Category: Daily Reflections

“The man who sins belongs to the devil.” –1 John 3:8 Mass Readings: January 4 First: 1 John 3:7-10; Resp: Psalm 98:1,7-9; Gospel: John 1:35-42 Listen to the Mass Readings Sin is: rebellion against God, rejecting Jesus, Who loves us so much that He died for us, being deceived, and therefore being manipulated and degraded, slavery and an abuse of freedom, often enjoyable for a while, deadly, pride, denying reality, belonging “to the devil, because the devil is a sinner from the beginning” (1 Jn 3:8), breaking our baptismal covenant, hurting ourselves and others, acting as the devil’s child (see...

“Everyone who has this hope based on Him keeps himself pure, as [Jesus] is pure.” –1 John 3:3 Mass Readings: January 3 First: Philippians 2:5-11;Resp: Psalm 113:1-8;Gospel: Matthew 1:18-23 Listen to the Mass Readings The Christmas season is a time when a greater number of people commit suicide. Many others are more discouraged than usual because of family breakdowns that intensify at Christmas. At the very time the Hope of the World has come to us at Christmas, greater numbers of people are “without hope…in the world” (Eph 2:12). Some difficult situations have persisted for so long that it’s hard...

“Tell us who you are.” –John 1:22 God asks us two questions, “Who is the liar?” (1 Jn 2:22) and “Who are you?” (Jn 1:19) The two questions often go together. Sometimes the liars are us because we lie about who we are. We are tempted to give the impression we’re the Messiah and the center of attraction. However, that’s a false impression and a lie. We are also tempted to answer the question, “Who are you?” with “what we do.” When someone asks, “Who are you?”, we answer, “I worked there” or “I do this.” These too are lies....

“God has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of His Son Which cries out ‘Abba!’ (‘Father!’)” –Galatians 4:6 “Mary” Christmas and Happy New Year! The Holy Spirit came to Mary, and she conceived Jesus (Lk 1:35). The Spirit cried out in her heart “Abba” (Gal 4:6; Rm 8:15). Mary became not only the mother of God but also the daughter of God the Father. When Mary saw Jesus lying in the manger, nursing at her breasts, saying His first words, taking His first steps, playing games, learning to be a carpenter from Joseph, crying, laughing, or saying His prayers,...

“He came to the temple now, inspired by the Spirit, and when the parents brought in the Child Jesus to perform for Him the customary ritual of the law, he took Him in his arms and blessed God.” –Luke 2:27-28 Some orthodox Jews have the custom of using the birth of a baby boy as an occasion to discourse on the coming of the Messiah. An older relative traditionally starts the conversation with the question: “Could this baby be the Messiah?” Then various relatives wax eloquently about the coming and the glories of the Messiah. Some people may have thought...