The Communion of Saints
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Today is the Solemnity of All Saints. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. I have a long standing tradition on my radio show that everyone I speak with will be...
Dressed for Battle
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In today’s first reading from Ephesians 6, St. Paul tells us to “put on the armor of God.” He goes on to explain just what that is. More in a...
The Fate of Evildoers
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In the first part of today's first reading from Ephesians 6, St. Paul talks about family relationships between parents and children. Both have a responsibility to the other. In today's...
Be Subordinate
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus tells two short parables about the Kingdom of God. The first compares the Kingdom to a mustard seed, the other to yeast....
Hope for the Hopeless
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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, which I recently wrote about,...
An Approachable God
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Our Gospel reading today from Mark 10 is about Bartimaeus, a blind beggar that wanted Jesus to restore his sight. He tells Jesus what he wants, and Jesus gives him...
Someone to Believe
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 13, Jesus tells an interesting parable. A landowner has a fig tree that has borne no fruit after three years. He orders it...
The Deeper Reality
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In our first reading today from Ephesians 4, St. Paul urges his readers to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness,...
A Family Divided
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Wouldn't it be nice if the whole world were united in Christ Jesus. Sadly, that's not the case. And if we take this idea down to the core, even many...
Entrusted With More
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In today’s first reading from Ephesians 3, St. Paul talks about the gifts that God has given him, and his responsibility to use them properly. This is a theme that...
Gird Your Loins
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus tells His disciples to "Gird your loins..." I suspect that many today have no idea what this means, or what it may...
Possessing Our Possessions (Or Vice-Versa)
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus gives the crowd a warning. "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not...
Servant Leadership
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In the Gospel today from Mark 10, we hear Jesus once again telling the Twelve that they must be servants. James and John came to Jesus to ask that they sit...
The Unforgiveable Sin
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No one is beyond God's mercy, right? Then what is Jesus talking about in today's Gospel reading from Luke 12 about a sin that will not be forgiven? Jesus said,...
Saint Luke
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. St. Luke is the author of two books of the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke and Acts of...
Chosen
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In the first reading today, we begin reading St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This will be a very rich couple of weeks as we go through the book of...
Good News/Bad News
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Jesus was never one to mince words. We see this again today in the Gospel reading from Luke 11, where He is pronouncing woes on the Pharisees. When a scholar...
External and Internal
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God doesn’t care about anyone’s background. You don’t have to have any kind of “pedigree” to give your life to Christ. St. Paul puts it like this in today’s first...
Freedom
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus says, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of...
The Danger of Attachment
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In the Gospel reading from Mark 10, we see Jesus having an encounter with a young man who has many possessions. We have come to know him as the Rich...
Blessings for All the Faithful
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We hear more about justification and faith in today’s first reading from Galatians 3. “For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.” Good news, no? We...
Satan is No Quitter
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St. Paul continues talking about faith and "works of the law" in the first reading from Galatians 3. In the Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus talks about the spiritual...
Spiritual Stupidity
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Today's first reading from Galatians 3 starts with a bang. "O stupid Galatians!" And shortly thereafter, "Are you so stupid?" In our Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus tells us...
Hypocrisy Happens
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples come to Him and say, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus then teaches them...
Hurry Up and Wait
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St. Paul was a convert to the faith, called by Christ Jesus. In today's first reading from Galatians 1, we hear an interesting part of his story. Paul spent three...
Gospel Perversion
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Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 10 is the story of the good Samaritan. For the first reading, we’re in the first chapter of St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. St....
Pray for Marriages
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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...
The Blessings of Faithfulness
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Today we finish our time in the Book of Job. We read what happens after Job's great testing. God blessed Job with more than he ever had before his testing...
St. Francis of Assisi
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Today we celebrate the feast of perhaps the most well known and most loved saint in history: St. Francis of Assisi. In his honor, I thought I would share some...
Like Lambs Among Wolves
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus sends out seventy-two of His disciples in pairs to the places He intended to visit. He gives them instructions before they go,...
An Angel Just for You
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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...
Calling Down Fire
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If Job were around today, he certainly would have been diagnosed with serious depression. In today’s first reading, he rues the very day that he was born. He knows that...
Naked In, Naked Out
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For our first reading today, we’re in the first chapter of the book of Job, Job 1:6-22. Job is the most faith-filled man on the earth. In fact, the Lord...
Drastic Measures
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Scathing words to the rich today from James 5. Funny thing about wealth, isn’t it? We work so hard to accumulate it here on earth, to the point where it...
A Note to the Young
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 9, the disciples do not understand something that Jesus says. Even though they didn’t get it, they were afraid to ask Him about...
A Season for Everything
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Today’s first reading is from Ecclesiastes 3:1-11. “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens.” If you’re a baby boomer like me,...
Nothing New Here
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In today's first reading from Ecclesiastes 1, the sacred author says, "Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!" He goes on to say, "What has been, that will be; what...
Two Things
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If you could ask God for just two things, what would they be? Solomon does just that today in our first reading from Proverbs 30. And in the Gospel from...
Proverbs
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Today's first reading is from Proverbs 21. The Gospel reading is from Luke 8, where Jesus describes who His mother and brothers are. "My mother and my brothers are those...
Dirty Little Secrets
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The Book of Proverbs is filled with so much timeless wisdom. Our first reading today from Proverbs 3 is no exception. “Envy not the lawless man and choose none of...
The Greatest
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, the disciples of Jesus were arguing amongst each other and Jesus asked them what they were arguing about. I'm sure they were embarrassed...
Our Spiritual Health
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Today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew. His Jewish name was Levi. (We find that in the Gospels of Mark and Luke.) Matthew was a tax collector. Therefore, observant...
The Most Pitiable People of All
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Women were a very important part of the Church from the very beginning. In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 8, St. Luke lists some women who accompanied Jesus and the...
It's All Grace
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Today's Gospel reading is the story of a sinful woman who comes to do homage to Jesus in the home of a Pharisee. Jesus says, "So I tell you, her...
Love Never Fails
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Our first reading today is 1 Corinthians 13. This is often referred to as “The Love Chapter.” If you’ve ever been to a wedding, chances are you have heard this...
A Left Field Miracle
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In today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul talks about the Body of Christ (the Church) and how all have a gift to use in service of God's...
Under My Roof
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In today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 11, St. Paul recounts the Last Supper and the words of institution of the Eucharist. "This is my Body." But wait...Paul was not...
Denying Oneself
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus asks His disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter replies, "You are the Christ." After this conversation with the...
Your Cross is His 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...
Spiritual Athletes
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Love of sports is not a modern phenomenon. St. Paul gives us a great sports analogy in today’s first reading. In our Gospel reading, we’re back in Luke 6 for...