Heartbreak for the Family
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus (again) cures someone on the sabbath. This is similar to a reading we saw earlier this week. He questions why it is...
If God is For Us...
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus laments over Jerusalem. He says, "Behold, your house will be abandoned." If you've ever been to a funeral, you may have heard...
ALL Things Work for Good
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It is not easy to find or fit through the narrow gate. People generally choose the path of least resistance. That would be the wide gate. Jesus Christ is the...
Saints Simon and Jude
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. The readings are typical for the feast of Apostles - the first reading from Ephesians 2 and the...
A Spirit of Adoption
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In today's first reading from Romans 8, St. Paul talks about our relationship with God the Father. We cry, "Abba, Father!" This "Abba" might be consistent with "Daddy!" that a...
On Pride
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about two people praying in the temple. A Pharisee thanks God that he is not like all the low-lifes...
How to Perish
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 13, some people tell Jesus about some Jews who had been killed by Pilate. Jesus’ response is telling. “Do you think that because these...
Evil is at Hand
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Could Jesus have been talking about Purgatory in today’s Gospel reading? He talks about being thrown into prison and how “you will not be released until you have paid the...
The Wages of Sin
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We call Jesus the Prince of Peace. In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus says, "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No,...
Great Expectations
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Perhaps St. Paul’s words in today’s first reading from Romans 6 are ones we should read every day, or even commit to memory. “For sin is not to have any...
God's Overflowing Grace
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In today’s first reading from Romans 5, St. Paul talks about sin and grace. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus tells his...
Empowered by Faith
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus says, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” He...
Do Not Grow Weary
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 18, "Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary." He then goes on to tell...
Feast of St. Luke
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Luke. St. Luke is the author of two books of the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles....
How God Feels About You
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In today’s first reading from Romans 4, St. Paul talks about the importance of faith. He points to Abraham as the example of faith. “Abraham believed God, and it was...
Works vs. Works of the Law
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 11, Jesus continues to pronounce woes on the scholars of the law. These are some pretty scathing remarks. “Woe to you, scholars of...
Holding Ourselves Accountable
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Both of the readings for today are a bit harsh. In the first reading from Romans 2, St. Paul says, “The standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself,...
The Danger of Impurity
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus has some harsh words for the Pharisees about putting on airs. We should heed these words. In the first reading from Romans...
An Evil Generation
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For today's first reading, we begin a trip through St. Paul's Letter to the Romans. It's going to be an interesting few weeks as we go through Romans, so stay...
One Gave Thanks
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus heals ten lepers. Of the ten healed, only one bothered to come back and give thanks to Jesus. To add insult to...
How To Be Blessed
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God will take care of His people. That is His promise, His covenant. It is one that will last forever. In today’s first reading from Joel 4, we hear this...
Stick Together
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As we read today’s first reading from Joel, we may begin to feel as though it is Ash Wednesday. Fear not…it isn’t! But in this reading, the prophet reminds us...
A Loving Father
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Today's Gospel reading from Luke 11 contains a famous saying of Jesus that most folks know: "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find;...
Mountains Out of Molehills
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Most folks can pray the Our Father from memory. Today we hear Jesus teaching His disciples to pray from Luke's Gospel. The wording is a bit different from Matthew's Gospel,...
God Repented
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In today's first reading from Jonah 3, we see a passage that may be confusing. We'll reflect on that in a moment. In our Gospel reading from Luke 10, we...
The Risks of the Good Samaritan
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In today's first reading, we begin the story of Jonah. Perhaps often thought of as a great kids' Bible story, it has so much to teach all of us. Our...
Increase Our Faith
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 17, the Apostles say to Jesus, “Increase our faith.” Interesting, isn’t it? I mean, here is a group of guys who have given...
Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace
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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. So, rather than comment on the Scriptures, I’m going to go a bit out of format for today. If you’re...
The Signs and the Message
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Acknowledging our sinfulness is never easy. In the first reading today from Baruch 1, the exiles do just that. They come clean and admit that “we did not heed the...
The Holy Guardian Angels
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. In the optional first reading for the feast day from Exodus, we see God telling the people that he is...
No Going Back
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My mouth often precedes my brain. In other words, I often speak without thinking. Worse yet, I more often speak without praying. This can be dangerous, as I have found...
Let Us Go With You!
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Have you ever wanted God to rain down fire and brimstone on someone? Maybe someone who was perpetuating evil? Or maybe someone who did you wrong? If so, you're not...
The Power of the Archangels
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the Archangels. Saint Michael is God’s great warrior angel, the Prince of the heavenly hosts. We see Michael...
Lazarus Lessons
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 16, Jesus tells the Pharisees the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus is a poor beggar who waits by the rich man’s...
Dwelling Among Us
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Our first reading today is from the Prophet Zechariah. Zechariah has an encounter with an angel. More in a moment. Our Gospel reading today from Luke 9 is short. Jesus...
Who Do You Say?
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In the first reading from Haggai 2 today, the Lord tells the people to get to work! He wants his house rebuilt. It, like the people, has been in a...
Consider Your Ways!
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Our first reading today is from the Prophet Haggai. The Lord had opened the doors for the rebuilding of his temple in Jerusalem. The exiles had returned. God opened the...
FROG is a Verb
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In our first reading today we see Ezra praying, acknowledging the people's sinfulness and God's great mercy. In the Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus sends out the Twelve two...
The Family of Jesus
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Can you imagine tax dollars being used to build a church? That idea seems far fetched to Americans, but that’s part of what we see in today’s first reading from...
Faith, Blessings and Gratitude
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For our first reading today we begin a journey through the Book of Ezra. King Cyrus, a gentile king, paved the way for the building of the temple in Jerusalem....
Taking the Long View
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The parable in today’s Gospel passage from Luke 16 can seem very confusing. It is about a dishonest steward that his master is going to fire. When the steward gets...
The Seeds Went Where?
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Today's Gospel is from Luke 8, the parable of the sower. A sower goes out to sow some seed and it falls in many different places. Some falls on the...
In with Nothing, Out with Nothing
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Ever hear the old expression "Money is the root of all evil"? That's actually a misquote from Scripture. In our first reading today from 1 Timothy 6, St. Paul writes,...
Great Sinners Make Great Christians
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St. Timothy must have been a fairly young man. Perhaps he was taking some heat for his lack of years. St. Paul exhorts him in today’s first reading from 1...
Where to Find Truth
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In our first reading today from 1 Timothy 3, St. Paul mentions “the pillar and foundation of truth.” Care to take a guess at what St. Paul said that was?...
Caring for the Widow and the Orphan
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We see a heartwarming story in today’s Gospel reading from Luke 7. Jesus is in the town of Nain when He comes across a funeral procession. The dead man was...
Help in Your Sorrow
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. How appropriate that we celebrate this feast the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Church gives parishes...
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
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Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In the first reading today from Numbers 21, we see a bit of typology. God told Moses to make...
Of Hearts and Fruit
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You probably think you’re a pretty big sinner. I know I do. I mean, I think I’m a pretty big sinner, not you! St. Paul knew that he was a...
The Blind Leading the Blind
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Today's Gospel reading from Luke 6 begins with Jesus asking a couple of questions. "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?" He...