Daily Reflections
Going through the first reading today, I had a mental flashback to when I was growing up as a young boy in a family of 7 children. I remember the usual daily “moral instructions” from our parents then. My dad, a retired elementary school teacher, would often use this phrase,…
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Today’s Responsorial Psalm can be confusing, even for a believer. Imagine what the non-believer or seeker might think when reading, “Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of Heaven is theirs!” Maybe their inner dialogue goes something like this, “well, I was in for inheriting a kingdom, but the poverty…
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I have been married for 27 ½ years, and throughout, I have marveled at my husband’s ability to be grateful for everything, literally everything! I’ll admit, I even found it rather annoying at times. When I would be all caught up in some temporal concern, he’d remind me that God…
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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). MARY, A TRUE DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. This feast grew in popularity in the 12th Century, even…
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The tragedy of Calvary and the Cross of Christ has remained my spiritual source/power. The meaning that I could make in light of my religious/spiritual development, cultural understanding, and family dynamics is that God is at the center of my life encounters from birth to this physical world, to my…
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Today we meditate on one of the most amazing passages of the Gospel. It reminds us of the origin of the prayer we say during Mass. Before communion, at the invitation of the priest saying: “Behold the Lamb of God….” we reply: “Lord I am not worthy that you should…
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Let Me Show You My Faith “Go in peace, keep warm, eat well,” (James 2:16). These words can save or condemn a person. Why? Because the speaker confesses the awareness of a need. If the words are spoken after the speaker sincerely offered or provided assistance, and the motivating factor…
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I have been reflecting on Mercy for the past several months. Here I am again, after reading the first reading for today, faced with the words “mercifully treated.” St. Paul was speaking about himself, explaining how Jesus was so merciful to him. Jesus came to save sinners and was so…
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“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, and not perceive the log that is in your own eye?”—Luke 6:41 Have you ever noticed that most of us at home tend to stay in the room with the most sunlight? Certainly, I have always gravitated…
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During the 17th century CE, Cartagena, Columbia was one of the major centers of African slavery in the Spanish colonies. One thousand slaves a month survived the voyage to land in the slave pens and be sold, to help extract the gold of the New World. For forty years, between…
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