Tagged: Daily Reflection

DYING FOR SOME FRUIT

“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came out looking for fruit on it.” –Luke 13:6 If we don’t bear fruit, we will be cut down (Lk 13:9) and thrown into the fire to be burnt (Jn 15:6). If we don’t bear fruit by leading others to Christ, we will not live with Christ in eternity. We can be sure of bearing fruit by living in Jesus the Vine (Jn 15:5), and dying to self. “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if...

GOD’S HEART FOR THE LOST

“We had to celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost, and is found.” –Luke 15:32 There is “more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent” (Lk 15:7). We rejoice over a sinner’s repentance because this is so important to Jesus and, therefore, to us. “You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tm 1:15). Jesus so wants sinners to return to Him that He died...

ADVANCED STAGES OF EVIL

“They seized him, dragged him outside the vineyard, and killed him.”–Matthew 21:39 In both Scripture readings today, we see advanced stages of evil. Jacob’s years of deception came back to haunt him when he was deceived by his sons, who almost murdered their brother Joseph and eventually sold him into slavery (Gn 37:28). In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus describes centuries of rebellion against God’s will. This rebellion culminated in murdering Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God. We see many strongholds of the evil one in our midst (see 2 Cor 10:4). We see advanced stages of evil which have...

FASTING AND LISTENING

“…they will not be convinced…” –Luke 16:31 During the 19th century, the rich in England were said to have not wanted to be Catholic because then they would have to “worship with the help,” that is, the servants, since the Catholic faith was open to all, both rich and poor. On this topic, St. Paul corrected the Corinthians, for in their very early Christian “meetings,” the rich ate plentifully while the poor went hungry (see 1 Cor 11:17ff). The early Church focused on being “mindful of the poor” (Gal 2:10). When the widows complained, the apostles prayed over and imposed...

DROP THE SUBJECT

“In reply Jesus said, ‘You do not know what you are asking.’ ” –Matthew 20:22 As we enter into Lent, Jesus is trying to take us with Him to the cross. He speaks of being betrayed, condemned, scourged, crucified, and risen (Mt 20:18-19). However, like James and John, many of us aren’t that interested in the cross. In fact, we’re not that interested in Lent, fasting, penance, repentance, or Confession. We have more important things on our minds; that is, ourselves. We’re more concerned about what we want (see Mt 20:21) than about what the Lord wants. We’d like to...