Daily Reflections
God created man to watch over all creation. He created us in His image and likeness to care for everything in the world. And man has fulfilled this duty for generations. In response to our mandate to grow and multiply, to fill the earth and conquer it, we have mastered…
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The old rugged cross, an absurdity, a paradox, an ancient torturous path of contradiction! In Adam, humanity died but in Christ, humanity was reborn through the old rugged cross. Out of death comes life and life is swallowed by death to be reborn once again. Jesus loved his own who…
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It happened to us Catholics again. When St. Teresa of Calcutta died in 1997, her death got little attention in the secular media, which was still fixated on the death of Princess Diana which had occurred a couple of weeks prior. Now, when Pope Benedict XVI has died, there is…
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“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” This is a famous line from Psalms, often used in speeches, sermons and films, including Saving Private Ryan. This line struck me in today’s readings and will become my reflection. Sheep We’re the sheep, and Jesus is the shepherd.…
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Hospitality As I read through the reading from Hebrews, which was chock full of spiritual nuggets, the works of mercy seemed to resonate with me as I pondered the word “hospitality”. A whole industry is built up around that word which encompasses shelter (hotels), food and drink (restaurants), caring for…
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We rejoice in today’s feast of the presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple. In some places, it is still part of Catholic culture to “present” a newborn child in church. The priest receives the child from their parents and blesses the child. As with several things we…
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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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