Tagged: Daily Reflections

“There will likewise be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.” —Luke 15:7 For ninety-nine people to have no need to repent is a great miracle and therefore a cause of great joy. However, one person repenting is an even greater cause for joy because: 1) Without our repentance the shedding of Jesus’ blood on Calvary is in vain for us. 2) Repentance is often a mega-change, a 180-degree turn, reappraising “all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of [our] Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:8),...

“If a king is about to march on another king to do battle with him, will he not sit down first and consider whether, with ten thousand men, he can withstand an enemy coming against him with twenty thousand?” –Luke 14:31 We are building a new life in Christ (Lk 14:28) and fighting a battle against the evil one. Before we go any further, we must “sit down and calculate the outlay,” to see if we have enough strength to do the job (Lk 14:28). Many people plan for the future financially, but few prepare spiritually. Many lives collapse because...

“Your attitude must be that of Christ.” –Philippians 2:5 To have Christ’s attitude seems impossible. However, it’s not only possible but a “must” (Phil 2:5). Jesus’ attitude is to empty Himself by obediently accepting even death on the cross, and through death be glorified (Phil 2:7-9). We must have that attitude. There are no excuses (Lk 14:18). We are weak, but He is strong. We can’t do it ourselves, but we can let it be done unto us (Lk 1:38). It’s impossible for us, but nothing is impossible for God (Lk 1:37). We don’t have to have “willpower,” but we...

“Those who trust in Him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with Him in love.” –Wisdom 3:9 Today the Church calls us to pray for the dead, since we believe death does not necessarily mean immediate entry into heaven or hell. The Bible indicates this when it mentions that providing sacrifices for the dead is considered “excellent and noble” (2 Mc 12:43). Even so, most people are confused or at least doubtful about praying for the dead, and therefore we pray only sporadically for the dead, if at all. The Lord would have us be “clear about those...

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yet that is what we are.” —1 John 3:1 When my son was a seminarian, he had major knee surgery on All Saints Day morning. As we returned to his dorm room from the hospital, I was privileged to see the “communion of saints” in action. A group of seminarians visited him for the purpose of making him laugh. Two others stopped by to pray the Divine Office with him in the evening. Another seminarian dropped in to pray a rosary with him....