Obey and Teach
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So many people look at Christianity, and especially Catholicism, as a religion of rules and regulations. You know, Thou Shalt Not this and that. Like it or not, God has rules. Unfortunately, too many people want to interpret God’s rules to fit their own beliefs. Sorry…doesn’t work that way. Both of our readings today talk […]
“Feeling” Forgiveness
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Our first reading today is one of the most beautiful prayers in all of Scripture. It is the prayer of Azariah in the fiery furnace from Daniel 3. He says to the Lord, “…as we follow you unreservedly…And now we follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and we pray to you.” In the Gospel reading from […]
The Hometown Prophet
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What a fascinating story we see in our first reading from 2 Kings 5. Naaman the Syrian, a respected military man, was a leper. He asks the king of Israel to heal him, but he can’t. So the prophet Elisha volunteers to heal him. Naaman doesn’t like what Elisha tells him, but does it anyway, […]
Ready for a Break Down?
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At my parish, we use the readings for Year A at today’s Mass. Our RCIA candidates and catechumens will be undergoing their scrutinies. It’s always very moving. The Gospel reading is from John 4, the story of the woman at the well. Jesus meets up with a Samaritan woman at a well. Two unusual things […]
The Story of the Prodigal Son
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Some beautiful imagery in today’s first reading from Micah 7. We see that God “delights in clemency…will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.” Then Psalm 103 reminds us that “The Lord is kind and merciful.” And speaking of kindness and mercy, our Gospel reading is from Luke 15, the story of […]
Producing Fruit for the Kingdom
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In the first reading today from Genesis 37, we see part of the story of Joseph. Joseph was the favorite son of Israel, the child of his old age. The brothers were jealous of him. They plotted to kill him, but wound up “only” selling him into slavery. Joseph’s is a fascinating story. You should […]
Can’t Take It With You
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 16, Jesus tells the Pharisees a story about a beggar named Lazarus and a rich man. Both of them die and wind up in opposite places. More on that in a moment. In our first reading from Jeremiah 17, the Lord curses the man who trusts in human beings, […]
Cardinal Dolan’s Liberty Letter
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My brother bishops, Twice in recent weeks, I have written you to express my gratitude for our unity in faith and action as we move forward to protect our religious freedom from unprecedented intrusion from a government bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). I remain deeply grateful to you for your determined […]
Servant of All
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Jeremiah was one of those prophets who had a really tough go of things. As we see in today’s first reading from Jeremiah 18, the people were plotting against him. They were “carefully noting his every word.” Even though Jeremiah went before the Lord to stick up for them. Now this. No good deed goes […]
Practicing What You Preach
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God is always ready to make things right. We are the ones who mess up, who walk away from God. Yet God is always waiting to welcome us back with open arms. Here is what the Lord says in the first reading today from Isaiah 1: “Come now, let us set things right, says the […]
God’s Generosity
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Isnt’ God good? When you think about it, God is so much more merciful than we deserve. We get a great sense of this in today’s first reading from Daniel 9. Listen to the first few words of each sentence in today’s passage: “You who keep your merciful covenant…We have sinned…We have not obeyed…We are […]
Lent: A Time of Transfiguration
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Today’s Gospel reading is Mark’s version of the Transfiguration. This is when Jesus takes Peter, James and John up to the top of the mountain (the very same mountain that we read about in the first reading) and reveals His heavenly glory. Moses and Elijah appear with him. And a voice comes from a cloud […]
Feeling Love
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In today’s first reading from Deuteronomy 26, agreements are made. The people make an agreement with God, to walk in his ways, obey his commandments and hearken to his voice. And God makes an agreement with the people, that they will be “peculiarly his own.” In the Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus says, “But […]
Breaking Our Addiction to Sin
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Our first reading today is from Ezekiel 18. In it, God makes it known that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why? More in a moment. In the Gospel reading today from Matthew 5, Jesus tells us that we must mend our relationships with our brothers (and sisters) before we go […]
God: Last Resort or First?
