Category: Daily Reflections

“Little is forgiven the one whose love is small.” –Luke 7:47 Even what we call the slightest sin is an abomination before the all-holy God. Therefore, because we all have sinned, we deserve to receive God’s wrath (Eph 2:3) and to be punished forever in hell. However, the Lord took our sins and their punishment on Himself. He died on the cross to save us from sin and its consequences. If we repent and thereby accept Jesus’ death and forgiveness, we have accepted salvation. When we realize what Jesus has done for us, we live lives of thanksgiving (Lk 7:42)...

“Wonderful, indeed, is the mystery of our faith.” –1 Timothy 3:16 God has plans for us – plans for our welfare, not for woe, plans to give us “a future full of hope” (Jer 29:11). The Lord plans to lead us “to springs of life-giving water” (Rv 7:17), that is, to heaven. There He “will wipe every tear” from our eyes (Rv 7:17). However, we can ruin God’s plans for us by refusing to repent (Lk 7:30) and by being selfish (Lk 7:32ff). Therefore, let us die to self before we die from self. We all are born “self-aholic.” Only...

“Near the cross of Jesus there stood His mother.” –John 19:25 Yesterday we celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; today we celebrate the sorrows of the cross for Mary and for all those who have chosen to take up their daily crosses (Lk 9:23). We received the triumphs of the cross when we were baptized into the new life in Jesus. We experience the sorrows of the cross in addition to its triumphs when we faithfully and daily live our Baptism. Finally, we receive the ultimate triumph of the cross when Jesus returns or our spirits are raised from...

“He humbled Himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross! Because of this, God highly exalted Him.” –Philippians 2:8-9 John’s Gospel particularly highlights the exaltation of the cross of Jesus. John proclaims that the cross is: the throne from which King Jesus inaugurates His victorious Kingdom. On the cross, Jesus is publicly, officially, and universally proclaimed as King, in no less than three languages (Jn 19:19-22), a place of healing (Jn 3:14), the catalyst for faith leading to eternal life (Jn 3:15), where we finally recognize that Jesus is God (Jn 8:28), the place where Jesus draws all to...

“He began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer much, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be put to death, and rise three days later. He said these things quite openly.” –Mark 8:31-32 Jesus is very open about the fact that we will have to suffer and bear our “share of the hardship which the gospel entails” (2 Tm 1:8). He bluntly states that we who follow Him must deny ourselves and take up the cross (Mk 8:34). Suffering is the way of salvation, necessary for the completion of God’s plan...