A Divided Kingdom
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Jesus’ response talks about how a house divided...
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The readings today are for Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time. I’ve only recently become a rosary guy....
Perspective
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Most folks can pray the Our Father from memory. Today we hear Jesus teaching His disciples to pray from Luke's Gospel. The wording is a bit different from Matthew's Gospel,...
Actions and Consequences
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Today's Gospel reading from Luke 10 is the famous story of Mary and Martha. We're back in Jonah for our first reading. The story of Jonah has so many important...
Fleeing from God
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The story of the good Samaritan is the Gospel reading today from Luke 10. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. They couldn’t possibly have a decent bone in their...
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...
An Angel Just for You
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. In the optional first reading for the feast day from Exodus, we see God telling the people that he is...
The Signs and the Message
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Acknowledging our sinfulness is never easy. In the first reading today from Baruch 1, the exiles do just that. They come clean and admit that “we did not heed the...
Bringing Peace
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God's word can bring conviction, and conviction can lead to joy. I believe this is what we read about in today's first reading from Nehemiah 8. In the Gospel reading...
Spiritual Warfare
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael – the Archangels. We truly celebrate all of the Holy Angels. Our readings reflect that. We have two options...
An Attractive Faith
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Have you ever wanted God to rain down fire and brimstone on someone? Maybe someone who was perpetuating evil? Or maybe someone who did you wrong? If so, you're not...
God to the Rescue
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When God's people were in exile and the temple in Jerusalem was razed, they probably thought they would never see prosperous times again. It's easy, even for us, to fall...
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...
He Dwells 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...
The Payoff
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In today's first reading from Haggai 2, the LORD once again addresses the people regarding the building of the temple in Jerusalem. "And take courage, all you people of the...
Adding Value to God's House
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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...
Depend on God
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus sends out the Twelve and gives them their marching orders. “Take nothing for the journey.” Why would Jesus send out the Apostles...
No Hesitation
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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew. Matthew penned the first Gospel. His Jewish name was Levi. (We find this in the Gospels of Mark and Luke.) He is...
Closet Skeletons Revealed
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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...
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...
Path, Rock, Thorns, Rich Soil
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Today's Gospel is from Luke 8, the parable of the sower. A sower goes out to sow some seed and it falls in many different places. Some falls on the...
Our Attitude Toward Money
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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...
Great Sinners Make Great Christians
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St. Timothy must have been a fairly young man. Perhaps he was taking some heat for his lack of years. St. Paul exhorts him in today’s first reading from 1...
Stabat Mater
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. If you attend Mass today, you may sing or chant the Stabat Mater, a beautiful reflection of the sorrows...
Our Cross(es)
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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...
Mediation
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The Gospel reading today from Luke 7 features a centurion who says something that every Catholic will find very familiar. “Lord…I am not worthy to have you enter under my...
Satan?
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Today’s Gospel reading from Mark 8 is the story of Jesus asking the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter replies, "You are the Christ." Peter then rebukes...
Of Hearts and Fruit
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You probably think you’re a pretty big sinner. I know I do. I mean, I think I’m a pretty big sinner, not you! St. Paul knew that he was a...
Give Yourself a Break
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus talks about removing the beam from your own eye before addressing the splinter in your brother’s eye. For our first reading, we...
All for Jesus
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The Gospel of Christ can be tough to live by. I would say impossible without God’s grace. Take today’s Gospel reading, for example. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good...
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin 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....
An Empty, Seductive Philosophy
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St. Paul was very big on making sure that Christians stayed true to the faith. Here one way he put it today's first reading from Colossians 2: "See to it...
Happy Labor Day
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Happy Labor Day! I hope you are taking a day of R&R today. Instead of reflection on today's Scriptures, I'd like to offer a brief Labor Day meditation. In these difficult...
Be Opened!
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. Jesus takes the man aside, away from the crowds. "He put his finger into...
Lord of the Sabbath - And Everything Else
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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...
Change is Hard
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St. Paul's letter to the Colossians is filled with Christology. We begin to see that in our first reading today. In the Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus talks about...
Perhaps Jesus Knows
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There's a great story in today's Gospel reading from Luke 5. Jesus is teaching from Simon Peter's boat. After He finishes, He tells Simon to "Put out into deep water...
Don't Keep Jesus to Yourself
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Today we begin a trip through St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. As in many of his letters, St. Paul begins with an affirmation. He tells them of his prayers...
Not of the Darkness
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We hear more about Jesus’ return in our first reading today from 1 Thessalonians 5. More in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 4, we see Jesus casting...
Hero to Zero
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Eventually, this life is going to end. It may be through death, or it may be when the Lord returns. St. Paul covers this in our first reading from 1...
Actions Follow the Heart
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In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus talks about what makes a person unclean, or defiled. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus declares all foods clean. He says, “Nothing...
The Useless Servant
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In today's Gospel reading fro Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. In the story, a man goes off on a journey and gives three of his servants...
Called to Holiness
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In the Gospel reading today from Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable about ten virgins who are awaiting a wedding feast. Five of them were foolish, five of them were...
We Know He's Coming
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In the first reading today from 1 Thessalonians 3, St. Paul talks about praying “beyond measure…to remedy the deficiencies of your faith.” Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 24 starts with...
Calling Us Higher
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In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus continues His castigation of the scribes and Pharisees. I suspect these guys were none too happy with what they were hearing! In...
Duplicity
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Bartholomew. Bartholomew is listed among the Twelve. He was brought to Jesus by the Apostle Philip. Tradition tells us that he preached...
Turning from Idols
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Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23 busts the myth that Jesus was just (and always) a nice guy. Today He refers to the scribes and Pharisees as "hypocrites...blind guides...blind fools...blind...
Never, Ever Leave
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In the Gospel reading today, we finish up in John 6. After Jesus talked about eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood, many of the people were upset. They figured...
A Heartfelt Thank You
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Dear Friend in Christ, I cannot tell you how blessed Michelle and I feel by the outpouring of support and prayers for us in your COVID recovery. I'm happy to...
A Personal Update
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Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I want to give you a personal update as to why my reflections have been absent and will be for a few more days. I...