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Our first reading today is from the Book of Esther. Esther had the weight, and fate, of a nation on her shoulders. She knew that she was the last hope of her people. If she could not come up with the right words, her people would be destroyed. So what did she do? She prayed! […]
The Sign of Jonah
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Most people know the story of Jonah. At least, they know part of it; they know the part where he gets swallowed by a big fish. But what about the other part of Jonah’s story? Are you familiar with it? Jesus mentions it in today’s Gospel reading from Luke 11. Jonah was sent to the […]
The Purpose of God’s Word
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What a beautiful reading today from Isaiah 55. We’ll talk about it in a moment. Our Gospel reading today from Matthew 6 is where Jesus teaches his disciples to pray. He teaches them the “Our Father.” But that’s not the end of the story. Immediately after the prayer, Jesus tells them, “If you forgive men […]
The Invisible Least
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In the first reading today from Leviticus 19, the Lord tells Moses to tell the people how to conduct themselves. Though not the Ten Commandments, this reading sounds similar. It ends with the great commandment, the one that Jesus spoke of when asked which is the greatest of the commandments…”You shall love your neighbor as […]
Satan’s Temptations
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Today is the First Sunday of Lent. Our Gospel reading is fromMark 1. St. Mark recounts the forty days that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert before He began His public ministry. While He was in the desert, Satan came to tempt and test him. St. Mark’s version is very short, but we […]
Paging Dr. Jesus
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We hear more today about things that are pleasing to God in our first reading from Isaiah 58. The Lord also talks about how we should conduct ourselves on the sabbath. “If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice – Then you shall delight in the […]
An Acceptable Fast
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In our first reading today from Isaiah 58, we hear what is truly an acceptable form of fasting. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading, the Pharisees ask Jesus why His disciples don’t fast. Jesus replies, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will […]
Building Our Cross-Carrying Muscles
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Choose Life. Some folks may think that that is a marketing phrase made up by the pro-life community. Actually, it originated MUCH earlier than Roe v. Wade. Many millenia earlier. We find that phrase in our first reading today from Deuteronomy 30. It was Moses who first said it. Check it out for yourself. In […]
Lent Begins
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Happy Lent! Doesn’t that sound a bit oxymoronic? I mean, we’re not supposed to be happy during Lent, right? Wrong! Lots of people think that Lent is a time when we walk around in sackcloth and ashes. Let’s make sure we all put on a dour face and let everyone know how difficult our fasting […]
What We Ask For
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“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Those words of Jesus come to us from today’s Gospel reading from Mark 9. For our first reading, we’re in James 4, where we get more amazing wisdom from St. James. We pray about a lot of […]
Help My Unbelief
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Wisdome comes in two forms: heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom. St. James speaks of the two in today’s first reading from James 3. Which type of wisdom are we working on most? In our Gospel reading today from Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples try to remove an unclean spirit from a man’s son. They cannot. So […]
With Friends Like That…
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Today’s Gospel reading from Mark 2 has one of the best stories of faith ever. Only it is the faith of a man’s friends that saves him. Jesus is in a crowded house. Four men climb up on the roof with their paralyzed friend on his mat. They lower him through the roof to get […]
Taming the Tongue
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In our first reading today, St. James talks about the power of the tongue. Amazing how this one little muscle in our body can cause us so much trouble! Our Gospel today is the scene of the Transfiguration from Mark 9. St. James talks about how every creature on earth, beasts and birds and everything […]
Faith or Works?
