Daily Reflections
Today’s reflection concerns a Christian response when expected affirmation isn’t forthcoming. I draw from the Blessed Lord’s rejection by his relatives in Nazareth and highlight perseverance (Hebrew 12:4-7, 11-14). Finally, we learn that even when we don’t receive the affirmation we think we deserve, the Lord uses everything to train…
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Today in the Gospel, Jesus raises a dead girl and heals a sick woman. The dead girl was the daughter of a synagogue official named Jairus while the woman has been hemorrhaging for 12 years. Children and women during the time of Jesus were non-entities. They were second-class citizens with…
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Confronting Evil One of my favorite words and what it implies is “metanoia.” The Oxford dictionary defines metanoia as, “change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion.” Today’s Gospel describes a dramatic metanoia initiated by Jesus in the story of the Gerasene demoniac; “What have you…
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The crowds surge around him and Jesus looks at them and glances upward as He walks up the mountainside. He sits down. We watch and listen, held in a time of peace and beauty. What do I see, what do I hear? I want to hold every detail, every word…
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This evening as I caught the 45th stink bug and deposited it outside (there are consequences for crushing stink bugs), I thought of the many little obstacles to holiness that we can encounter. Stink bugs are an invasive species which has made itself at home in the Pacific Northwest. They…
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We live in an instant world. All of us feel the pressures, but most of the time we enjoy the pleasures of the instant and the immediate. Through computing and Internet access, we get what we need in the virtual world in seconds. News networks bring information immediately from everywhere…
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In this day and age, it is sometimes difficult to stand up and acknowledge being a Christian. It seems radical forces have taken over the culture, and distorted reality. When one of good moral standing speaks the truth, it is often shouted down or ridiculed, causing one to be “canceled”.…
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One of the factors responsible for most acts of religious intolerance is the presumed knowledge of God. Most religious people are victims of this presumption. In moments of real encounter with God, one comes to realize how ignorant one was. As the Church celebrates the conversion of the Apostle Paul…
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It’s a month after Christmas. All the lights and decorations are taken down and put away, or perhaps in the process of being put away. Or, if you come from a family like mine, even if everything isn’t put away yet, the intention is there! It’s back to ordinary time,…
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The Scribes My dear friends, the gospel today reflects not only the challenges of Jesus in his days in reaching out to people but also in our contemporary age and time. The Scribes were the major critics of Christ, and as such, they always attacked him to silence him. They…
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