Daily Reflections
Dear brothers and sisters, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24) Missionary Zeal and Hardship In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:21-27), Paul and Barnabas continued their missionary activity of preaching the good news…
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Today we remember Saint Matthias, the 13th Apostle, the 13th Bishop, or the first replacement to the original twelve. After Judas killed himself after betraying Jesus, the remaining eleven apostles needed to rebuild the group to the original 12. The 11 Bishops met, prayed, and the Holy Spirit guided them…
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Today’s Gospel sounds like a farewell message Jesus addressed to his disciples. In John 13, while washing the feet of his disciples during the Jewish Passover feast, Jesus announced to them his future betrayal by one of them, his agony, his death, and his resurrection. Having probably noticed how sad…
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Slaves Who Become Friends Today’s Gospel appears simple at first blush, but it is not. When Jesus had washed the disciples ’feet, he said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If…
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Be the Light. It is the last thing I say to our children as they pile out of my huge van in the school carpool line each weekday morning. I do not exactly remember when I started saying, “Be the Light.” It seems like I have been saying it for…
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Friends, consider this question today: What does it mean to be a Christian? Would you be Christian today if you had grown up in a different country, or in a family of different religion? For most of my life, I assumed that because I was born to an Indian Hindu…
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One of my favorite Bible illustrations, when I was growing up, was a picture painted by Alford Usher Soord, British painter (1868-1915), of “The Parable of The Lost Sheep.” It depicts a lamb stranded halfway down a steep cliff with the shepherd hanging perilously over the edge. He risking his…
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The last two Sundays, and at Easter, we proclaimed the great Alleluia of the Lord’s resurrection. Today, the fourth Sunday of Eastertide, we continue to read the post-Easter message from the Acts of the Apostles and the Evangelists. The readings continue the testimony of the power of the resurrection and…
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A middle-aged man went to a photo studio for a photo shoot. He showed the pictures to his friend and said to him: “I took my picture for my funeral, now I look handsome before it is too late. When will you have yours?” He encouraged his friend to leave…
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The story of the conversion of Saul started with his bitter aggression against the nascent church, which has a humble but glorious beginning. The Pentecost experience soaked the disciples with the power of the Holy Spirit and gave them a courage they had never known before. They bore witness with…
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