Daily Reflections
In today’s challenging times, we often feel compelled to act. We want to do something, anything in response to very strange new social requirements. First, we might discuss the latest off-center news with friends who think as we do. Although, it is hardly a discussion. It is usually a quick…
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When the wine ran short… What an interesting beginning for Jesus’s first recorded miracle! So many of His recorded miracles involve healings—giving sight to those who are blind, hearing to those who are deaf, health to those who are ill, and even life to those who have died. But wine…
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Dear brothers and sisters, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Happy New Year to all of you, my readers! With you, I thank God, who led us through the last year (2021) and made it possible for us…
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This story of four men carrying their friend to Jesus is a powerful call to be helpful where we can. They were so determined to get him to Jesus that they opened a hole in the roof above Jesus when their way through the door was blocked because of the…
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Going through today’s 1st reading (1 Samuel 4:1-11) one would rightly ask: “why were the Israelites defeated by the Philistines even when they brought the Ark of the Lord to their battlefield”? And what can we learn from their experience with God? I think that the reading we are given…
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God’s Call When He Chooses, But Our Environment Matters Today’s first reading describes God’s call of a young Samuel as he faithfully ministered to the Priest Eli. At that time, when a young Levite ministered to priests in the sanctuary, nearby accommodations were made available for that purpose. So it…
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Have you ever cried out to the Lord in such desperation, quite literally on your knees because you are too weak to do otherwise? In today’s first reading Hannah is pouring out her troubles to the Lord in such a way that Eli thinks she is drunk. She is so…
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What happens in the silent spaces of a conversation? What happens in that moment between a call from the outside, and the listener’s response? Today’s Gospel reading, precisely in its simplicity, invites us into that mystery of when Christ called his first disciples, Peter and Andrew. Calling of the Apostles…
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“The people were filled with expectation.” Luke 3:15 Expectation! Anticipation! The dictionary definition of both words is “a belief that something is going to happen or that something should be a certain way.“ “Great Expectations” is a novel written by Charles Dickens in 1861. It is the story of an…
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John the Baptist as the Forerunner of Jesus Today’s Gospel (Jn 3:22-30) demonstrates the transition from the ministry of John the Baptist to that of Jesus. And offers some intriguing points about Jesus’ ministry and the role of John as the forerunner of Jesus. The encounter that took place between…
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