60 Second Reflections » 60 Reflections
The Handwriting on Our Wall
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I think that many people are unaware that many common expressions actually oringinated in the Bible. Today is another example of that. We’ll talk about it in a sec. For our Gospel passage today, we’re back in Luke 21, with Jesus talking about the end of time. I talk often about how Christianity is not […]
The End is Near!
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Ever heard the expression “feet of clay?” It means when someone has a fatal flaw. Usually someone admired or thought highly of. We use the expression when someone lets us down. Really, we all have feet of clay. Well…at least I do. Anyway, that expression came from today’s first reading from Daniel 2. Daniel interprets […]
No Pain, No Gain
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In the first reading today, we read the beginning of the Book of the Prophet Daniel. Daniel was a gifted young man, and faithful to God. For that, God blessed him in many ways. We’ll see more this week. In the Gospel reading from Luke 21, a poor widow puts two small coins into the […]
King of Our Lives
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Today the Church celebrates the end of the liturgical year. Fittingly enough, it is the Feast of Christ the King. All of the readings today point to the kingship of Christ. In the Gospel reading from Luke 23, the people are sneering at Jesus as He hangs on the cross. Above him there was an […]
Trying to Trick Jesus
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In our first reading today from 1 Maccabees 6, we see a king who knows the score in his life. King Antiochus had done some dastardly things. He began to undergo great misfortune and was soon to die. And near the end, he realized that he was being punished for the terrible things he had […]
Hanging On Jesus’ Words
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In the first reading today from 1 Maccabees 4, we read about the origins of Hanukkah. Do you know what that Jewish feast, celebrated to this day, is all about? Read and find out! In the Gospel reading from Luke 19, we see Jesus throwing the merchants out of the temple area. The big shots […]
Our Visitation
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We meet another hero today in our first reading from 1 Maccabees. Today we meet Mattathias. Mattathias had had enough of the baloney (trying to be genteel here) that was being shoved down the throats of his people. When he sees a fellow Jew offering sacrifice to a false god, “his just fury was aroused; […]
Parenting for Eternity
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In our first reading today from 2 Maccabees 7, we meet yet another fascinating character. She is a mother who exhibits amazing faith and bravery. Some may think otherwise, but I think so, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. In the Gospel passage from Luke 19, Jesus tells a parable about three servants […]
Heroes of the Faith
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In today’s readings, we meet two great characters of the Bible! The first, Eleazar, is one who is probably very little known, the other very well known, especially with kids. He is Zacchaeus. You know the story…Zacchaeus is a little squirt of a guy who climbs up a tree to see Jesus. Jesus calls out […]
Please Let Me See
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How strong are you in your faith? How much are you willing to suffer for your faith? In our first reading today from 1 Maccabees 1, we read that “many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean […]
Letting God Do the Talking
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Christianity has to be from God. Why do I say this? Because Jesus told His disciples again and again what they were in for. “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.” […]
A Prayer Pit Bull
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In the first reading today from Wisdom 18, we get kind of an overview of the Passover and Israel’s escape from Egypt. In the Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a widow who wants to get a ruling from a corrupt judge. She continues to pester him to give her a […]
The Creator in the Created
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As we draw closer to the end of the liturgical year, the Gospel readings continue to allude to the end of days. In today’s reading from Luke 17, Jesus describes what it will be like when the Son of Man returns. In the first reading from Wisdom 13, the sacred author talks about the foolishness […]
Seeking Wisdom
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Our first reading today is again from the Book of Wisdom. What an amazing book! In it, Wisdom is always referred to as a female personal pronoun, she. More in a moment. In the Gospel reading today from Luke 17, the Pharisees want to know from Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus […]
Giving Thanks
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Being a leader of people brings great responsibility. Leaders should always strive to attain wisdom. We see this call in our first reading today from Wisdom 6. We must always be praying for our leaders, civil and religious. Let us pray that they will always be open to a greater acceptance of the Holy Spirit. […]
What Comes Next
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When we do good, we are doing as we ought. We should expect no fanfare, no parades, no accolades. Jesus talks about this is today’s Gospel reading from Luke 17. He says, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’ […]
God of the Living
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The first reading today from 2 Maccabees is an amazing story of courage in the face of terrible persecution. Read it for yourself, because it ties directly in with today’s Gospel reading. In the Gospel reading today from Luke 20, Jesus talks about marriage and the resurrection. Some Sadducees, who did not believe in the […]
Zealous
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of he Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. This Basilica, constructed by the Emperor Constantine, is called the mother church of Christendom. The readings today all refer to buildings in one way or another. The first reading talks about the temple in Ezekiel 47. The second reading talks about how […]
A Long Term Approach
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If anyone had a right to boast, it was St. Paul. A prolific writer, eloquent speaker, man of great charisma…the guy had it all. But he would never boast of himself. In today’s first reading from Romans 15, he says, “For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through […]
Welcome, Sinners!
