Category: Daily Reflections

“Perhaps he was separated from you for a while for this reason: that you might possess him forever, no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially dear to me; and how much more to you, since now you will know him both as a man and in the Lord.” –Philemon 15-16 St. Paul tried to undermine the institution of slavery not by politics or legislation but by winning over individual Christians to the brotherhood and sisterhood of community life. By converting the slave Onesimus, Paul thereby made the slave a brother to the...

“This Spirit He lavished on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, that we might be justified by His grace.” ––Titus 3:6-7 Justification is a word often thrown around in today’s climate of denominationalism. Different Christian faith traditions have chimed in with competing definitions, causing confusion. Where can we find a brief and clear statement of the doctrine of justification? Notice what St. Paul wrote to his protégé, St. Titus: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us; not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us...

“The grace of God has appeared, offering salvation to all men. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.” –Titus 2:11-12 St. Paul gave St. Titus the responsibility of giving orders to the old and young men. Titus should “tell the older men that they must be temperate, serious-minded, and self-controlled; likewise sound in the faith, loving, and steadfast” (Ti 2:2). He should “tell the young men to keep themselves completely under control,” while he himself was to set a good example for them (Ti 2:6-7). Titus was not...

“Everyone, however, must be careful how he builds.” –1 Corinthians 3:10 As of 324 A.D., the Lateran Basilica in Rome is the Pope’s own Cathedral Church. This basilica is the mother church of the entire Christian world. Yet today’s Mass readings don’t simply talk of stone and mortar; they also talk about the Church not made by human hands, the temple of Jesus’ Body (Jn 2:21). Each day, this temple, the Church, is being built upon the sure foundation, Jesus the Christ (1 Cor 3:10-11), and the Rock of St. Peter upon which Christ has built His Church (Mt 16:16-18)....