Tagged: Daily Reflection

“Why are you trying to trip Me up?” –Mark 12:15 Tobit and Anna, in the first reading, get into a terrible fight, the worst of their marriage. The physically blind Tobit is also blind to the kindness and support of his wife. Tobit is stung, as a husband and a man, by his inability to support his family, and takes it out on his wife. The blind Tobit believes the worst of his wife, while she had been working hard to support the family. Anna, understandably, is stung by her husband’s wrongful accusation that she is a thief. Yet she...

“They left Him and went off.” —Mark 12:12 Jesus told a parable which convicted people of their sin (Mk 12:1ff). When Jesus told a parable, He surely desired His hearers would respond by repenting and coming to Him. However, the response to the parable of the tenants was: “They left Him and went off” (Mk 12:12). Jesus’ hearers understood exactly what He was saying to them. They simply rejected both Jesus and His message. How do you respond when Jesus convicts you of your sin? The Lord has long been sending you messengers to speak His Word to you (see...

“Make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name ‘of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ ” –Matthew 28:19 We have been created to be baptized “in the name ‘of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ ” The word “baptized” means “to be immersed in.” The meaning of life is to be immersed in, that is, preoccupied with and consumed by the Holy Trinity (see Heb 12:29). We enter into Trinitarian love and life through Jesus, the only Way to the Father (Jn 14:6) and the One Who...

“My feet kept to the level path because from earliest youth I was familiar with” Wisdom. –Sirach 51:15 Conversion stories are exciting. We weep for joy as the good thief on the cross finds salvation in his last desperate hour (Lk 23:42-43). We marvel at the power of God as He overpowers the worst sinner, the persecutor Saul (1 Tm 1:15), who then incredibly becomes the great apostle and preacher Paul (Acts 9:3ff). Today we are greatly encouraged by the wave of staunch Protestants who have incredibly converted to Catholicism and now powerfully defend the Faith. A life of faithfulness...

“Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants.” –Sirach 44:11 Many people work hard during their adult lives, with the goal of enjoying a relaxing, well-deserved retirement. They feel it’s the time to enjoy one’s grandchildren, and catch up on travel, hobbies, and leisure that were missed out on during many years of sacrifice. However, the “golden years” are not really the time to let up; instead, these years are the time to “seal in” the heritage that has been sown. All too often, it takes only one generation for a society to lose its collective faith....