Daily Reflections
In today’s first reading, Prophet Ezekiel exhorts us to stay on the straight and narrow path, following the Lord. Even if we fail and fall into temptation and sin, we can rise up, beg for forgiveness through the sacrament of Reconciliation, and be in God’s graces again. The thought of…
Read More
A friend narrated how he once rushed a seriously sick man to a nearby general hospital, but upon reaching the hospital he found that the doors were securely closed and sealed. The reason was that the hospital staff was on strike. The sick man would have died if not that…
Read More
We see in today’s first reading that God was ready to destroy Ninevah because of the evil that was occurring there. Jonah was called by God to prophesy to the people that the city would be destroyed in 40 days. The people took this prophesy seriously and began to fast and…
Read More
My dear friends, as we have entered the Lenten season, we should have an increased emphasis on prayer and Penance. Today in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus sets the pace of prayer. He gives the guide, a pattern and a model of prayer to his disciples when he said to them:…
Read More
Ever since I was a kid, my number one goal in life was to be a Major League Baseball player. I wanted to play the game of baseball at its highest level, make millions of dollars and befriend other successful people. Funny thing is, the older I got, and the…
Read More
One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. The verse before the Gospel presents to us a reminder of the spirit of Lent, i.e., the word of God is spiritual food, but it cannot be “assimilated” without repentance (therefore,…
Read More
Tax collectors were reviled among the Jewish people in Jesus’ time, not only because they aided the financial efforts of the occupying Roman force, but also because they associated with ritually unclean Gentiles in doing so, and because some collected more than the law required. Despite that reputation, Levi—also known…
Read More
Last Sunday after the 10:30am Mass, someone walked up to me seeking clarifications to some questions, which I guess, have been troubling his mind after the announcement of the commencement of Lent. The question began, like many do, with the reminder for the mortification: “Excuse me, padre, for what I…
Read More
We each have infinite spiritual resources within us, just waiting to be applied to the needs of others. And, for this Lent, maybe it is not a grand financial contribution, or intense immersion experience (i.e. do not blow a trumpet before you, Matt. 6:2), but the simple ways in which we can offer our personal spiritual resources to meet the personal spiritual needs of those with whom we interact. Christ asks us for humility regarding these internal, less explicit, offerings.
Read More