Daily Reflections

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

February 17, 2024

  In 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…

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Friday after Ash Wednesday

February 16, 2024

  On 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…

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Thursday after Ash Wednesday

February 15, 2024

  Yesterday 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…

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Ash Wednesday

February 14, 2024

       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…

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Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

February 13, 2024

  In 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…

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Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

February 12, 2024

  In 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…

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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 11, 2024

  Today’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.…

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Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin

February 10, 2024

  “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…

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Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

February 9, 2024

  “(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…

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Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

February 8, 2024

  “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…

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Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

February 7, 2024

  “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…

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Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

February 6, 2024

  “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,…

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Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

February 5, 2024

  “… [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…

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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 4, 2024

  “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.…

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Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

February 3, 2024

  There 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…

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Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

February 2, 2024

  This 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…

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Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

February 1, 2024

  Many 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…

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Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest

January 31, 2024

  We 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…

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

January 30, 2024

  Today’s liturgical readings present a feast for those who love multitasking and sorting out plots and subplots. Rather than getting lost in details, it’s far better to ask the Holy Spirit to touch us and show us the insight meant for us. We begin by hearing of an exhausted messenger coming to King David…

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Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

January 29, 2024

  If our liturgical readings for today could be color-coded to measure their emotional content, we would get a full spectrum of color. Since the Word of God uses the prism of human experience to teach us, it’s not surprising to see the full range of human feelings. The first reading from the Second Book…

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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 28, 2024

  Amid a crisis, such as a car accident or a serious illness, someone needs to step forward and “take charge.” Without that self-appointed leader, chaos can reign. Or perhaps it is just the opposite—a paralysis of fear. I suggest a connecting thread found in the liturgical readings for this week might be the theme…

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Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

January 27, 2024

  Be Still After a long week, with lots of activity, maybe we need to take a break and be still. Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” (See Mark 4:39) Is he saying that to you? Set a timer. Five minutes. Just be still for five short minutes. What…

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Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops

January 26, 2024

  Administration as Gift Today, we reflect on the early Christian saints, Timothy and Titus, who were disciples of St. Paul. Both are mentioned throughout the New Testament, and some of Paul’s letters addressed to them have come down to us: the First and Second Letters to Timothy and the Letter to Titus. Timothy was…

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Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle

January 25, 2024

  I Thought I was Right Some people are blind. Including ourselves. “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’” (Acts 22:6-7, NABRE)…

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Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

January 24, 2024

  Sowing Seeds Have you ever sown a seed? Being January here in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s been a while since sowing season. But in a few short months, those green thumbs up here will be at it again. But even if you’re not green-thumbed (myself included), Jesus’ Parable of the Sower is still relatable.…

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Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

January 23, 2024

  Move for the Lord The Lord has come. He is in our midst. Can you feel Him? King David danced before the ark of the Lord with abandon (2 Samuel 6:14). What a sight it must have been to see the ruler of the nation dance with abandon before the ark of the Lord,…

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Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

January 22, 2024

  Death and Life Recent events have been a legislative victory for the Pro-Life Movement in the United States. Namely, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade from 1973, which made the right to have an abortion constitutionally protected, was overturned on June 24, 2022 (in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization). This…

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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 21, 2024

  Repent. Repent. Repent. How many times do we have to hear it preached? How many times do I have to repent? What does it mean, anyway? Merriam-Webster, America’s oldest and foremost publisher of dictionaries, defines this intransitive verb to mean: “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.” Turn…

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Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

January 20, 2024

  “When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” Our Gospel today is a very short one and it ends even more oddly with Jesus’ relatives saying he is out of his mind. In the passages preceding this, we see several occasions…

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Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

January 19, 2024

  We continue the saga of David and Saul with Saul gathering an army to search for and to kill David. But when David had the opportunity to strike first and kill Saul, he was remorseful and showed him mercy. In our lives, we might have moments in which we are persecuted, hated, or betrayed,…

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Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

January 18, 2024

  In today’s first reading, we see Saul and David returning after David had slain the Philistine. They were greeted with much joy and festivities as the women sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul became jealous that they attributed more to David, and the jealousy consumed him to the…

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Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot

January 17, 2024

  Today’s first reading is known well by many people. The story of David and Goliath is not a story of David’s strength or bravery, but it is a story of his deep faith and trust in God’s strength and glory. He says to the Philistine giant, “You come against me with sword and spear…

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Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

January 16, 2024

  In today’s first reading, Samuel was sent to Jesse of Bethlehem to seek the LORD’s anointed among Jesse’s sons. Upon seeing Jesse’s son Eliab, he thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before me” but he was not the chosen one. For Samuel looked upon them and saw their stature, strength, and outward appearance…

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Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

January 15, 2024

  In today’s readings, we see that it is not by action alone that we please God, but by the desire behind the action. The Psalm says, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, for your burnt offerings are before me always.” And further, “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant…

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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 14, 2024

  In today’s readings, we hear God calling out to us. In the first reading, the LORD called out to Samuel but he did not realize that is was God speaking because “at that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD.” Thinking it was Eli, he went to him saying, “Here I am. You…

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Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

January 13, 2024

  In yesterday’s reading from First Samuel, we heard how God told the prophet Samuel to choose a king for Israel. Today’s reading describes how Samuel carried out this divine directive. We are introduced to the figure of Saul. While he is searching for some lost sheep of his father, he runs into the prophet…

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Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

January 12, 2024

  The readings from First Samuel jump from chapter 4 to chapter 8. The situation has changed. The prophet Samuel is now an old man. Many of the Chosen People had treasured him. He was a good leader, following in the tradition of Moses and Joshua and the several “judges.” The people were worried about…

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Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

January 11, 2024

  Today’s reading from the First Book of Samuel presents a bit of history. The Chosen People are trying to establish themselves in the Holy Land. But the land was already occupied by a people called the Philistines. War between the two peoples was the unfortunate result. In the first battle between the opposing armies,…

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Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

January 10, 2024

  The first reading continues yesterday’s story. But Samuel is now approaching adulthood. He lives in the Shiloh temple and is being trained by the elderly priest Eli. The text states that “a revelation of the Lord was uncommon and vision infrequent.” We can expect that this is going to change. One night, Samuel hears…

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Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

January 9, 2024

  Today, we move into the first week of Ordinary Time. The first reading throughout January will be taken from the two Books of Samuel, except for the few feast days. Three figures are prominent: the prophet Samuel, the first king by the name of Saul, and the great King David. Before Samuel, however, today…

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