You Know That I Love You
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In the first reading today from Acts 25, Paul is in Caesarea awaiting trial. He is asked if he wants to go to Jerusalem to have his case heard. Paul...
Courage
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In today's first reading from Acts 22 and 23, Paul is about to be ripped to shreds during a dispute (that he started) between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The...
You Do Not Belong to the World
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In the Gospel reading today from John 17, Jesus raises his eyes to heaven and prays to the Father. He says, “I gave them your word, and the world hated...
What's Really Important
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Sometimes we can get our priorities a bit out of whack, wouldn’t you say? I’m sure there was a time in St. Paul’s life when that was true. But in...
Conquering the World
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In today’s first reading from Acts, Paul runs into a group of believers who have not yet received the Holy Spirit. In fact, they hadn’t even heard of a Holy...
Jesus' Unity Prayer
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We call the “Our Father” The Lord’s Prayer. And rightly so, since it is the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. But down through the ages, theologians have also...
Learning the Way of God
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In today's first reading from Acts 18, we are introduced to Apollos, "an eloquent speaker...he was an authority on the Scriptures." Apollos was a great preacher, but he didn't know...
A Lesson from Elizabeth
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Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remember that time when Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The first reading can be taken...
The Joy of the Ascension
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The Ascension may be the most under-celebrated feast of the Church year. But the Ascension is vital to our faith. Why? Well, first let me quote Pope Benedict XVI. He...
Groping for God
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St. Paul must have been one of the greatest public speakers of all time. Today in our first reading from Acts 17, we see Paul giving one of his great...
Suicide Interrupted
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I'm going to talk about a very touchy subject in today's reflection: suicide. The reason is that we see a man about to commit suicide in our first reading from...
A Memorial Day Reflection
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A bit of a deviation from our normal format today. I’ve still got the link for today’s readings at the bottom of this post. And, of course, I encourage you...
Peace I Leave with You
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I’m sure you’ve found that, even when you’re walking closely with Christ, you undergo hardships. It is part of the human condition, and just because we profess faith in Christ...
Haters Gonna Hate
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More action and adventure today in the first reading from Acts 16. Paul has a vision in which a Macedonian says to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”...
No Greater Love
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In the first reading today from Acts 15, the Apostles and presbyters choose Barsabbas and Silas to travel with Paul and Barnabas to take a message clarifying the position of...
Jesus. Others. You.
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In today’s first reading from Acts 15, we see that the early Church was hierarchical. There was a dispute about whether the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the...
The Nick of Sin
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In our first reading today from Acts 15, we see more controversy in the early Church about whether or not new believers needed to be circumcised. To settle the matter,...
Hardships and Peace
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We see in Acts today the further adventures of Paul and Barnabas. These guys never had a dull moment! They went around to the different cities saying, “It is necessary...
American Idols
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Paul and Barnabas run into a very interesting situation in today's first reading from Acts 14. After facilitating a healing for a man, the crowds began to worship them as...
A New Commandment
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In the Gospel reading today from John 13, Judas has just left the upper room. Jesus says to the Eleven, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As...
You Still Do Not Know Me?
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In today's Gospel reading from John 14, Philip has a request for Jesus. "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus' reply must have stung...
Do Not Let Your Hearts be Troubled
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In the first reading from Acts 13 today, Paul continues his message of salvation through Jesus in the temple at Antioch. In the Gospel reading today, we’re in John 14,...
A Word of Exhortation
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Paul is in the synagogue in Antioch in today’s first reading. The synagogue officials ask if anyone has a word of exhortation for the people. Paul accepts the invitation. In the...
Set Apart
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In our first reading today from Acts, we see Barnabas and Saul being “set apart” by the Holy Spirit and sent out to proclaim the Word of God. In the...
The Bold Claim of the Catholic Church
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Matthias. The two readings are ones that we have already had during the Easter season. The Gospel is from John 15, where...
Hindering God
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In today’s Gospel reading from John 10, we hear Jesus say, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” What is the abundant life about...
Hearing the Shepherd's Voice
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In today’s Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Many of us today, if not the vast majority,...
You Have the Words of Eternal Life
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In the first reading today from Acts 9, we see a blossoming Church. It is growing rapidly, even with the great persecution she was suffering. Peter raises a woman from...
Literally, Literally
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Today’s first reading from Acts 9 tells us about the conversion of St. Paul. It’s a story that is always worth reading and reflecting on. Today I want to reflect on...
The New Manna
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In today's first reading from Acts 8, we see the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The Holy Spirit sent Philip to interpret the Scriptures for this man, and...
Never Hunger Again
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In today's first reading from Acts 8, we read about Saul persecuting the Church. In the Gospel from John 6, we continue in the Bread of Life discourse. Jesus said,...
Give Us This Bread Always
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In today's first reading, we read about the martyrdom of St. Stephen. Our Gospel reading continues in John 6 with what is known as the Bread of Life discourse. This...
Will Work for Food
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Today in Acts 6, we begin reading about St. Stephen. This was a very bold guy who was about to find himself in some real trouble. But even in the...
The Primacy of Peter
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The second half of today’s Gospel reading from John 21 is, I think, one of the the most moving scenes in the New Testament. After the resurrection, Jesus and Simon...
The Deacon
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In today’s first reading from Acts 6, we read about the ordination of our first deacons. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus...
Show Them the Father
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Today is the Feast of Saints Philip and James. Philip and James were two of the Apostles. The first reading today is from 1 Corinthians 15, where St. Paul mentions...
Obedience
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There is a theme today in the readings: obedience. We hear Peter and the Apostles talk about it in the first reading from Acts 5. And in the Gospel reading...
The Gospel in a Nutshell
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In today’s first reading from Acts 5, we see the first of numerous jail breaks in the Acts of the Apostles. Seems that the authorities wanted to keep the Apostles...
A Communist Church?
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Today's Gospel reading is a continuation of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus from John 3. Our first reading is from Acts 4."The community of believers was of one heart...
Born Again Catholics
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Another awesome first reading today from Acts 4. After Peter and John were released, the disciples all got together and prayed, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and...
Divine Mercy
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Today, the second Sunday of Easter, is Divine Mercy Sunday. So, rather than do a reflection on the daily Scriptures, I thought we could take just a moment to reflect...
Impossible for Us Not to Speak
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In today's first reading from Acts 4, Peter and John are before the Sanhedrin after healing the crippled man in the temple. The elders have them leave the room as...
A Fishing Lesson
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In today's Gospel reading from John 21, Jesus gives the disciples a fishing lesson. Well, maybe not so much a fishing lesson as a lesson in obedience. Simon and Andrew,...
People of the Word
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Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies. Again and again he said, “So that the Scriptures may be fulfilled…” In today’s first reading from Acts 3, St. Peter...
Give What You Have
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Another great story from Acts 3 for our first reading today. We’ll talk about that in a moment. The Gospel reading from Luke 24 is one of the most interesting...
He Calls You by Name
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In today’s first reading from Acts 2, we hear more of what happened on the day of Pentecost. Peter tells the people, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,...
The Tomb Test
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Happy Easter Monday! Liturgically, the Easter season will be around for quite some time. How appropriate! We have forty days of Lent, but fifty days of Easter. So up until...
Celebrating the Resurrection
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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...
Holy Saturday
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Holy Saturday is an interesting day. It reminds me of waiting in the doctor’s office waiting room after you have had some tests run. You’re kind of in a state...
Were You There?
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Today is the one day of the year when there is no Mass celebrated. The commemoration of Good Friday is the most solemn day of the year. The readings for...