Daily Reflections

  Everyone gets a case of the “jitters” whenever we have to do something risky for the first time. Imagine a wannabe pilot flying solo for the first time. Thanks to new technology, flight simulators can now teach the basics of flying without ever leaving the ground (or crashing a perfectly good airplane). We can…

  We can think about that daunting learning curve those early apostles and disciples must have had to face. It happened when Jesus “turned over” the Mission of the Kingdom of God to their care and expansion. They were called to make a career change, and there were no “Operating Procedures” to help them at…

  Getting lost in a strange place is a frightening experience for little children. Whether it’s getting lost as an exploring youngster in a big store or even as an adult in a hostile situation, the most immediate need is simply making contact with someone. If this is true in human situations, is it not…

  “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.’” I used to be…

  A year ago, today, we were glued to TV sets, computers, phones, anything that was electronic to see the news from Rome! The Holy Spirit, through the college of cardinals, chose the first American Pope, Pope Leo XIV. I remember he said, looking out from the balcony onto St. Peter’s square, “Today, the day…

  “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” This is a short, sweet, and simple act that Jesus says. The way we stay in…

  “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” We are the branches for the Lord, and the Lord is the vine, and it bears fruit! It is like what I said on Monday, we need to be humble. We are only branches, and…

  In our Alleluia verse today, we read “Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead and so enter into his glory.” Poor St. Paul was stoned almost to death, but as he said to encourage the apostles, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”…

  In our first reading, Paul, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, saw that the crippled man had the grace to be healed and healed him. The people of Lystra wanted to make Paul and Barnabas their false gods and thought, “Wow, look at the power that they have!!” But Paul, putting things into…

  The beginning of today’s gospel, Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” It reminds me of a dream my grandmother had a few years after my grandfather passed away. She told me it was incredible! She said, “It felt so real, I was with Papa [my grandfather] on a mountain,…

  To become like Christ, and therefore to come to the Father, requires that we go to the primary source. The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, but is it the most-read book of all time? Begin with the New Testament, especially the Gospels. Then move on to the letters of St. Paul.…

  Jesus told his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If being a Christian means becoming like Christ, what does that entail? The Way will include ordinary activities. We will awake, we will eat, we will work, we will become tired,…

  Saul was well known in and around Jerusalem as one who was zealous for the Jewish tradition. Trained under the renowned Rabbi Gamaliel, Saul was welcomed into synagogues and asked to preach. He could easily recount the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt and their escape into Canaan, the Promised Land. Like his contemporaries, Saul awaited…

  The Church in Antioch was founded from the Church in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit worked so powerfully in Antioch that the disciples there were called Christians (“like Christ”). The Spirit chose two of these Christians (Barnabas and Saul) to proclaim the Word of God to other lands. The actions of the Holy Spirit have…

  Following the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, those who believed that he was the Christ remained in Jerusalem. They gave witness to others of what they had seen and heard, and slowly they formed a faith community, a Church. There was no real plan to “grow” the Church. However, because these followers of…

  People are not always as they seem. And once we have labelled them (for better or for worse), it is hard for us to change our minds. For the people of Capernaum and Jerusalem, Peter was a fisherman. But now the one who denied Jesus three times and ran away in fear is claiming…

  Perhaps you’ve lived in an area in which there were numerous evangelical Protestant Churches, and perhaps you’ve also had many opportunities to read their signs, which usually feature a verse or two from one of the Evangelists’ accounts of Jesus’ Great Commission. Oftentimes, you’ll find “Go and make disciples” (Mt 28:19), or a verse…

  Our Gospel readings this week are framed by two pivotal questions. The first question comes from the conclusion of Monday’s Gospel: “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” It is asked by the crowds upon finding Jesus, and it shows a certain receptivity within them and a desire to do God’s…

  In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we are told the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. He is reading from the prophet Isaiah, who is speaking of the Messiah to come. He does not know how to interpret Isaiah’s words, and Philip offers to explain them to him. He willingly accepts Philip’s…

  In today’s Gospel, Jesus begins by stating, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” His words are an echo of invitation. The same invitation he offered to the Samaritan woman, he now offers to the Jewish people who follow him.…

  In the Gospel, we see a crowd of people asking Jesus for a sign. They are thinking about the manna in the desert, bread that filled their ancestors’ stomachs for a day but left them hungry again the next. Jesus challenges them to look higher, offering Himself as the “Bread of Life” that satisfies…

  “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” What made you go looking…

  Did you notice that all the verbs the two disciples use to describe Jesus are in the past tense? They say: Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet, we hoped he’d redeem Israel, we found an empty tomb…. In a short three days, the movement that was their whole life became ancient history. Yet what…

  “It is I. Do not be afraid.” These words of Christ to His disciples should give us strength. This is something that we hear often in the bible. Jesus’ words “Do not be afraid” have important implications for our daily lives. We are not called to live in fear, but called to live in…

  “We humbly entreat you to dispose our hearts to offer you worthy prayer and ever extol you.” These words from today’s Collect (the prayer before the Liturgy of the Word) proclaim the reason for our joy in the resurrection. In the first reading, we hear that the apostles, after being flogged, rejoiced that they…

  Today’s readings tell us that God is our priority, and the Gospel must be heard. It also tells us to take heart and trust God.  We begin in Acts with the court officers questioning the apostles. They say, “We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name.” And their…

  In this reading, we hear that the Jewish Sanhedrin became jealous of the apostles’ popularity with the people. They haul the apostles into the public jail and prepare to convene a trial against them. In the night, the angel of the Lord frees the apostles and says, “Tell the people everything about this life.”…

  Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, and this simple detail already speaks to how many of us also approach in this manner. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, Nicodemus is a man of faith, yet hesitant and cautious, approaching Christ with curiosity but also with uncertainty. Many of us can relate. We may seek God…

  Today’s Gospel presents us with a puzzling dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader. The Pharisee comes to Our Lord and acknowledges His divine origins: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is…

  When Jesus appears in the locked room to the Eleven to show His victory over sin and death in bodily Resurrection, He brings about a re-creation. Notice what He does: He imparts His peace, breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, and then sends them in peace. Often in John’s gospel, we’re meant to see…

  From Doubters to Evangelists. Peter and John were filled with zeal and faith as they stood before the Sanhedrin. They spoke boldly of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, as they did on Pentecost. But shortly before, according to Mark’s gospel, they did not believe Mary Magdalen and the disciples returned from Emmaus when…

  Jesus is the Cornerstone. Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders. Peter applies this commonly quoted passage from Psalm 118 to Jesus, and the meaning is clear. As with masons who reject a large ill-formed stone for building the wall of the building and yet find it perfectly suited for the more essential…

  We are His Witnesses! Even though Jesus stands before his disciples as proof of the resurrection, he is not content to let their faith rest strictly on what their eyes can see and their hands can touch. It is important to him then, as it was on the road to Emmaus, to explain how…

  God Raised Him Up! The reading from Acts today depicts Peter and John raising up a man crippled from birth. Peter is quick to say that it is “in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean” that this miracle is possible. That man’s lifelong physical disability represents our lifelong spiritual disability: we cannot progress…

  We are Responsible for Christ’s Death. Peter repeats in this continuation of his Pentecost speech the accusation that his listeners have crucified the person whom God made both Lord and Christ. Peter knows full well that he denied Jesus and is as responsible for his death as any of his listeners. And so are…

  God Sent His Son to Us. During this Octave, that is, eight days following Easter, the gospels at Mass express the amazement of the first witnesses to Christ’s resurrection, and the readings from the Acts of the Apostles record their spreading the Good News of our salvation after the coming of the Spirit at…