Daily Reflections
It was not until I was forced to read aloud the account of the Fall to my class of first reconciliation students that I realized the Father’s sorrow. He calls for Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) With His broken heart He asks, “What is this you have…
Read More
Today’s readings offer us an abundance of blessings. In the First Reading, we are given the assurance that when we trust in the Lord, we are truly blessed: “like a tree planted beside the waters,” we will be nurtured and sustained. The Responsorial Psalm echoes this and explains that when…
Read More
Dear brothers and sisters, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). The Sin of Disobedience Sin makes the sinner ashamed and afraid. Of course, the common slogan is “the guilty are afraid.” The sin of Adam and Eve was…
Read More
Missionaries to the Slavs: Saints Cyril and Methodius were brothers born in 9th-century Thessalonica, in what was then the Byzantine Roman Empire (modern-day Greece). They became Christian missionaries among the Slavic peoples of Moravia and Pannonia (present-day Czech Republic and Hungary). Through their work, they significantly influenced the cultural and…
Read More
This second chapter of the Book of Genesis offers us a more intimate and detailed account of creation than the first. Unlike the grand cosmic vision of Genesis 1, Genesis 2 paints a picture of a loving God who forms man from the dust and breathes life into him. At…
Read More
But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” Mk 7:20-23 “Thus, He declared all foods…
Read More
Today, we commemorate the optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes. This day also holds profound significance as the 33rd World Day of the Sick. This global event draws pilgrims from all corners of the world to the French town of Lourdes. There, they seek Mary’s intercession for…
Read More
The first words of the Bible unfurl the story of our world like the notes of a symphony: “In the beginning.” If we take time to listen, a singular picture of reality comes into view, unlike that of any other religion. These opening words in Genesis place us at that…
Read More
The Lake of Gennesaret, aka The Sea of Galilee, is also known by another name. It is believed that Herod Antipas in his efforts to ingratiate himself to the Roman Emperor, Tiberius Caesar, renamed it the Sea of Tiberius, after which it was forbidden to call the lake by any…
Read More
The last segment of today’s gospel (Mark 6, 30-34; 34,) reads: “his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” The first reading (Hebrews 13, 15-17, 20-21), already opens up the themes where Jesus is…
Read More