Doing the Good
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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 […]
Hearts Afire
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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! […]
What God Requires
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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 […]
Feast of St. Luke
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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 […]
The Danger of Greed
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In today’s first reading from Romans 4, we read St. Paul’s thoughts on the importance of faith. He talks about Abraham, and how his faith was “credited to him as righteousness.” This is important stuff, and part of the basis of the Protestant doctrine of sola fide, or that we are justified by faith alone. We certainly […]
Caesar’s or God’s?
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In the Gospel reading from Matthew 22, Jesus is asked by some Pharisees and Herodians about paying taxes. They try to trip Him up by asking, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? ” Jesus’ reply is quite well known to most people. “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar […]
Letting 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 again 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 […]
Your Worth
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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, […]
Giving Credit
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The Pharisees and scribes were none too fond of Jesus. And probably for good reason; Jesus had very little good to say about them. In our Gospel reading today from Luke 11, Jesus finishes pronouncing “woes” on them. They then began plotting against him. Trust me, the world will do the same to you when […]
Doing the Same Thing
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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, sin you, the judge, do the very same things.” And in the Gospel reading from Luke 11, we see Jesus pronouncing more “woes.” “Woe also […]
Are You 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 […]
Our Apostleship
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People are always seeking a sign. In the Gospel reading today from Luke 11, Jesus addresses this. While the people were insisting on a sign, Jesus told them that they would receive no sign, except the sign of Jonah. Jonah came preaching repentance, and the people listened. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case when Jesus, something […]
A Change of Clothes
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In the Gospel reading from Matthew 22, Jesus tells a parable about a king who gives a wedding feast for his son. When the servants went out to summon the invited guests, they refused to come. Some even beat and killed the servants. So the king has servants go out and invite people off the […]
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 […]
Stick Together
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As we read today’s first reading from Joel, we may begin to feel as though it is Ash Wednesday. Fear not…it isn’t! But in this reading, the prophet reminds us that “near is the day of the Lord…for the day of the Lord is coming.” Never hurts to get a friendly reminder now, does it? […]
Asking For the Spirit
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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 […]
Feast of St. Francis
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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. So, rather than comment on the Scriptures, I’m going to go a bit out of format for today. Hope you don’t mind! If you’re not familiar with the Prayer of St. Francis, then today would be a good day to familiarize yourself with it. And […]
Lessons From the Good Samaritan
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In today’s first reading, we begin a quick trip through the book of Jonah. Most people are familiare with the story. We heard it when we were little kids. It’s about a guy who gets swallowed up by a whale and gets spat out after three days. But do you know the before and after […]
What You Think
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Henry Ford once said, “You are not what you think you are; but what you think, you are.” What he meant was that the things that we put into our mind, the things that we think about, the things that we dwell on, will shape what we are becoming. He’s so right. St. Paul obviously […]
Being Childlike
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus says that the Father has “revealed (these things) to the childlike.” What does it mean to be childlike? Well, let me say this…there is a huge difference between being child-LIKE and being child-ISH. Unfortunately, I find myself being childish more often than I do being childlike. Being […]
Coming Clean
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 10, Jesus pronounces “woes” on the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida. He also has not nice things to tell Capernaum, his adopted home town. Why? Because they had seen many mighty deeds done in their midst, yet refused to repent. In the first reading today from Baruch 1, […]
The Power of the Archangels
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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 […]
No Going Back
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My mouth often precedes my brain. In other words, I often speak without thinking. Worse yet, I more often speak without praying. This can be dangerous, as I have found over and over again in my life. In the first reading today from Nehemiah, we see a man who exhibited great wisdom. Nehemiah wanted to […]
Fire from Heaven
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In today’s first reading from Zechariah 8, the Lord speaks of a time when other peoples would come to the Jews, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” A reminder for us that our Lord Jesus came from and to Israel. In the Gospel today from Luke […]
When Less is More
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Jesus said, “With God, all things are possible.” This is the message that the Lord conveys through the prophet Zechariah in today’s first reading. He will renew Jerusalem. The children of Israel have been scattered. They are but a shell of their former glory. Only a remnant remains. And perhaps hope had been lost. But […]
Unfair!
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I just love the first reading today from Ezekiel 18. The Lord God says, “You say, ‘The Lord’s way is not fair!’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?” “It’s not fair!” Sound familiar? If you have children, you’ve probably heard it a […]
Dwelling Among 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 […]
Who is Jesus?
