The Narrow Gate
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Our God is a big God. He can handle anything, even things that we might think are too big for even God! We see an awesome example of this in today’s first reading. The king of Assyria, a guy with all the firepower in the world, was ready to take Jerusalem. But Hezekiah, the king […]
My Beam
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Today’s first reading shows us the beginning of the diaspora, where the tribes of Israel are scattered, leaving only the tribe of Judah. God allowed them to be tossed out of the land He had given them because of their continual turning away from Him. Once again…actions have consequences! In our Gospel reading from Matthew […]
The Example of John the Baptist
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Today the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist. In the first reading from Isaiah 49, we see prophesies that certainly pertain to the life of John the Baptist. In the second reading from Acts 13, St. Paul tells of how John heralded the coming of the Lord Jesus. And the Gospel reading from […]
Let Go and Let God
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Today’s first reading from 2 Chronicles is a story of what happens when we abandon God. Read the story and you’ll see that it is not good. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus talks about worry, and how we need to live for today. Have you ever met a worry-wart? Someone who worries about everything? They […]
Where is Your Treasure?
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Today’s first reading is one of those stories that they make movies from. A wicked queen kills off the royal family, but they secret away young Joash, the rightful heir to the throne. Years later they bring out the rightful king, and the wicked queen gets hers. Check it out! In today’s Gospel reading from […]
The Lord’s Prayer
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Over the past few days we have been reading the story of Elijah and Elisha. Today’s first reading is from Sirach 48. It is something of a recap of the story in 1 and 2 Kings. Our Gospel reading is from Matthew 6, where Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. We know it as […]
Double the Spirit
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Today’s first reading is one that has stuck with me since the first time I ever heard it. Elijah is about to hand the office of prophet over to Elisha. Elijah says to Elisha, “Ask for whatever I may do for you.” So what does Elisha ask for? I’ll tell you in a sec. (But […]
How to Love Your Enemies
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Today’s first reading is an interesting conclusion to the story of Ahab and Jezebel. God sends Elijah to tell them of how He was going to punish them because of their deception and murder of Naboth. Things did not look pretty for this nasty pair. But after hearing of his fate, Ahab repents. God acknowledges […]
An Eye for an Eye? No More!
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Jezebel was one of the most wicked women in all of Scripture. She may well hold the top spot. Why? Read today’s first reading from 1 Kings 21 and you’ll find out. She was a master of deception; a real black-hearted beast of a human being. (Trivia nugget: she’s actually mentioned in a song by […]
Walking by Faith
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The second reading in today’s Mass is from 2 Corinthians 5. Here St. Paul says, “…for we walk by faith, not by sight.” This phrase always brings to mind for me the story of doubting Thomas. He had to SEE the Lord and His wounds in order to believe. Now, you really can’t blame him. […]
Mary’s Heart
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Yesterday was the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is appropriate that we celebrate the heart of His mother the following day. Our Gospel reading today is from Luke 2, the story of the finding of the child Jesus in the […]
The Heart of Jesus
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Today is the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the first reading from Hosea 11, we get a glimpse into the heart of Jesus before He was ever born. “Thus says the Lord: My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred.” And in the second reading from Ephesians 3, St. Paul talks […]
No More Grudges
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God had Elijah tell Ahab that there would be no rain in the land except at his (Elijah’s) word. The drought was long and painful. But the man of God knew that the time had come for rain. In today’s first reading, we see how this came about. Finally, with a cloud that started out […]
Challenging God
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More from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel reading today. Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the law…the law of love. He shows us not how to ignore the […]
I’m Gonna Let it Shine!
