The Most Pitiable People of All
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Women were a very important part of the Church from the very beginning. In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 8, St. Luke lists some women who accompanied Jesus and the...
Recognizing Grace
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Today's Gospel reading is the story of a sinful woman who comes to do homage to Jesus in the home of a Pharisee. Jesus says, "So I tell you, her...
True Love
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 7, Jesus talks about how you just can’t please some people. He ends with, “But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” Our...
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...
Your Cross is His 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...
The Danger of Debt
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A quick story about today's reflection: I've been writing Scripture reflections for over ten years. So I've written about every reading at least five times, and each Gospel reading countless...
A Participation in the Body and Blood of Christ
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus says, “Every tree is known by its fruit.” He then talks about building our house on a firm foundation. When Christ is...
Spiritual Athletes
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Love of sports is not a modern phenomenon. St. Paul gives us a great sports analogy in today’s first reading. In our Gospel reading, we’re back in Luke 6 for...
Love is a Verb
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In the first reading today from 1 Corinthians 8, St. Paul talks about knowledge and conscience. “When they eat meat sacrificed to idols, their conscience, which is weak, is defiled.”...
Time is Running Out
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The Gospel reading today is from Luke 6, the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus speaks the Beatitudes. There is a difference between Luke's version and Matthew's version in that in...
It's Mom's Birthday!
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary…Mary’s birthday! Now, we don’t really know the exact day, date or year that Mary was born....
A Labor Day Meditation
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Happy Labor Day! I hope you are taking a day of R&R today. Instead of reflection on today's Scriptures, I'd like to offer a brief Labor Day meditation. In these difficult...
Error Warning
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The first reading from Ezekiel 33 and the Gospel reading today are closely intertwined. They both speak of warning others of error. In Ezekiel 33, the Lord says that we...
Be Scum
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus is called on the carpet by some Pharisees for picking grain on the sabbath. It was unlawful to “work” on the sabbath....
"The Old is Good"
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus talks about the old and the new. He talks about cloaks and wine. Jesus said, "New wine must be poured into fresh...
The Adventure of the Deep
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 5, Jesus sees Simon Peter and his fishing buddies cleaning their nets after a hard night of fishing. Not catching, mind you. Fishing....
You are God's Co-Worker
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Jesus was a very busy guy. We see this in today’s Gospel reading from Luke 4. He heals Simon’s mother-in-law, He heals all the sick in the town and casts...
The Natural and the Spiritual
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In the first reading today from 1 Corinthians 2, St. Paul talks about two spirits - "the spirit of the world" and "the Spirit who is from God." He goes...
Demonstrative Faith
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Our first reading today from 1 Corinthians 2 is short, but packs a lot of punch. For the Gospel reading, we’re in Luke 4. Jesus returns to Nazareth, the town...
An Obstacle to God
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Jesus had just told Peter that He would give him the keys to the kingdom. Immediately after that, Jesus begins to talk about how He would be handed over, killed...
The Passion of John the Baptist
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Today the Church celebrates the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. This feast used to be known as the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. Personally, I like the Passion...
A Happy Fool
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Our first reading today is from 1 Corinthians 1 where St. Paul talks about foolishness and wisdom.”The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to...
Fellowship with Jesus
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Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 24 is very Advent-ish. It begins with Jesus saying, “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” For our...
Hypocrisy
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St. Paul was big on tradition. In today's first reading from 2 Thessalonians 3, he tells the people to "shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not...
The Blessing of Tradition(s)
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In today's first reading from 2 Thessalonians 2, St. Paul says, "Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by...
Bartholomew/Nathanael
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Bartholomew. Bartholomew is listed among the Twelve. He was brought to Jesus by the Apostle Philip. Tradition tells us that he preached...
The Church will Prevail
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In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 16, we see the famous exchange between Peter and Jesus. It is one that Catholics especially should be familiar with, since it helps us...
The Queenship of Mary
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You won’t hear special readings for this feast, though the prayers in the Mass reference this....
Dem Dry Bones
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The toe bone connected to the foot bone. The foot bone connected to the ankle bone. Ever heard of dem bry bones? (It’s an old spiritual tune.) That song was...
Changing a Heart of Stone
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In today’s first reading from Ezekiel 36, God tells the people that He is going to take some corrective measures. We also hear the renewal of the covenant…”You shall be...
Bad Shepherds
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In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 20, Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard. After hiring men at different times of the day, the landowner pays each...
Seeing the Impossible
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It seems the prince of Tyre thought an awful lot of himself – fancied himself a god. This didn’t sit well with the one true God. See what message God...
The Danger of Attachment
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In the first reading from Ezekiel 24, God takes Ezekiel’s wife from him; she dies. But even before this happens, God tells Ezekiel not to weep and mourn when God...
Great is Your Faith!
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In the Gospel reading from Matthew 15, a woman comes and asks Jesus to heal her daughter. The woman was a Canaanite, not a daughter of Israel. Jesus in essence...
Assumed into Heaven
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since it falls on a Saturday this year, it is not a Holy Day of Obligation....
The Grace of Celibacy
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I've had many conversations about priestly celibacy. There are many who denounce celibacy, including many Catholics. Jesus addresses this in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 19. "Not all can accept...
The Act of Forgiving
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Today in Ezekiel, the prophet is told to do some things in full view of the people as an example. He acts as one going into exile, showing the people...
Communal Prayer
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In today’s first reading from Ezekiel 9 an d 10, we see a scene reminiscent of the Passover. God has the faithful marked with a sign. Only they will be...
God's Word is Sweet
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In the Gospel reading today from Matthew 18, Jesus asks a question about a man who has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray. Jesus says, “Will he...
The Giving Servant
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Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence was a deacon and a martyr. Our prayers go out today and every day to all the faithful deacons of...
Eyes on the Prize
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In the Gospel from Matthew 14, we see the famous story of Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water. Good old Peter. Always loaded with good...
Moving Your Mountain
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In the first reading today, God tells the prophet Habakkuk to write down a vision. Then He encourages the people to wait for the vision to be fulfilled. “If it...
Your Conduct Counts
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In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, we hear Jesus telling His disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." I...
Become What You Behold
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. In the first reading, we see the origin of the title “Son of Man” from Daniel 7. It is a kind of...
No...for Now
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God is always ready to give his people another chance. When his people turned their backs on him, he allowed them to suffer the consequences. But in today’s first reading...
It's What Comes Out
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Today in Jeremiah 30, we see the old “bad news good news” scenario. God tells Jeremiah to write down a summation of the past, present and future. The bad news...
One-Word Instruction
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In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 14, Jesus is walking on the water. What would you think if you were out in a boat and you saw someone walking toward...
Come and Eat!
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Family meals can be a very special time. In many cultures, love is shared through meals. While the food may seem to be the centerpiece of the gathering, it really...
Innocent Blood
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More prophet talk for us today. In the first reading, the priests and prophets want Jeremiah put to death. But Jeremiah tells them, “If you put me to death, it...
The Offensive Gospel
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In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus goes back to Nazareth (his native place) and teaches in the synagogue. It didn't go so well. The people started questioning because...