An Encounter with Jesus
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The character in today’s Gospel passage from Luke 19 is a favorite of kids the world over. Every time I read this story, I can hear the little song in...
Purgatory and All Souls' Day
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Today we celebrate the Feast of All Souls. It is the day we remember all the souls in Purgatory. Purgatory can be a controversial topic, and hard to explain. So,...
All Holy Men and Women, Pray for Us!
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Today is the Solemnity of All Saints. It is a Holy Day of Obligation, so make sure and get to Mass today. I have a long standing tradition on my...
What Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ?
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St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is such great reading. Today we hear St. Paul asking the question, “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” He then gives...
Romans 8:28
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It is not easy to find or fit through the narrow gate. People generally choose the path of least resistance. That would be the wide gate. Jesus Christ is the...
The Glorious Freedom of the Children of God
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We hear a couple of short parables in the Gospel reading today from Luke 13. Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and yeast. Do you remember...
Hopeless Cause? Call on St. Jude
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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, and Luke 6:12-16, which is the...
Falling Into the Sin 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...
No Condemnation
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In the first reading today from Romans 8, St. Paul writes, "Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Sounds great, right? But what does this...
Everyone Talks About the Weather...
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We should all relate to part of today's first reading from Romans 7. St. Paul writes, "The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I...
Holy Bodies
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In the first reading today from Romans 6, St. Paul talks about presenting our bodies for sanctification. We’ll talk more on that in a moment. In the Gospel passage from...
Great Expectations
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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...
A Minute in the Church: Back to the Basics
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A Minute in the Church: Back to the Basics is now available at www.GusLloyd.com! This is the fifth book in the A Minute in the Church series. It covers some...
Overflowing Grace
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In today’s first reading from Romans 5, St. Paul talks about sin and grace. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus tells his...
You Can't Take It With You
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St. Paul used Abraham as an example of faith. We would do well to imitate Abraham. Here’s what St. Paul says in today’s first reading from Romans 4: “Abraham did...
Will He Find Faith?
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a widow who continues to bother an unjust judge for a decision. The unjust judge renders a just...
Denial Through Silence
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In our first reading today from Romans 4, St. Paul continues his thoughts about the importance of faith. He speaks of faith as a gift. It is a gift of...
Feast of St. 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...
Justified by Faith
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In the Gospel reading today from Luke 11, Jesus continues to pronounce woes on the scholars of the law. These are some pretty scathing remarks. “Woe to you, scholars of...
Our Un-PC Savior
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God is a just judge. St. Paul makes this very clear in today’s first reading from Romans 2. Here’s how he puts it: “By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you...
I am Not 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...
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...
One Gave Thanks
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In the Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus heals ten lepers. Of the ten healed, only one bothered to come back and give thanks to Jesus. To add insult to...
The Blessing of 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...
Armed Guards
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Today's first reading from the Book of the Prophet Joel sounds very Lenten. In fact, part of this reading pops up in Lent. "Proclaim a fast, call an assembly...cry to...
Good Gifts
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Today's Gospel reading from Luke 11 contains a famous saying of Jesus that most folks know: "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find;...
The Good Lord Giveth...
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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. In our first reading we continue the story of...
When We Repent
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Today's Gospel reading is the familiar story of Mary and Martha, where Jesus says, "Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." Mary chose...
A Persistent 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...
Just Doing Our Jobs
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus talks about servants who do what they are obliged to do. Jesus said, “When you have done all you have been commanded,...
Reason for Rejoicing
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, the seventy-two disciples return to Jesus rejoicing. They say, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus answers...
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...
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,...
Guardian Angel Prayers
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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...
Bring on the Fire!
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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...
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...