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Today in our first reading, we see the story of Elijah and a widow who feeds him and gives him something to drink. For her reward, God keeps her oil jug and flour jar full for a year. All this because she was generous to the man of God. (A good lesson for us to […]
Son of Encouragement
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Today we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas. There are two optional Gospel readings for today. The reading for the feast day is from Matthew 10 where Jesus sends out the Twelve and gives them their marching orders. The other reading for Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time is the beginning of the […]
Feast of Corpus Christi
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi, or the Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist is “the source and summit of our faith.” It is incumbent on us as Catholics to know about the Eucharist; why we believe what we believe. Today’s readings point the way. In the first reading from Exodus […]
Practicing an Inconvenient Faith
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More great exhortations from St. Paul to Timothy today in our first reading from 2 Timothy 4. All things that we should take to heart. In Mark 12 today, we see the story of the widow’s mite. Rich people come and donate large sums to the treasury, but Jesus is most impressed with a widow […]
Hunger for Scripture
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Jesus got thrown trick questions and conundrums often by the Pharisees, the scribes, the Saducees and others. In the Gospel reading today from Mark 12, Jesus throws out a tricky question Himself. When talking about the Messiah being the Son of David, Jesus queries, “David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” […]
No Denying
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In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus is asked, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” His answer may have surprised some. He gives not a singular answer, but a plural one. Read it for yourself and ask God how you’re doing with that. In the first reading today from 2 Timothy 2, […]
Not God of the Dead
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In the first reading today from 2 Timothy 1, St. Paul says “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…” It seems there is a movement afoot to get Christians to sit down and […]
Avoiding Error
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Today’s Gospel reading contains one of the most famous sayings of Jesus. In fact, even people who are mostly unfamiliar with the Scriptures could probably finish this quote: “Repay to Caesar…” The answer, of course is, “what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” In the final analysis, it ALL belongs to […]
Sharing in the Divine Nature
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In our Gospel reading today from Mark 12, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who plants a vineyard and has tenants care for it. The man sends servants to obtain some of the produce. The tenants beat him and threw him out. The man sends more servants. They beat and even kill them. So […]
God IS a Family
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity; three Persons, one God. The readings today reflect that. The first reading from Deuteronomy 4 tells us that there is only one God. “The Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.” The second reading from […]
Accepting Authority
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Today’s first reading is from the Letter of St. Jude. At the end of the reading, we read, “To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling…be glory, majesty, power and authority from ages past, now and for ages to come. Amen.” We also see the word authority in our Gospel reading from […]
My Life Verse
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Do you have a Life Verse? Do you even know what that is? A Life Verse is a passage of Scripture that you adopt for your own. A passage that speaks right into your heart; one that you try to live by, that guides your steps. The reason I bring this up today is because […]
Opening Our Homes to Jesus and Mary
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Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We recall when Mary, who was pregnant with the Lord Jesus, went to stay with her cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. There are two options for a first reading. I recommend that you read them both. You’ll be glad […]
Intense Love
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The story we see in today’s Gospel reading from Mark 10 is very interesting. James and John come and say to Jesus, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” They wanted positions of prominence, over the other Apostles and everyone else. It is an […]
Holiness
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In the first reading today, St. Peter talks about how the prophets were testifying to Christ. He says that they “were not serving themselves but you.” In the Gospel reading today from Mark 10, Jesus talks about how those who have faith in Him will be repaid. And He says, “But many that are first […]
Honoring the Fallen
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A bit of a deviation from our normal format today. I’ve still got the link for today’s readings at the bottom of this post. And, of course, I encourage you to read them. There is, as always, much richness. I want to take a moment to ruminate on the holiday that we celebrate in the […]
Come, Holy Spirit!
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Happy Birthday, Church! Rather than give you my own reflection today, I want to share the sequence that you will hear at today’s Mass. (Why try to improve on perfection?) Veni, Sancte Spiritus Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home shed a ray of light divine! Come, Father of the poor! Come, source […]
Who Will You Follow?
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In Acts 28 today, we see Paul continuing in his ministry, even while in custody. Oh, that we could all have the evangelistic spirit of St. Paul! In the Gospel reading from John 21, Peter sees John coming toward him and Jesus and asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus’ reply is interesting. Jesus tells […]
Need a Mulligan?