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In the first reading from Haggai 2 today, the Lord tells the people to get to work! He wants his house rebuilt. It, like the people, has been in a shambles. It used to be a glorious house. But its former glory will pale in comparison to the glory to come. “And in this place […]
Consider Your Ways!
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Our first reading today is from the Prophet Haggai. The Lord had opened the doors for the rebuilding of his temple in Jerusalem. The exiles had returned. God opened the heart of King Darius. You would think that the people would jump at this chance. Uh…not so much. More in a sec. In the Gospel […]
Feast of St. Matthew
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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew. His Jewish name was Levi. He is the author of the first Gospel. In his own Gospel account, he refers to himself as Matthew. In the first reading today from Ephesians 4, St. Paul talks about the different “jobs” that some are called to in the Church. […]
Family Ties
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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 […]
No Secrets
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There are some who question why some churches are big and ornate. It is because we believe that a church is the House of the Lord. In today’s first reading from Ezra 1, King Cyrus of Persia orders all who are part of God’s people to go up to Jerusalem and begin building the house […]
The First Will be Last
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In the first reading today from Isaiah 55, the Lord says, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. Keep this in mind as you read about the reactions of some of the people in today’s Gospel. In the Gospel […]
Soil Check
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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 […]
The Root of All Evils
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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 […]
Our Lady of Sorrows
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Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. In the first reading for Thursday in the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time from 1 Timothy 4, St. Paul exhorts Timothy to “set an example…attend to the reading…be diligent…persevere.” The Church gives parishes an option of two different readings for the Gospel. The first is from […]
The Cross of Christ
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Today is the Feast of the Exultation 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 […]
A Mother’s Miracle
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In the first reading today from 1 Timothy 3, we read about St. Paul’s requirements for the office of bishop and deacon. These passages always remind me to pray for our clergy. I often speak about how difficult it would be to be a bishop in today’s world. They have to have so many skills. […]
Faith and Healing
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In the first reading today from 1 Timothy 2, St. Paul writes, “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all.” Many non-Catholics will use this verse to refute the priesthood and sacraments. Two quick things about that: First, we are all mediators. Every time […]
9/11
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Today is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. I’d like to go outside of my usual format today and, instead of reflecting on the Scripture passages from the Mass, reflect briefly on the last 10 years and the effect of that terrible day. I was on the air when the planes […]
Saying “Lord, Lord”
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I love the beginning of today’s first reading from 1 Timothy 1. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.” A bold proclamation by St. Paul. You know, if I weren’t such a strong Catholic, I might just challenge St. Paul that he is wrong. I would like […]
The Past is Gone
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For our first reading today, we begin 1 Timothy. St. Paul talks about his past. More on that in a moment. We’re back in the Sermon on the Plain for our Gospel reading. Today we hear Jesus talking about removing the wooden beam from our own eye before we go pointing out the splinter in […]
The Birthday of 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 […]
Put Away the Bad
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The Gospel reading today is the beginning of the Sermon on the Plain from Luke 6. We know them as the beatitudes. There are slight differences in Luke’s version and Matthew’s version from the Sermon on the Mount. Most notable is that Jesus addresses these sayings directly to His hearers. “Blessed are you who are […]
Healing Power
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We get more great Christology in our first reading today from Colossians 2. “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in the fullness in him.” St. Paul also talks here about how baptism replaces circumcision. This is a reason why Catholics baptize their infant children. As circumcision (which […]
Work
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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 […]
A Debt of Love
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The second reading today from Romans 13 begins with this: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Seems there’s a lot of talk about debt these days. National debt and personal debt. Debt is generally not a good thing. It means that we […]
The Authority of Christ
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We get a wonderful word about persevering in the faith in our first reading today from Colossians 1. St. Paul says that we will be presented “holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, provided that you persevere in the faith…” The New Testament is rife with allusions to perseverance. Yes, my friend…heaven ain’t for quitters. […]
The Old and The New
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Do you know how and why you were created? St. Paul gives us the answer to that in today’s first reading from Colossians 1. In speaking of Christ Jesus, St. Paul writes, “All things were created through him and for him.” So, you were created through Christ Jesus and FOR Christ Jesus. Let’s remember to […]