Category: Daily Reflections

“A third time Jesus asked him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ ” –John 21:17 How mercifully and graciously (Ex 34:6) Jesus treated Peter by the lakeshore! Consider the mercy of Jesus: Peter denied Jesus three times.Jesus allowed Peter to undo each denial with three professions of love (Jn 21:15-17). Peter denied Jesus by a charcoal fire (Jn 18:18ff). Jesus recreated the scene of denial with another charcoal fire (Jn 21:9), bringing healing to Peter’s deepest feelings of shame. Jesus could have forgiven Peter privately. However, He chose to restore Peter in front of the disciples, giving Peter...

“Just as you have given testimony to Me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.” –Acts 23:11 Do you think you’re having a bad week? Compare your worst week to St. Paul’s bad week. Paul was quietly praying in the Temple. Some antagonistic Jews who knew Paul from Asia recognized him and “began to stir up the whole crowd there. They seized him” (Acts 21:27). The whole city came after Paul (Acts 21:30). “Attempts were being made on his life” (Acts 21:31). Soldiers “arrested Paul and had him bound with double irons” (Acts 21:33). A crowd followed Paul,...

“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to guard them from the evil one.” –John 17:15 We follow the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (Jn 16:13). “Since we live by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s lead” (Gal 5:25). As we receive the Spirit ever more deeply during the Pentecost Novena and on Pentecost Sunday, the Spirit will guide us to all truth, if we allow Him (Jn 16:13). We will be prompted to speak the truth in love (see Eph 4:15). Throughout history, there have always been those who pervert the...

“I put no value on my life if only I can finish my race and complete the service to which I have been assigned by the Lord Jesus.” –Acts 20:24 Jesus focused on finishing. In today’s Gospel, He tells His Father: “I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do” (Jn 17:4). When Jesus faithfully completed His suffering on the cross, He took the occasion, despite His pain, to exclaim: “Now it is finished” (Jn 19:30). Finishing what He started was important to Jesus. St. Paul also focused on finishing, saying: “I give...

“We have not so much as heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” –Acts 19:2 Despite years of quality Catholic education, including receiving the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, I never gave much thought to the Holy Spirit. By God’s grace, I stumbled upon a Life in the Spirit seminar at the age of twenty-one. Scripture passages I had often heard but never grasped suddenly came alive as Catholic men and women shared their experiences of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit taught me through them and made everything new and alive (2 Cor 5:17). It was as if I...