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In the first reading today from Acts 25, Paul is in Caesarea awaiting trial. He is asked if he wants to go to Jerusalem to have his case heard. Paul declines, knowing that God is sending him to Rome. So Paul appeals his case to the Emperor. Our Gospel reading is from John 21, one […]
God’s Love in Us
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Paul was seen by many as a rabble-rouser. In today’s first reading from Acts, he creates a stir between the Pharisees and the Sadducees over the resurrection of the body. Things get so heated that troops have to come in and rescue Paul before he gets torn to shreds. Then the Lord tells Paul that […]
In Not Of
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Today we hear the last half of Paul’s moving farewell address to the Church in Ephesus. There is so much for us to take out of this reading! Read it sentence by sentence and let God speak to you through Paul’s awesome address! In the Gospel reading today, we’re back in John 17, listening in […]
Just Fluff
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What’s the greatest thing that we can achieve in life? To amass a fortune? Certainly not. To raise good kids? Be a good husband/wife/father/mother? To do lots of good works? Those are all important, but they are only part of the answer. St Paul has a thought on that in today’s first reading from Acts […]
Jesus Conquers
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In today’s first reading from Acts, Paul runs into a group of believers who have not yet received the Holy Spirit. In fact, they hadn’t even heard of a Holy Spirit. So Paul lays hands on them and they received the gift of the Spirit. In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that they will […]
Consecrated
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Since we talked about the readings for the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday, today we’ll concentrate on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Gospel reading today is from John 17. It is part of Jesus’ lengthy soliloquy at the Last Supper. Speaking to the Father, Jesus says, “Consecrate them in the truth…I consecrate myself […]
Answered Prayer
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More great action in the first reading from Acts 18. Today we meet a Scripture expert named Apollos. After studying the Scriptures, “he established from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.” He turned out to be another one of those great converts. In the Gospel today from John 16, Jesus tells his disciples, “Amen, […]
From Grief to Joy
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At the beginning of today’s first reading, the Lord speaks to Paul in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.” Sounds like sound advice for us, too! I believe we are living in a time that calls for bold speech to stand […]
Ascension Thursday
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Ascension. In most dioceses around the country, today is not a Holy Day of obligation. For most, this feast will be celebrated this Sunday. If you are in a diocese or archdiocese in New York, Boston, Hartford, Newark, Philadelphia or the state of Nebraska, then today is […]
Groping for God
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St. Paul must have been one of the greatest public speakers of all time. Today in our first reading from Acts 17, we see Paul giving one of his great speeches, this time to the Greeks in the Areopagus. More on his message in a moment. In the Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus speaks […]
My Conviction Notice
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Another jailbreak in our first reading today from Acts 16. Today God uses a mighty earthquake to break the chains of Paul and Silas. And the happenings after the jailbreak are amazing! Be sure to check it out. For our Gospel reading, we’re back in John 16, as Jesus speaks more about the Advocate, the […]
The Catholic Church’s Bold Claim
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Matthias. The two readings are ones that we have already had during the Easter season. The Gospel is from John 15, the exact same reading from yesterday, where Jesus says, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go […]
The Chosen One
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In the Gospel reading today from John 15, we hear Jesus tell the disciples, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Have you ever heard the phrase, “The Chosen One?” Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars had that title. A few egotistical sports personalities have given themselves the name. This distinction […]
On Being Hated
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More action and adventure today in the first reading from Acts 16. Paul has a vision in which a Macedonian says to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” So he goes! Perhaps we should pray for the intercession of St. Paul and say, “Come to American and help us!” In the Gospel reading […]
Laying Down Your Life
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In the first reading today from Acts 15, the Apostles and presbyters choose Barsabbas and Silas to travel with Paul and Barnabas to take a message clarifying the position of the Church on some disputes that had arisen. For the Gospel reading today, we’re back in John 15, where Jesus says, “This is my commandment: […]
Jesus’ Joy in Us
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In today’s first reading from Acts 15, we see that the early Church was hierarchical. There was a dispute about whether the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic laws in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas knew that this was not a matter that could be settled on a local level. […]
The Holy Pruning
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Today in Acts, we see more discussion about whether new believers needed to be circumcised and obey the Mosaic law. We also see Paul and Barnabas reporting in Jerusalem what God had done with them. In today’s Gospel reading from John 15, we hear Jesus say, “I am the vine, you are the branches…without me […]
Peace in Hardship
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Today in our readings, we see one of the great paradoxes of our faith. In the first reading, we hear Paul and Barnabas telling the people, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Not a real popular message, I’m sure. In the Gospel reading from John 14, […]