Daily Reflections
In today’s first reading we hear of the infidelity of the people of God, they “added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD’s temple.” God, in compassion for his people, sent messengers to them. These prophets spoke the word of God to his people, calling them to…
Continue ReadingThe evangelist says, “Jesus addressed this parable” about the Pharisee and the tax collector “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” We can actually divide this into two groups: 1) those convinced of their own righteousness, and 2) the self-righteous who despise everyone else. The latter group is…
Continue ReadingDuring our “pandemic year” at the seminary, we had canceled all of the seminarians’ regular breaks and kept them on campus. At first that was fine. We had a lovely Thanksgiving together. Yet immediately after that holiday both the administration and students had the feeling of being stir-crazy. I didn’t realize how exhausted I…
Continue ReadingWoody Allen famously said: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” To what would we attribute the other twenty percent? The Prophet Jeremiah speaking for the Lord would say it is this: Listening to the voice of God. Only if we listen to God’s word then the Lord will be our God, we will…
Continue ReadingAs a priest, some of the best examinations of conscience I have are hearing confessions. A penitent’s sorrow over transgressions that I too easily dismissed as trivial can become a question to my own standard of judgment. For priests, teachers, and parents, we bear the responsibility for forming others in the faith. Challenge and…
Continue ReadingThe call to forgive as God has forgiven us is characteristically Christian. It never seems to get easier. One of the hardest parts of committing to Jesus’ command is to forgive others and not receive forgiveness. The mature Christian will forgive without expecting forgiveness in return. In fact, this contrite, humble, and devout spirit…
Continue ReadingThe prophetic lives of Elijah and Elisha are paralleled between master and disciple. Famously, Elijah won in the contest against 850 pagan prophets. Before the God of Israel sent down fire from heaven to ignite Elijah’s altar, the pagans hopped around theirs and slashed themselves in order get their deities’ attention (1 Kgs. 18:28).…
Continue ReadingA popular trend in the culture is minimalism. A whole industry has cropped up around de-cluttering and designing simply: Marie Kondo shows you how to make efficient space and tells you to keep all but thirty books on hand. People construct compact and portable tiny houses – what, when I was growing up, we…
Continue ReadingToday is one of my favorite gospel passages about the rich young man who squandered his father’s inheritance. I would like to quote again from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In the Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo tells Frodo, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into…
Continue ReadingOur verse before the Gospel today is one we all know. “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son; so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.” God loved us so much that he gave us his Son so that we might live for Him and do His…
Continue ReadingThis gospel today is like Jesus is talking to a brick wall. “’Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’” Jesus…
Continue Reading“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Jesus…
Continue ReadingToday is a great day to celebrate the gift of life! In our first reading, we hear “Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.” Our sins—our souls—have been…
Continue ReadingIn our responsorial psalm, we read “Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.” If the Lord dealt with us according to our sins, I have a feeling we would all be in big trouble! But the Lord is merciful and shows us His Divine Mercy! He took our sins and nailed…
Continue Reading Today we hear in our first reading that God wants Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to Him. Just think about how Abraham must have felt sacrificing his beloved son! But because of the love that Abraham has for the Lord, he would not disobey Him. Of course, the Lord intervened…
Continue ReadingAnd this week ends as it began, with a confirmation of the covenant between God and us. The covenant goes beyond keeping the commandments, although those are good places to start. Harming our enemies is not be done, according to the commandments. Not enough, however. We need to go further and actually pray for…
Continue ReadingOn September 24, 2015, Pope Francis addressed the Joint Session of the United States Congress. He stated, “Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.” He cited four Americans who helped “preserve the dignity of fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common…
Continue ReadingToday the Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. Of all the apostles handpicked to be fishers of men, Christ chose Peter to be the foremost among them. The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles include stories about the shortcomings of St. Peter. In frustration, Jesus even called him Satan…
Continue ReadingJonah was asked to do something he did not want to do. He schemed hard to get out of it. Running away failed. In a way, he sought death by asking to be thrown off a boat during a violent storm, but that failed, too. He had been directed by God to go to…
Continue ReadingThere are occasional gaps in Sacred Scripture, especially in the New Testament. Jesus obviously taught his apostles things that were so meaningful and life-changing that they abandoned what was familiar and sacrificed their lives for The Way. St. Paul spoke so movingly that people stayed up and listened to him until the wee hours…
Continue Reading“Most young people think of virtue as something negative. They think that by avoiding sin they are being good. They think of purity as an absence of impurity. Yet we should think of purity as a shining positive virtue, rather than as a negative one – one that makes itself felt, that stands out…
