60 Second Reflections » 60 Reflections
Another Chance
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We’re in Romans 8 for the first reading today. St. Paul writes about living according to the flesh vs. living according to the spirit. “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh.” Remember today to live in the Spirit! In the Gospel reading today from Luke 13, […]
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 last penny.” In its deeper spiritual meaning, this could well be a reference to Purgatory. Like me, St. Paul struggled with sin. He was trying […]
Blazing Hearts
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In the first reading today from Romans 6, St. Paul talks about sanctification. “But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.” To sanctify means to make holy. So, you are being made holy today! […]
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 power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.” We are under grace!! In the Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus […]
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 disciples to be “ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” The word that strikes me the most in this is “immediately.” Are we […]
Can’t Take it With You
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St. Paul used Abraham as an example of faith. We would do well to imitate Abraham. Here’s what St. Paul says in today’s first reading from Romans 4: “Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had […]
Lives of Service
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Our Gospel reading today from Mark 10 features an interesting story. The sons of Zebedee, James and John, come and ask Jesus that “in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” This request didn’t sit too well with the other ten Apostles. So Jesus has to give […]
Let the Spirit Speak
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We’re back in Romans 4 for the first reading today. Paul continues to talk about faith and uses the model of faith as an example, Abraham. In the Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus speaks of the importance of standing up for him. “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of […]
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 credited to him as righteousness.” Yes, faith is of the utmost importance. Without it, we have nothing. In the Gospel reading today from Luke 12, […]
Justification
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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 the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” Today’s first reading […]
The Un-PC God
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God is a just judge. St. Paul makes this very clear in today’s first reading from Romans 2. Here’s how he puts it: “By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his […]
Ashamed of the Gospel?
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One of the things that I admire most about St. Paul (there are many) is his boldness. And the first line of today’s first reading really sums things up. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus derides the Pharisees for being […]
Here’s Your Sign
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For today’s first reading, we begin a trip through St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In today’s reading from Romans 1, St. Paul offers the same blessing that he begins all his letters with: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus […]
Everyone’s Favorite Station
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In our Gospel reading today from Mark 10, Jesus reads between the lines and answers a question that Peter didn’t even ask. This all happens right after Jesus encountered the rich young man. Here’s what Peter said, “We have given up everything and followed you.” No question there. That’s just a comment. Yet Jesus knew […]
The Blessing of Being 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 from the Lord. “But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.” No matter how bad things had gotten for His children, in the […]
With or Against?
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The spiritual life must have balance. We must be people of joy, joyfully awaiting the day of the Lord. On the other hand, we must recognize our sinfulness, and because of that be fearful of the day of the Lord. Today’s first reading from Joel 1 and 2 speaks to the latter. In the Gospel […]
What Are You Asking For?
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Today’s first reading is from the Book of Malachi. This is the last book in the Old Testament. God warns that people that, in the end, He will hold them accountable for their actions. “For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble.” In […]
Anger and God
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John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray. The disciples of Jesus came and asked him to teach them how to pray. He taught them the prayer that we know as the Our Father. You’ll find it in today’s Gospel reading from Luke 11. In the first reading from Jonah 4, we read, “Jonah […]
Take a Mary Moment
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Jonah was a reluctant prophet. When he finally performed the task that God had for him – to preach repentance to Nineveh – it paid off. The people repented and God relented in his punishment of the great city. Today’s Gospel reading is the story of Martha and Mary from Luke 10. Jesus has come […]
Good? A Samaritan?
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What an amazing day of readings. The first reading today is the beginning of the story of Jonah. He’s the guy who didn’t want to do what God called him to do and got swallowed by a great fish. Lots of lessons to be learned from this story. The Gospel reading today is from Luke […]
One Flesh
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In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 10, Jesus talks about marriage. “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. […]
Provocation and Redemption
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Have you ever provoked God? Whatever your answer, I can assure you that you have. It’s called sin. People have been doing it since the Fall. We see it in today’s first reading from Baruch 4. “For you provoked your Maker…you forsook the Eternal God.” Because of this, God allowed the people to fall to […]
Always on Guard
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Guardian Angels. In the optional first reading for the feast day from Exodus, we see God telling the people that he is sending an angel before them to lead and guide them. He says that He has given this angel His authority; they must listen to him. In […]
Understanding Truth
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A very interesting story today in our first reading from Nehemiah 8. Ezra reads and interprets the word of God for the people. We’ll have more on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus sends out the seventy-two in pairs to visit the towns and villages in advance of Him. […]
Pray Before Speaking
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Ever say something you later regretted? I think we all have. Today’s first reading has the antidote! In the Gospel reading from Luke 9, some folks tell Jesus that they want to follow Him. Jesus’ responses may surprise you. Nehemiah was an official of the king. He was always in a pretty good mood, for […]
Heavenly Power
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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 doing battle with the dragon in today’s first reading from Revelation 12. Manly stuff, that! Gabriel is God’s messenger. In Luke 1, we see Gabriel […]
Down But Not Out
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Our first reading today is from Zechariah 8. More on that in a moment. In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus tells the disciples – again – “For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” Zechariah received his call around the time of the rebuilding […]
Making a Prophet
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Prophet is a word that most people would shy away from when describing themselves. Actually, all Christians are called to be prophets. If we only knew! In the first reading today from Numbers 11:25-29, two men are prophesying outside of the Israelites camp. The report comes to Moses. Moses responds, “Would that all the people […]
Dwelling With 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 tells the disciples that “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand, and were afraid to ask […]
Take Courage
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A lot of people had a lot of different ideas about who Jesus was. In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter responds with, “The Christ of God.” Jesus then tells goes on to tell them about His impending death and resurrection. In today’s […]
Who is This?
