Category: Daily Reflections

“Whoever fulfills and teaches these commandments shall be great in the kingdom of God.” —Matthew 5:19 The Lord in the Old Covenant commanded His people to obey 613 commandments. Of course, they were unable to obey them. In the New Covenant, the Lord has much higher standards. We must obey not only the smallest part of the letter of the Law (see Mt 5:18) but also its spirit (2 Cor 3:6). We must obey not only the Ten Commandments but also the Beatitudes. Moreover, Jesus forbids some acts which were previously allowed, such as anger, divorce, swearing oaths, retaliation, and...

“Should you not have dealt mercifully with your fellow servant, as I dealt with you?” —Matthew 18:33 Twenty years ago, on the first Sunday of Lent, March 12, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II did something shocking. He asked for forgiveness of the sins committed by Catholics throughout the centuries. This event was prepared for by a study of the International Theological Commission. In this study, the Commission stated: “In the entire history of the Church there are no precedents for requests for forgiveness by the Magisterium for past wrongs” (1:1). Pope St. John Paul II continued this unprecedented, radical...

“Naaman went away angry.” —2 Kings 5:11 “At these words the whole audience in the synagogue was filled with indignation.” —Luke 4:28 In today’s first reading and Gospel passage, the word of prophecy was rejected, as it was met with anger and pride. Both Naaman and the people of Nazareth were right on the brink of being transformed and healed. However, being close wasn’t sufficient. The pride and anger of the people of Nazareth prevented them from receiving a great blessing from the Lord. If not for his humble servants, Naaman likewise would have walked away from a miracle when...

“Who is there like You, the God Who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of His inheritance?” —Micah 7:18 Guilt is the spiritual counterpart to physical pain. Both pain and guilt cry out to be stopped as soon as possible. The only good way to stop guilt is to repent and believe that the Lord treads underfoot our guilt, casts “into the depths of the sea all our sins” (Mi 7:19), and removes our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps 103:12). If we don’t go on a “guilt trip” to the...

“They took him and threw him into the cistern, which was empty and dry. Then they sat down to their meal.” —Genesis 37:24-25 The hardness of the human heart is fully portrayed in today’s readings. The brothers of Joseph moved quickly and easily from cold-blooded plotting of their brother’s death, to throwing him in the cistern to die, to sitting down to eat their dinner. It’s no different today, as an abortionist and his attendants can murder multiple babies in a day’s work, and then head out to a restaurant to enjoy their supper. Sadly, this even happens in the...