Continue ReadingNot so very long ago, we joyfully celebrated the birth of Jesus, the baptism of Jesus, and the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Last Wednesday, we entered more fully into the reason for God becoming man. Lent is an olive branch. God, who provided us with this world and everything in it, reaches…
Continue ReadingIn today’s Gospel, we hear the call of the apostle Levi (otherwise known as Matthew). Levi, would have been despised at the time because of his status as a tax collector. Tax collectors had a bad reputation in the times of Ancient Israel. They were known for extorting money (especially from the poor) on…
Continue ReadingOn this first Friday in Lent, where do we find ourselves in our Lenten observances after only two days of practicing them? Maybe our resolve is firm; we have remained steadfast so far, or perhaps we have fallen a few times already. To add even more, it’s also a Friday in Lent, so it’s…
Continue ReadingYesterday was Ash Wednesday, when we were reminded of our death. The readings for today continue that theme of death but also contrast it with life. In the reading from Deuteronomy, Moses offered the Israelites two paths: a path to life and a path to death. Moses says that if we want life, we…
Continue Reading How should we approach Lent? I think a huge temptation when it comes to Lent is to enter into it with the wrong perspective. Oftentimes, we hear the word “Lent” and immediately think of suffering. We usually just think about fasting and how we’re going to have to give up things…
Continue ReadingIn today’s Gospel, Jesus and the disciples are on a boat, a storm comes out of nowhere, and the disciples become worried and terrified of capsizing. But Jesus is asleep while the storm begins. When the disciples awaken Jesus, pleading for His help, he again calmly wakes up and rebukes the storm, which immediately…
Continue ReadingIn today’s readings, I find a beautiful teaching on the value and necessity of faith, patience, and perseverance. Before, when I read this Gospel of Mark passage, I would be somewhat confused. Why would Jesus refuse to give “this generation” a sign? Why not just give it to them, and then they would believe…
Continue ReadingToday’s readings and psalm powerfully communicate that while we get caught up in this world by sin and wickedness, God constantly pursues us with love and the promise of salvation. In today’s first reading, we hear of the brutal, painful quality of life someone with leprosy endured as an Israelite in the Old Testament.…
Continue Reading“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion.” This text, from the Song of Songs, given us by the Church for the feast of St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict, shows a side…
Continue Reading“(Jesus) looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) In the Church’s rite for of baptizing an infant, there is this entry: Ephphetha or Prayer Over Ears and Mouth. In this ritual, performed at the discretion of the celebrant, he touches the ears and mouth of each…
Continue Reading“She begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. You may go… When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.” This is the way faith must operate in our lives—we ask; Jesus replies; and then we act as if we believed in Jesus acting…
Continue Reading“The things that come out from within are what defile.” The saint who the Church remembers tomorrow, St. Josephine Bakhita, provides a beautiful image of the contrast we heard in our Gospel today: what comes from outside and what comes from within. For the young girl, Bakhita, from the outside came slavery. Her slave…
Continue Reading“You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.” Today the Church honors the memory of St. Paul Miki and Companions who died in 1597. These 26 martyrs of Japan were crucified on a hill, now known as the Holy Mountain, overlooking Nagasaki. Among them were priests,…
Continue Reading“… [they] begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak” Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing for a human being to have; boredom is a real drag! The people in our Gospel today are very enthusiastic. They want to get close to this wonder-worker. The Scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, remarks about…
Continue Reading“Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” All of us can agree that mental anguish is a great human suffering. Loneliness, fear, doubt, betrayal, infidelity, depression—these are hard to take. We who follow Jesus seek to square such experiences with the goodness of God.…
Continue ReadingThere is a certain familiarity that comes across as we read the opening lines of the Gospel today. The apostles were returning from their first “mission trip” wanting to share stories, awesome experiences, fearful challenges, funny stories, and sad memories. And they simply needed to rest. It makes perfect sense that Jesus would want…
Continue ReadingThis beautiful feast of the Presentation of the Lord is often an overlooked treasure in the course of the liturgical year. The core meaning goes far beyond a description of the holy family fulfilling a legal requirement. Something powerful and amazing is happening. Divinity is revealed through the humanity of a little child. But…
Continue ReadingMany years ago, one of the most popular TV suspense/action shows was “Mission Impossible.” Besides the awesome challenges of the mission itself, there were the equally awesome (then) gadgets and electronic gizmos used to help accomplish the weekly mission. Our liturgical readings for today make us think of those assigned missions. Some of those…
Continue ReadingWe celebrate the feast of St. John Bosco today. Whenever we celebrate the life of a saint, we tend to wonder what they were like. Surely, they must have been people with great determination and clear focus. No matter what might have stood in their way, their mind was fixed on the goal before…
Continue Reading