Joy and Fear
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Happy Easter Monday! I hope your Easter was filled with blessings. For the next fifty days, our first reading will be from Acts of the Apostles. Today we hear part...
He is Risen!
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He is risen! Alleluia! (Boy, it seems like a long time since we’ver heard that word!) Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. This is the greatest...
Newly Minted Catholics
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Another long Lenten journey has come to a close. Tonight we celebrate the great Easter Vigil. Thousands of people will be welcomed into the Catholic Church around America. Wow! What an...
You Can't Get to the Resurrection...
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Good Friday. Today is the only day of the year when there is no Mass. Though there is no Mass, I’m sure that your parish will be having at least...
Priesthood and Eucharist
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Lent is over today. Now, that doesn’t mean that you stop with your Lenten penances and practices. Those should continue into Saturday evening. Tonight we begin the Sacred Triduum. It...
Turning on Jesus
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When we think of the brutality that Jesus suffered for us, we can see that this was all foretold in today’s first reading from Isaiah 50. “I gave my back...
A Rock and a Stumbling Block
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It's Tuesday of Holy Week. Today's first reading is the Second oracle of the Servant of the Lord from Isaiah 49. In the Gospel reading, we focus on Peter from...
Dungeons and Prisons
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Today is Monday of Holy Week. For the next few days, our first readings will be from Isaiah, the prophesies of the Servant of the Lord. We’ll talk about today’s...
Recalling Christ's Passion
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Today is one of the most well-attended Mass days of the year. Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday. Outside of Christmas and Easter, more people come to Palm Sunday Mass than...
Dying for All the People
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In today's first reading from Ezekiel 37, the LORD speaks of a time of reunification and healing. "There shall be one prince for them all. Never again shall they be...
Making Yourself God
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Jeremiah was suffering the fate of a prophet; the people had turned against him. But he knew that divine recompense would come from God. In today's Gospel reading from John...
Living Up to the Covenant
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There are only a very few instances of God changing someone’s name in the Scriptures. Today we see the first of these in Genesis 17. Abram gets a new name....
Set Free
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In today’s first reading from Daniel 3, we see the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego getting thrown into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had faith. Faith enough...
Room for the Serpent
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Today’s first reading from Numbers 21 tells us the story of God sending saraph serpents among the people of Israel, who had become terrible whiners. God then commands Moses to...
The Lord is My Shepherd
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Today's first reading from Daniel 13 is the story of a woman who was falsely accused of adultery and was about to be put to death. It reads like a...
Casting Stones
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In today’s Gospel passage from John 8, we read the story of the woman caught in adultery. The scribes and Pharisees bring the woman before Jesus, telling Him that the...
From the Wrong Side of the Tracks
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The people were plotting to kill Jeremiah. He was unaware of these plans. After the LORD reveals this to him, Jeremiah cries out for vengeance. “Let me witness the vengeance...
Psalm 34
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An eerie first reading today from Wisdom 2. It describes the things that Jesus went through to a tee. Be sure to read it and see if you don’t shake...
The Power of Intercessory Prayer
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Can you change God's mind? We'll see in a moment. In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus talks about accepting praise from people, but not seeking "the praise that...
Seeking to Do God's Will
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“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?” This is a question we see in our first reading today from Isaiah 49. It...
God's Perfect Timing
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Today's Gospel reading from John 5 can be seen as an example of God's perfect timing. A man was waiting at the pool of Bethesda to get in when the...
Your Bright Future
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In today's Gospel reading from John 4, we read about the second sign that Jesus performed in Galilee. Do you know what that was? Read it and find out! In...
The Un-Prodigal Son
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Today's Gospel reading from Luke 15 is probably a familiar story - we call it The Prodigal Son. And rightly so. But it is really a story of two sons...
The Danger of Pride
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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...
Will You Imitate Mary?
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation. In the first reading we see that famous prophecy from Isaiah…”the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall...
Banished Words
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 11 Jesus is accused by some people of driving out demons by the prince of demons. Jesus talks about what a ridiculous notion...
Passing On the Faith
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The observance of God’s laws was of paramount importance to the Israelite people. God gave his laws to Moses, who taught them to and enjoined them on the people. More...
Eat That Elephant!
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Today’s first reading from Daniel 3 contains one of the most beautiful and heartfelt prayers in all of Scripture. It is the prayer of Azariah, while he was in the...
Willing to Do the Ridiculous
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Our first reading today is from 2 Kings 5. It is a story about a man named Naaman. Naaman was not a child of Israel. He was a commander in...
You Will Perish
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Today and for the next few Sundays in Lent, the readings at the Mass you attend may be different from the readings I will reflect on. The reason is that...
Protector, Provider, Teacher
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph. In our first reading from 2 Samuel, God says that his Son would spring from the line of David. “I will...
Envy
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Today’s readings feature two stories of envy, one real, the other a parable. In the first reading from Genesis 27 we see the story of Joseph. His father, Israel “loved...
Where is Your Trust?
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The theme of today's readings is really trust. So much is said in the opening verses of today’s first reading from Jeremiah 17. “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the...
Are You Still In?
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I’m sure you’ve heard the old expression “No good deed goes unpunished.” Ain’t it the truth? Just take a look at the Scriptures. The prophets of old were simply doing...
Living What You Profess
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Have you ever messed up and wanted to make things right? In today’s first reading, we hear that very kind of language. Only the one who wants to set things...
The Measure
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Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 6 is one of the most difficult in all of Scripture. Not difficult to understand; it is quite simple, really – but difficult to live...
It is Good
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For the Second Sunday of Lent, we read the story of the Transfiguration from Luke 9. Upon seeing Jesus in His glory, along with Moses and Elijah, Peter says, “Master,...
Practice Makes Perfect
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In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus gives us some of His most difficult teachings. “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute...
Life's Not Fair
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In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus teaches about the danger of anger and bearing a grudge. It's not pretty. In the first reading from Ezekiel 18, the people...
Just Ask!
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The theme of today’s readings is asking. The first reading is from the Book of Esther. The story of Esther is a wonderful story and I highly encourage you to...
An Unpopular Sign
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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. We read more of the...
The Lost Verse of Scripture
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Today's first reading has had an enormous impact on my life and ministry. It's what I base my "Seeds of Grace" idea on. When you plant seeds of grace, they...
Lord, When Did We See You...?
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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...
The Temptations of the Devil
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Today is the First Sunday of Lent. Our Gospel reading is from Luke 4. St. Luke recounts the forty days that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert before He began...
Admitting We Need Help
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In the Gospel reading today from Matthew 9, we read about the call of Matthew. Matthew (his Jewish name was Levi) was a tax collector. They were hated by the...
The Stomach and the Heart
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We often think of fasting as abstaining from food. Make no mistake about it, this is a good thing – IF we are doing it with the right intentions for...
Smoking or Non-Smoking?
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In our first reading today from Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people what they must do in order to enter the promised land. Obey the commandments of the Lord, love Him,...
Back to the Basics
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Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of another journey through Lent. Lent lasts for 40 days. If you count the days from today to Easter, you’ll note that there are...
Everyone's Favorite Station
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In our Gospel reading today from Mark 10, Jesus reads between the lines and answers a question that Peter didn’t even ask. This all happens right after Jesus encountered the...
Faith in the Possible
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For our first reading today, we begin the first letter of St. Peter. Today we hear St. Peter reminding us that we will “suffer through various trials.” But this suffering...