Category: Daily Reflections

BAPTISMAL “RICHNESS AND RESPONSIBILITY”

“In [Christ] we were chosen.” –Ephesians 1:11 Mass Readings: October 14 First: Ephesians 1:11-14; Resp: Psalm 33:1-2,4-5,12-13; Gospel: Luke 12:1-7 We Christians have been baptized into Jesus and, consequently, into His death and Resurrection (Rm 6:3-4). We have been baptized into Jesus and into His priesthood, prophetic ministry, and kingship (see 1 Pt 2:9). “In [Christ] we were chosen” (Eph 1:11; see also 1:13). In and with Him, we are heirs of God’s kingdom (Rm 8:17; see also Eph 1:14). Baptized into Christ, we inherit the grace to be holy, pure, and free. The ramifications of our Baptisms are so...

IN HIM

“God chose us in Him.” –Ephesians 1:4 Mass Readings: October 13 First: Ephesians 1:1-10; Resp: Psalm 98:1-6; Gospel: Luke 11:47-54 We have been baptized into Christ (Rm 6:3). Therefore, we are baptized into His Body, the Church (1 Cor 12:13), which has been given “every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph 1:3). In Jesus, we have been chosen by God “before the world began, to be holy and blameless in His sight, to be full of love; He likewise predestined us through Christ Jesus to be His adopted sons” and daughters (Eph 1:4-5). “It is in Christ and through His...

ZAP!

“Woe to you! You are like hidden tombs over which men walk unawares.” –Luke 11:44 Mass Readings: October 12 Mass Readings: October 12 First: Galatians 5:18-25 ; Resp: Psalm 1:1-4,6; Gospel: Luke 11:42-46 There are false Christians (see 2 Cor 11:26). Like the moon, these Christians may reflect just enough of the light of Christ to attract others. What little light they reflect may attract some who seek escape from the darkness of sin (see 2 Cor 11:13-15). However, these false Christians are like a “bug-zapper” light. If those unfortunate, searching souls get too close to the false Christians, their fledgling faith...

THE OUTS AND INS

“If you give what you have as alms, all will be wiped clean for you.” –Luke 11:41 Mass Readings: October 11 First: Galatians 5:1-6; Resp: Psalm 119:41,43,45,47-48; Gospel: Luke 11:37-41 After Jesus told the Pharisees to cleanse the inside as well as the outside (Lk 11:39-40), He surprisingly encouraged them to give alms, an external activity. By this, Jesus showed that the way to cleanse the inside can be through the outside. For example, drinking to excess is an outside symptom of an inside problem. However, by dealing with the excessive drinking, you may get to its root and thereby...

CONCENTRATION CRAMP

“So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time.” –Galatians 5:1 Mass Readings: October 10 First: Galatians 4:22-24,26-27,31–5:1; Resp: Psalm 113:1-7; Gospel: Luke 11:29-32 Would a free man who once had been a prisoner of war ever voluntarily return to his former concentration camp to live? “Unthinkable!” (Gal 2:17) Yet God’s people do this constantly. The Israelites escaped the slavery of Egypt, but when times got rough, they preferred to return to flogging and constant brickmaking as long as they could eat their fish, cucumbers, melons, and garlic (Nm 11:4-5). The Galatians began...