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There’s a phrase that’s used twice in today’s first reading from Haggai 1: Consider your ways! The LORD speaks to the people through the prophet, asking them to think about how much they are putting into their own houses and about how they can rebuild the house of God. The main character in today’s Gospel […]
God Provides
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None of us are worthy of God’s mercy. It has always been thus. In the first reading today from Ezra 9, Ezra says as much. “From the time of our fathers even to this day great has been our guilt…And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the LORD, our God…” […]
We are Family!
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In the first reading today from Ezra 6, we see an interesting relationship between “government” and “religion.” The kings of that time, Darius, Cyrus and Artaxerxes all allowed and encouraged the exiled Israelites to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Darius even ordered that they be compensated for their trouble! Can you imagine? In the Gospel […]
A New Gig
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Today is the Feast of St. Matthew. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, we see that his Jewish name was Levi. He was a tax collector. His fellow Jews would have considered him a sellout. In the Scriptures, they were always lumped together with “sinners.” In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 9, Jesus walks […]
First and Last
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Jesus’ Twelve Apostles were all men. That means there was a lot of testosterone around. In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 9, Jesus asks them what they were talking about on a journey. The answer shouldn’t surprise. “They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called […]
All Kinds of Soil
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St. Paul finishes up his first letter to Timothy in today’s first reading. In a sense, he tells Timothy to hang in there, keep the faith, persevere. Do it all for Christ Jesus. The Gospel reading today is the parable of the sower and the seed from Luke 8. When I read about the different […]
Of Love and Money
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St. Paul gives some very sound advice to Timothy in today’s first reading from 1 Timothy 6. More on that in a moment. Our Gospel reading today is short, but important. Luke tells us that Jesus was accompanied by the Twelve, and a number of women. Why would he mention this? Because Luke wanted all […]
Much Forgiven, Much Love
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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 Timothy 4. “Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love faith and purity.” […]
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? We’ll talk about it in a moment. Our Gospel reading is from Luke 7. Here Jesus talks about how mixed up that generation was. They […]
Help in Our Sorrows
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. How appropriate that this comes the day after the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Our first reading, though, is for Tuesday of the 24th week in Ordinary Time, from 1 Timothy 3. St. Paul talks about the traits necessary for a […]
The 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 a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Whenever someone looked at it, they would be healed of their bite from a serpent. This […]
Faith or Works?
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Today’s second reading from St. James is a treatise on faith and works. St. James says “faith without works is dead.” More on that in a moment. In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” That reading ends with Jesus saying that we must take […]
Good and Rotten
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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 big sinner. But he also knew that, through his conversion to Christ, he was an example of God’s goodness. In our Gospel reading from Luke […]
Ignorant No More
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus talks about removing the beam from your own eye before addressing the splinter in your brother’s eye. For our first reading, we begin St. Paul’s first Letter to Timothy. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated […]
Put On
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The Gospel of Christ can be tough to live by. I would say impossible without God’s grace. Take today’s Gospel reading, for example. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” These are things that run counter to our nature, […]
The Other Side of the Coin
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I’m a believer that we become what we think about. Apparently so is St. Paul. In today’s first reading from Colossians 3, he says, “…seek what is above” and “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” Sound advice. In the Gospel today from Luke 6, we begin the Sermon on the […]
Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!
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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. We really don’t even know where she was born. In fact, we have no certainty at all about the details of Mary’s life before the […]
On Labor
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Happy Labor Day! I hope you are taking a day of R&R today. There are plenty of options for readings today. The link that I will provide is actually for Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time. But if you attend Mass today, you may hear different readings for Labor Day. The Gospel reading […]
Selective Hearing
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In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 7, a deaf man with a speech impediment is brought to Jesus for healing. Jesus restored his hearing and immediately his speech impediment was removed. Just as when Jesus restores the sight of blind people they represent us and our blindness, so too does this man represent us and […]
In It for the Long Haul
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Did you know that the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath? Of course you do. But the people of Jesus’ time had to be told that. We hear those words come from the mouth of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading. In the first reading from Colossians 1, St. Paul reminds the people that […]