Daily Reflections
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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Celebrating the Virgin Mary’s Birthday in Today’s Liturgy Today we celebrate Mary’s birth because of her role in God’s plan of salvation as the mother of Jesus. It is something worth noting that the readings of the celebration of Mary’s birth do not center on Mary. Rather, they present us…
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Faith is a gift which begins often in the most insignificant way. Most of us received our Christian faith from our parents/guardians. We grow up bearing the Christian identity as part of our lives, just as we often grow with the language we are born into. But at a stage…
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I remembered an impressive story told by Saji Anthony as I was reflecting on the gospel of today. I thought that it could help transmit the lesson from the encounter between Jesus on the one hand and the Pharisees, the scribes and a man with a withered hand on the…
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In today’s readings we see the theme of healing. It is a common theme, of course, in the gospels. A large percentage of the synoptic gospels describes healing miracles. In the 8th and 9th chapters of Matthew alone Jesus cures ten individuals, plus “many who were possessed by devils.” The…
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The first reading for today, from Colossians, set the tone for my reflection. It states that if we persevere in our faith, then we can be with God in Heaven someday. If we keep on the firm and stable ground of faith, and not venture into the swamp of evil…
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I first heard the term, Simulacrum, in a 2007 sermon by Fr. Cantalamessa quoting Jean Baudrillard. Baudrillard defined Simulacrum as a “copy that no longer has an original”. Baudrillard states that, “it has now become difficult to distinguish real events, such as the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Gulf War…
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In today’s Gospel, the highlight of the story might seem to be the great shoal of fish which Peter and his colleagues hauled in at the instruction of Jesus. By the end of the story, we begin to see the highlight is actually Jesus’ applying the miracle of catching fish…
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