Tagged: Daily Reflection

“No man ever spoke like that before.” –John 7:46 “The crowd was sharply divided over Him.” –John 7:43 The temple guards “forgot” to arrest Jesus, so impressed were they by His words. However, the Pharisees were unimpressed; they said the guards and the crowds that listened to Jesus had been taken in (Jn 7:46ff). This was not the first time Jesus received such contradictory reactions to His words. At His hometown of Nazareth, “they marveled at the appealing discourse which came from His lips” (Lk 4:22). Nevertheless, a few minutes later, “the whole audience in the synagogue was filled with...

“Remember, now, you have been cured. Give up your sins so that something worse may not overtake you.” –John 5:14 Fr. Al Lauer, founder and long-time author of One Bread, One Body, preached often on healing. One of his frequent exhortations during healing services was: “God heals you for service in His Kingdom. He didn’t heal you so you could be the healthiest person in hell!” Father Al often referred to Peter’s mother-in-law as the model of one who received healing. She was suffering from a fever. Jesus healed her, and immediately she got up and began to wait on...

“He and his whole household thereupon became believers.” –John 4:53 Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would create new heavens and a new earth (Is 65:17), but he never dreamed of life eternal in heaven. He prophesied all would live to be well over a hundred years old (Is 65:20), but never imagined we would live forever. The Lord has promised more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9)....

“We are truly His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance.” –Ephesians 2:10 Today is “Laetare Sunday” or, in English, “Joy Sunday.” The Church commands us to rejoice. We rejoice in how the Lord has been loving us throughout the first half of Lent. We joyfully anticipate the glories of the Easter season. However, many of us seem to have little to rejoice in. We have been rejected, abused, and hurt. Lent has not been the springtime of our life, but a devastating winter storm with no signs...

Believe me, this man went home from the temple justified but the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled while he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” –Luke 18:14 The Pharisee in today’s Gospel reading was not humble but self-centered. When he prayed, he “prayed to himself” (Lk 18:11, our transl) and talked more about himself than about God. Also, the Pharisee focused his prayer on himself by favorably comparing himself with a tax-collector praying in the back of the Temple (Lk 18:11). The Pharisee was destroying himself by his addiction to self because he was...