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Today’s first 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, Jesus tells us that we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him. He says those words that should haunt […]
Show No Partiality
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Today’s Gospel reading is Mark’s version of Peter’s great confession of faith, “You are the Christ.” In the first reading today from James 2, James exhorts the reader to “show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.” He then goes on to talk about a rich person and […]
A Doing Problem
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More great stuff today from St. James in our first reading. In the Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus heals a blind man; but it takes Him two tries. In reflecting on that, I wondered if the man wasn’t quite ready for a full healing all at once. Are there times in our lives where […]
Don’t Tempt Me
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In our first reading today from James 1, St. James talks about temptation. This is a subject that comes up at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. More in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus once again speaks rather cryptically to the disciples. He tells them to “guard against the leaven […]
Consider it All Joy
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For our first reading today, we begin the Letter of St. James. James is one of those books in the Bible that it would be very good for us to be very familiar with. In the Gospel reading today from Mark 8, the Pharisees come to Jesus demanding a sign be given them. Jesus responds, […]
We, the Lepers
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In the first reading today from Leviticus 13, we read about what will be done with lepers. He “shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.” In the Gospel reading from Mark 1, […]
Pulling a Fast One
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In the first reading today from 1 Kings 12 and 13, we read about Jeroboam. Jeroboam was one of the kings of Israel. He was not a good guy. More on him in a moment. In our Gospel reading from Mark 8, we read of Jesus feeding four thousand with seven loaves and a few fish. After […]
Plainly Speaking
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In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 11, we see the beginning of the splitting up of Israel. Solomon had turned his back and worshipped false gods. God told him that He would divide up the house of Israel, leaving just one tribe to represent the House of David. And the final sentence of today’s […]
Even the Wise Go Astray
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In the Gospel reading today from Mark 7, we see the power of perseverance in prayer. A Greek woman, not a daughter of Israel, comes to Jesus asking that He drive a demon out of her daughter. Jesus refuses, telling her that His first mission is to the children of Israel. The woman will not […]
That Which Defiles
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When I was a kid, my mom always used to use the phrase “The Queen of Sheba” to describe a person (or sometimes a dog) who thought they were all that. Well, in today’s first reading, we meet the real Queen of Sheba. She came to meet King Solomon and test him to see if […]
Condemning Traditions of Men
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In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 8, Solomon stand before the altar in the magnificent temple that he had built and offers up a prayer to God. This is a beautiful prayer, and I encourage you to read it. In our Gospel reading from Mark 7, we hear Jesus comdemning tradition. Catholics believe that […]
All are Healed
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Solomon has taken over as king after the death of his father, David. In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 8, we read about the ark of the covenant being brought from the City of David to Jerusalem, where Solomon has built a magnificent temple for the Lord. When they brought the ark into the […]
Everyone is Looking for Jesus
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In the Gospel reading today from Mark 1, Jesus leaves early in the morning, before the sun came up, to go off to a deserted place to pray. Simon and the other disciples pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” That phrase really struck me. I think it is true, […]
Asking for Wisdom
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In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 3, we meet Solomon. Solomon’s father, David, had just died. The son had ascended to the throne of Israel. More in a moment. In our Gospel reading from Mark 6, we see great crowds coming to find Jesus. “His heart was moved with pity for them, for they […]
The Cost of Speaking the Truth
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Our first reading today is from Sirach 47. Here Sirach gives a synopsis of the life of David. The Gospel reading is from Mark 6, the account of why and how John the Baptist was beheaded. It is a sad and grisly story, but one that we can learn much from. I encourage you to read […]
Presentation of the Lord
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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 first reading from Malachi 3, God says through the prophet, “And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and […]
No one Special Here?
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In today’s first reading, King David takes a census, against God’s will. He comes clean and admits his sin. As we have seen before in his life, David’s actions have consequences. So God gives David three options for a punishment. None of them is good. Read what David says at the end of today’s reading. […]
The Healing Touch of Jesus
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Today in the Gospel reading from Mark 5, we see two miracle healings. The two are similar, yet very different. And we can learn lessons from both of them. A synagogue official comes and asks Jesus to heal his young daughter. She was deathly ill. So Jesus and his retinue set out for the man’s […]
Go and Tell Your Family
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King David lived such an interesting life. As we have seen, it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. He had a large share of hardship heaped upon him, some, of course, of his own making. In today’s first reading from 2 Samuel 15 and 16, David’s own son, Absalom, is trying to kill him and wrest […]
The Grace of Celibacy
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Today’s second reading from 1 Corinthians 7 is something of a treatise on celibacy for priests and nuns. St. Paul talks about how unmarried men and women and virgins are “anxious about the things of the Lord.” On the other hand, married persons are concerned about how to please their spouses and “the things of […]
Doesn’t Jesus Care?
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More of the intriguing story of David today in our first reading from 2 Samuel 12. The prophet Nathan comes to David and tells him a story, one which enrages David. Nathan tells him that he (David) is the bad guy in the story. And David comes clean. “I have sinned against the Lord.” Please […]
How God Works
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You’ve heard the old saying, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” So true. I’m sure you’ve experienced that in your life. More in a moment. In our first reading today, we see the story of King David beginning an adulterous affair with Bathsheba. David gets her pregnant and to cover up his sin, he has […]
Fan the Flame
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. It is a special day for my parish, as I attend St. Timothy Parish. Because it is a shared feast day, we have an option of two first readings, one from 2 Timothy and one from Titus. I’d like to concentrate today on the […]