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Whose are you? Seems an odd question, doesn’t it? But think about it for a moment. Whose are you? St. Paul gives us the answer in today’s first reading from Romans 14. “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live […]
Letting Go
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I love Romans 13:8, the opening line in today’s first reading: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Are you paying your debt to all today? In the Gospel reading from Luke 14, we hear Jesus tell us that we must “hate” our […]
Just Another Excuse
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Today’s first reading from Romans 12 is amazingly rich. In the first part of the reading, St. Paul talks about different jobs within the Body of Christ. The second part of the reading is what I like to call the gospel in a nutshell. Spend a few minutes today really reflecting on how you are […]
A Call From God
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It’s great to do nice things for people who will reciprocate. But Jesus gives us a different vision in the Gospel reading from Luke 14. In the first reading today, there is a passage from Romans 11 that has always had a great deal of meaning to me. St. Paul writes, “For the gifts and […]
Little Man, Big Conversion
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The character in today’s Gospel passage from Luke 19 is a favorite of kids the world over. Every time I read this story, I can hear the little song in my head that we used to sing to our children. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He climbed up […]
Feast of All Souls
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Today we celebrate the Feast of All Souls. It is the day we remember all the souls in Purgatory. Purgatory can be a controversial topic, and hard to explain. So, I would like to help you with that. Following is one of the chapters of A Minute in the Church on Purgatory. I hope this […]
All Holy Men and Women, Pray for US
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Today is the Solemnity of All Saints. This is one of my favorite days of the liturgical calendar. I’m a big fan of the Saints, and I ain’t talking about the football team from New Orleans. (Although they are having a magnificent season!) This is the day when we celebrate all those holy men and […]
No Separating
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St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is such great reading. Today we hear St. Paul asking the question, “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” He then gives a list of things that we are afraid of. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 13, some Pharisees come […]
Romans 8:28
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 13, Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” It’s another reminder that the Christian way is not the easy way. 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. […]
The Glorious Freedom of the Children of God
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We hear a couple of short parables in the Gospel reading today from Luke 13. Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and yeast. Do you remember when Jesus talked about how the least would be the greatest? That is the mystery of the mustard seed. And the yeast? Yeast changes the […]
Patron of Hopeless Causes
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Today is the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. The readings are the same as the feast days of other Apostles; Ephesians 2:19-22, and Luke 6:12-16, which is the listing of the Twelve. St. Jude, also known as St. Jude Thaddeus, is the Patron of Hopeless and Desperate Cases. This is because of his […]
The Great Sin
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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 out there, including a tax collector who is with him in the temple. “I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole […]
God of Second Chances
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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, […]
The Eternal Struggle
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We can sometimes mistakenly think that the writers of the Sacred Scriptures were these super-holy people. But that would be a mistake. They were most certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit, but they endured the same human struggles as you and me. St. Paul talks about his struggles. More in a sec. In the Gospel […]
Holy Bodies!
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In the first reading today from Romans 6, St. Paul talks about presenting our bodies for sanctification. We’ll talk more on that in a moment. In the Gospel passage from Luke 12, Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” He then goes on […]
God’s 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 […]
Grace Overflows
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In our first reading today from Romans 5, St. Paul talks about grace. We’ll do that in a moment. In our Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus applauds servants whom the master finds prepared, no matter when he returns. He says, “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.” May we […]
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 then tells a parable about a man who was bent on acquiring things, but was not “rich in what matters to God.” Let’s make sure […]
Pestering God
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a widow who wants to get a ruling from a corrupt judge. She continues to pester him to give her a fair ruling. Because of her persistence, he finally does so. We need to pray like teenagers. What do I mean by that? […]
The Denial of Silence
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In our first reading today from Romans 4, St. Paul continues his thoughts about the importance of faith. He speaks of faith as a gift. It is a gift of God, freely given, that we can accept or reject. Let us accept God’s gift anew each day! In the Gospel reading from Luke 12:8-12, Jesus […]
Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist
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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. In fact, Acts may be considered a “sequel” to Luke’s Gospel, as that story picks up right where Luke ends. St. Luke is the only […]
Justified by Faith
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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 […]
Condemnation and Compassion
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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, since you, the judge, do the very same things.” And in the Gospel reading from Luke 11, we see Jesus pronouncing more “woes.” “Woe also […]
I am not Ashamed
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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 […]
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
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In the first reading today we begin a journey through St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. St. Paul greets the believers in Rome with this – “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” My sentiments exactly. In the Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus says to the crowd, […]
The Grateful Tithe
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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 injury, the only one to return and give thanks was a Samaritan. Ouch! So, the percentage of those healed who came back was exactly ten […]
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 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 […]
Spiritual Battles
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Balance is an essential component of life – in all areas. This includes the messages we communicate. While we should always try to be positive and loving, there is another side – a more ominous side to the story. That’s what we see in today’s first reading from Joel. “For the day of the LORD […]
Let the Spirit Rock You!
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Sometimes it seems that the wicked prosper. This has been going on for time immemorial. It comes up in today’s first reading from Malachi 3. Though it may seem that way now, in the end it will not be so. Read about what God has to say. In the Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus […]
Angry at 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 […]
The Better Part
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Every now and again people get the message. We see this in the first reading today from Jonah 3. The reluctant prophet made his way to Nineveh and told the people they must repent from their evildoing. They heeded the message, repented, and God did not carry out the punishment he had planned for them. […]