, but today we hear in our first reading, “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and…
Continue ReadingI am struck by today’s Gospel because of the initial joy and desire of the rich man. Jesus tells the man what he needs to do, according to the Law, to attain eternal life, but the man was already following the law from his youth. The rich man had a desire to do more…
Continue ReadingAs I reflect on today’s readings, the word that comes to mind is authenticity. We are called to be truly authentic to ourselves and to those around us. What is our true authentic self? It is that we are made in the image and likeness of God; that we are made in Love and…
Continue ReadingThese readings reminded me of when I was a child. I would always ask my parents for the most outlandish and expensive gifts for my birthday. Although I would not often get them, it exemplified a beautiful childlike innocence and reliance on those in charge of me. As we see in today’s Gospel, Christ…
Continue ReadingOur Gospel today looks at divorce and how the Pharisees saw divorce as permitted by Moses. After being questioned about divorce, Christ states, “What God has joined together, no human being must separate. (Mk10:9)” We as a culture have lost what marriage actually means. We have lost that idea of the total gift of…
Continue ReadingIn our Gospel today, we hear that if our hand causes us to sin, “cut it off.” God is not talking about cutting our actual hand, but rather things that pull us away from Him. As Lent nears, I have been praying about what I should give up and what was holding me back…
Continue Reading“Instead you should say, ‘If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.’” St. James warns us, in this first reading, of the dangers of relying on ourselves. How often do we tell ourselves we simply must “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” or “work a little harder?” How often…
Continue ReadingToday we honor the Chair of St. Peter, the first pope, given this office by Christ before His resurrection. Something undoubtedly worth noting on this feast is why Peter obtained this gift. On Good Friday, during the proclamation of the Passion narrative, we remember that Peter was the one who denied knowing Christ not…
Continue ReadingToday’s readings follow a theme of continual conversion. Although it can be difficult to acknowledge our sinfulness, we must do so for our conversion. How easy things would be if, like the boy in the Gospel, we would have outward signs of the impact of evil within us. He, possessed by a demon, foamed…
Continue ReadingThe Gospel today uses the phrase all of us know and have heard many times, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” But do we live it? As Jesus relates to us in the Gospel, it is easy to love those we can get along with, but where is that…
Continue ReadingIn today’s first reading, we hear how our mouth and tongue are “a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Although we do acknowledge, “from the same mouth come blessing and cursing,” the reading focuses that our speech, along with the rest of our will, is in a fallen state due to the effects of…
Continue Reading“For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” St James is severely critical of those who claim to be believing Christians but do not act as if they are. Sometimes we can think that this does not apply to us because we feel like we…
Continue Reading“Who do you say that I am (Mk 8:29)?” Christ asks this of his Apostles today in the Gospel, but he invites us to answer him as well. Who would we say that Jesus is? Would we be quick to act like Peter and call Jesus the Messiah, or would we even be able…
Continue ReadingToday in the Gospel, we hear of Jesus curing the blind man. His sight was restored by having a personal encounter with Our Lord. Jesus is calling us to that same encounter, but we can all relate to this blind man in some way or another. What are we blinded by? What is blinding…
Continue ReadingIt is a common occurrence for people to become discouraged throughout their day because of temptation or misfortunes. Oftentimes, this can lead to a certain cynical attitude towards Our Lord. We must be careful not to blame him for these things, as they are not caused by Him, but rather, by our own sins…
Continue ReadingIn the first reading, we hear St. James exhort the Jews dwelling in the diaspora to be patient when they encounter various trials. Not only does he encourage patience, but he takes his advice a step further to the point of encouraging rejoicing when those trials are encountered. To our modern ears, we may…
Continue Reading“Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.” This theme of hope is present in all of the readings and psalms for this day, which should stand out to us. Hope, one of the theological virtues, is essential in the life of a Christian. It is through hope that we can have faith that…
Continue Reading“Then, taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute…” What is happening in our Gospel today is what we partake in every Sunday—the Eucharist. Every Sunday, crowds gather at church to sit, hear the Word of God, and be fed by God. The food we…
Continue Reading“May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, grant that you may soon receive his word with your ears, and profess the faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father.” This is the prayer the priest says when he blesses with a…
Continue ReadingToday we celebrate the patron saint of Benedictine sisters, and patron saint of thunderstorms, St. Scholastica, twin sister of St. Benedict. Because of the feast, our Gospel reading is from Luke 10:38-42, the famous story of Martha and Mary welcoming Christ to their home. Mary sits listening to Jesus and has a holy conversation…
Continue Reading“Hear me, all of you, and understand.” C’mon Jesus, they’re not going to get it. I’m sorry, I just had to say that. Don’t get lost in the words in the Gospel today. Let’s focus on two words from the passage; stomach and heart. To stay healthy persons, we have to eat. When our…
Continue ReadingIn the first reading, Solomon addresses God and acclaims before the altar, “you keep your covenant of mercy with your servants.” Notice the language, “you keep.” It’s not, “you kept,” it’s not “you will keep,” it’s “you keep.” God’s covenant of mercy is an action, always in motion, always working. It is a wheel…
Continue ReadingAfter a journey on the sea, Jesus and his disciples dock their boat in Gennesaret. After hearing the news that Jesus arrived in their city, the people scurried to bring the sick to Jesus, so that he might heal them. Jesus healed many people that day. The sick people healed that day had the…
Continue ReadingOn the television show, “The Deadliest Catch,” a camera crew follows crab fishermen out on dangerous seas and film and document their crab catches. The fishermen use big cages as their nets. These cages catch everything, not just crab. When these nets, these cages, are collected from the sea, the fishermen go through the…
Continue ReadingSt. Agatha is honored today in the Roman calendar. She suffered martyrdom for the faith in the mid-third century. Yesterday I wrote about St. John the Baptist and witnessing for the Christian faith in a secular age. Today, I want to write about witnessing our faith in ordinary ways. That’s paradoxical because St. Agatha…
Continue ReadingJohn the Baptist’s fate is one of tragedy that stemmed from envy and anger. Herod had married the wife of his dead brother. He did this wrongly, and John called him on it. Herodias, his former sister-in-law turned wife, heard this criticism and “harbored a grudge” against John. Eventually, she prevailed upon Herod to…
Continue ReadingReform and social change are ideas that come to the forefront at certain times in history. Change is not a bad thing. Social causes can lead to positive outcomes. An unfortunate outcome happens when social movements lose sight of their original ideals. The ideology of a social cause can make enemies out of people…
Continue ReadingJesus is presented by his parents in the Temple in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph of Nazareth have brought their son to perform this rite as an obligation of their Jewish Faith. They saw it as their duty as parents, and their privilege, to raise their son in a life of faith. This is what…
Continue Reading“O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom!” Today’s readings deal with losing a child, one of the hardest tragedies a person can endure. David’s son Absalom dies in the midst of war, and Jesus encounters a Synagogue official whose daughter is on the verge of death. This is a part of the…
Continue ReadingDavid the King faces the worst trial imaginable. He is running from a political rival to his throne, and the usurper is no other than his own son, Absolum. He flees with a loyal group of soldiers and advisors. As they are leaving Jerusalem they encounter Shimei, who mocks and taunts David and his…
Continue ReadingJeremiah’s reading today is a description of divine intimacy between God and man, between the Creator and the created. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” God knows us through and through. One cannot hide from God, and need not even try. The Lord gives Jeremiah his strength. He “fortifies” Jeremiah…
Continue ReadingToday in the Gospel, we hear about the storm on the sea and Jesus sleeping. His disciples are filled with anxiety, saying, “‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then…
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