In The Beginning
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Today for our first reading, we begin at the beginning. Genesis 1. “In the beginning…” We’ll be in the book of Genesis for the next couple of weeks. Today we...
Pass the Salt
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For the Gospel reading today, we’re back in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5, Jesus says to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” I’m sure...
Time to Take a Load Off
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In the Gospel reading today from Mark 6, the Apostles return from their mission trip that Jesus had sent them on. They “reported all they had done and taught.” Jesus...
Entertaining Angels
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Today’s Gospel reading from Mark 6 is the story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Sad and tragic, yes, but a great story for us about standing up for...
A Promise Kept
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Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Also known as Candlemas, this is the day when candles will be blessed. There will be three readings today. In...
The Beauty of Discipline
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Today we’re going to talk about discipline. Not a fun topic, I know. If you turned and ran away right now, I wouldn’t blame you! But in today’s first reading...
Arise!
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As Catholics, we profess a belief in the Communion of Saints. I believe this is what we read about in the first verse of today's first reading from Hebrews 12....
Legion
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In today's first reading from Hebrews 11, we hear about some of the forefathers of the faith and how they "did not receive what had been promised." However, "God had...
The Foolish, Weak and Lowly
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In today's second reading from 1 Corinthians 1, St. Paul says that God chose the foolish, weak and lowly to do great things for the Kingdom. Imagine that...God chose me!...
Faith
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What is faith? In our first reading today from Hebrews 11:1 it says, "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen." The Catechism...
The Danger of Backsliding
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, Jesus tells a couple of parables about the Kingdom of God, both having to do with plants. In the first reading from Hebrews...
No Place for Cowards
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Today is the Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. Both men were collaborators with St. Paul and received letters from him that we find in the New Testament. Timothy became...
The Call to Conversion
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Today the Church celebrates the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. We see the story of Saul's conversion twice the the Acts of the Apostles - in chapter 9 the...
I Come to Do Your Will
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“I come to do your will.” This is a line that we hear over and over again in the liturgy today. It appears twice in the first reading from Hebrews...
A Divided House
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In the first reading today from Hebrews 9, we read more about Christ’s once for all sacrifice, and about the judgement at Jesus’ second coming. In the Gospel reading from...
Capernaum
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In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 4, we see that Jesus "went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali..." It then goes on...
Out of Our Minds
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The Gospel reading today from Mark 3 is very short; just two verses. Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them...
The Apostles
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Today's first reading from Hebrews 8 talks about the "new" covenant. "When he speaks of a 'new' covenant, he declares the first one obsolete." The old covenant included sacrifice of...
A Once for All Sacrifice
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In the first reading today from Hebrews 7 & 8, the sacred author talks about the once for all sacrifice of Christ. “He has no need, as did the high...
Withered Hands, Withered Hearts
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Are you familiar with Melchizedek? If not, read up on him. For someone who shows up in just a few short verses in Genesis, he's a very important figure in...
Sluggish
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In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 2, Jesus says something very telling to the Pharisees. “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the...
Our Great High Priest
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Today in Hebrews 5, we see a theme that we touched on last week; that Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered. The author of Hebrews was big on this...
Behold the Lamb of God
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Today's Gospel reading from John 1 contains a Bible verse that every Catholic knows. "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." These words were...
Confidence
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Our Gospel reading today is from Mark 2, the call of Levi, aka Matthew. Jesus says to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed Jesus. In the first...
That Kind of Friend
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Life is hard. But we can find rest in God. Today's first reading from Hebrews 4 encourages us to "enter into that rest." In the Gospel reading today from Mark...
If This Was Your Last "Today"
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Today’s Gospel story is from Mark 1, about a leper that comes to Jesus seeking to be healed. Jesus heals him and tells him not to tell anyone. The guy...
He's Been There and Done That
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Back in Hebrews 2 today, we see more about the suffering of Jesus and how that plays to our advantage. More in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Mark...
Subject to Christ
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Jesus was given all authority in heaven and on earth by the Father. In the Gospel reading today from Mark 1, the people recognized this about Jesus. After He had...
Jesus' Baptism and Our Baptism
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Today the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. We see that moment where John the Baptist has just baptized Jesus when "a voice came from the heavens, saying, 'This...
Awakening
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Today is the Feast of Epiphany. We celebrate the time when the three Wise Men, a.k.a Three Kings or Magi, appeared to offer gifts to Jesus. Such an interesting story...
The Best Advice Ever
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Jesus’ first public miracle, as told in John’s Gospel, is changing water into wine. It happens at a wedding feast at Cana. This story is the Gospel reading in today’s...
The Process of Victory
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There are two options for a Gospel reading today. One is the genealogy of Jesus from Luke 3. The other is from Mark 1, where Jesus is baptized in the...
That's Some Low Standard!
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In the Gospel reading today from John 1, we see an encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew, says to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of...
To Whom Do You Belong?
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We get some very stark words today in our first reading from 1 John 3. In the Gospel reading from John 1, we read about the call of Simon and...
Child of God!
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Good Morning, Child of God! Are you comfortable with that “title?” I certainly hope so, because that is what you are! So says St. John in our first reading from...
To Remain, or Not to Remain?
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More great advice from St. John in today’s first reading from 1 John 2. More on that in a moment. Our Gospel reading for today is from the Gospel of...
The Mother of God
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Happy New Year! Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. Since many - mostly our Protestant brothers and sisters - have an issue with this...
Pondering the Incarnation
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For today’s first reading, we are back in 1 John 2. Today St. John writes about the antichrist. Very interesting stuff, especially for those hard core “end-timers.” Those are the...
Family
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Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. All of the readings today talk about family. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 2, Joseph is instructed...
Thoughts of the Heart
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Today is the Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas. It's a good day for us to consider the difference between the things we say and the thoughts of our...
They Had No Choice
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Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. On this day we remember all those children who were slaughtered in Bethlehem and the surrounding area after the birth of Jesus....
Running to Love
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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. St. John was the beloved disciple, the author of the fourth Gospel, three letters in the New Testament and the...
The Ultimate Sacrifice
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr. In the first reading from Acts of the Apostles, we see the story of Stephen’s martyrdom. And in...
Merry Christmas!
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Well, the day has finally arrived. Merry Christmas! I thank you for your support and pray for a blessed Christmas season for you and yours. Remember, Christmas isn't just one...
The Canticle of Zechariah
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Blessed Christmas Eve! Today's Gospel reading from Luke 1 is the canticle of Zechariah. I can't do better than that, so let's reflect today on his words. “Blessed be the...
Messengers and Messages
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Today’s first reading is from Malachi 3. Malachi prophesies about the Lord’s messenger, “the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.” This prophesy is fulfilled in the person of Jesus....
Dedicated
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The Gospel reading today is from Luke 1. It is Mary’s great Magnificat. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he...
Fruit of the Womb
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As the Christmas story continues to unfold in the liturgy, today's Gospel reading is the story of the visitation, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth's greeting to Mary is...
God's Handmaid(s)
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During December, we see a few readings multiple times. Today’s Gospel reading is a case in point. In fact, it is the exact same Gospel reading we saw on the Feast...
Speechless
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Today the Church gives us two stories of men whose births were announced by an angel, Samson and John the Baptist. There are many similarities between the two, as the...