God of the Impossible
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 9, the disciples of Jesus argue about who among them is the greatest. Jesus brings a child into their midst and says, “Whoever...
Listening
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Today’s Gospel reading is the story of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16. Lazarus was a poor beggar “who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps...
Understanding
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus tells the people, "Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men."...
Who Do You Say?
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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...
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...
Proclaiming the Good News
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Ezra knew that he and his people were completely undeserving of God’s mercy. And yet they received it. He brings these two things to light beautifully in today’s first reading....
The Family of Jesus
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Can you imagine tax dollars being used to build a church? That idea seems far fetched to Americans, but that’s part of what we see in today’s first reading from...
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...
The Best Policy
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 16, Jesus tells a story about a dishonest steward. He then talks about being trustworthy in matters great and small. Jesus said, “The person who...
He Got the Right Guy
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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...
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...
The Relationship Between Forgiveness and Love
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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...
The Pillar and Foundation of Truth
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In our first reading today from 1 Timothy 3, St. Paul mentions “the pillar and foundation of truth.” Care to take a guess at what St. Paul said that was?...
Bishops and Deacons (and Priests), Oh My!
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Today's Gospel story is one of gratuitous love. Jesus happens upon a man's funeral. He was the only son of a widow. Jesus, moved with pity for the mother, brings...
One Mediator
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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...
Hitting Bottom
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The Gospel reading today from Luke 15 is probably a very familiar story – the prodigal son. (Note: since this is part of the longer version of the Gospel today,...
The Cross of Christ
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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...
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...
Put On
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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...
Put Them to Death
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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...
Empty, Seductive Philosophies
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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...
The Greatest Good
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There may be confusion about something St. Paul says in today’s first reading from Colossians. “…in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ...
How to Properly Hate Your Family
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus tells a large crowd, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and...
Grounded and Stable
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In today's first reading from Colossians 1, St. Paul reminds his readers about their conversions. "You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds; God has now...
Christ is All
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Today's first reading from Colossians 1 contains St. Paul's thoughts on Christology. I think it can be summed up in three short words: Christ is all. The word "all" is...
Following Jesus' Commands
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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...
Healing and Service
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For the first reading today, we begin St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians. As always, St. Paul starts with a blessing and a compliment. In our Gospel reading from Luke...
Children of Light
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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...
Labor Day
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Happy Labor Day! Because of the holiday in the US today, I'd like to reflect on our labor. In these difficult times, many people are worried. Those who are unemployed are...
Seeking the Lowest Place
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 14, Jesus is eating at the home of a leading Pharisee. He tells a parable about a guy who, when invited to a...
Growing Our Faith
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Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 25 is known as the parable of the talents. Jesus tells the story of a man who goes on a journey and gives talents to...
Our "Faith Lamps"
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Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 25 can be a tricky one. Jesus tells His disciples a parable, the message of which He sums up at the end. “Therefore, stay awake,...
Courage to the End
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Today the Church celebrates the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. This feast used to be known as the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. Personally, I like the Passion...
A Pretender
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St. Paul led by example. He alludes to that in our first reading today from 1 Thessalonians 2. While he could have insisted that the believers take care of his...
How We Speak
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In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus has some more not-so-nice things to say to the scribes and Pharisees. He refers to them as hypocrites, blind guides and blind Pharisees. All this...
Words that Hurt to Heal
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There's a popular notion that Jesus was a very nice man. He would never do or say anything that would hurt anyone; therefore, we should never do or say anything...
Depart From Me, You Evildoers!
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Do works play a part in salvation? Some would say no, you simply have to profess faith in Jesus. But the words of Jesus tell a different story. In today's...
Bartholomew
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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...
Ruth's Example
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The Book of Ruth is one of the shorter books in the Bible. In today’s first reading, we meet Ruth. Ruth was King David’s great-grandmother. But the story of how...
Being Properly Dressed
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Today’s first reading from Judges 11 may be hard for us to understand, and even harder for us to accept. Jephthah makes a vow to the Lord. If the Lord...
Time to Seize the Day!
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There are plenty of shifty characters in the Scriptures. We see one of them today in the person of Abimelech, in our first reading from Judges 9. He killed all...
What's Possible
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In the first reading today, we meet Gideon. Be honest now…you thought he was just a guy who dropped Bibles off in hotel rooms, right? Actually, Gideon is one of...
A Dangerous Question
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In the first reading from Judges 2, we see that the people turned away from God. The consequences were not pleasant. “[God] allowed them to fall into the power of...
Turn Up the Heat!
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I just love the Gospel reading for today from Luke 12. Jesus explains to the disciples that He has come not to establish peace, but division. He goes on to...
We Will Serve the LORD
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We have a very short Gospel reading today. But as always, it is packed. Jesus says, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom...
Marriage From the Beginning
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Every now and again a history lesson is in order. In today's first reading from Joshua 24, Joshua gives that lesson to the children of Israel. In fact, Holy Mass...
The Assumption of Mary
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Don’t forget, it is a Holy Day of Obligation. This is one of those days that...
On Binding and Loosing and Praying
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Today we read about the death of Moses. It has been fascinating reading about his life and times. As I’ve mentioned many times, no on had a relationship with God...
God Marches With You
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We are in a constant spiritual battle. If we fail to recognize this, we do so at our own peril. But we never have to go it alone. In today's...
You're Free to Give
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In today's first reading from Deuteronomy 10, Moses reminds the people that they were chosen by God and that they were to serve him. In the Gospel reading from Matthew...