Tagged: Daily Reflections

“Jesus then said to His disciples, ‘If a man wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in My footsteps.’ ” –Matthew 16:24 Mass Readings: August 11 First: Hosea 2:16,17,21-22; Resp: Psalm 45:11-12,14-16; Gospel: John 15:4-10 Listen to the Mass Readings When I was a boy, my friends and I often played a winter game in the snow. The leader would walk across a snowy field. The rest of us had to place our feet exactly into the leader’s footprints without disturbing any of the surrounding snow. The one...

“Let me say this much: He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Everyone must give according to what he has inwardly decided.” –2 Corinthians 9:6-7 Mass Readings: August 10 First: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10; Resp: Psalm 112:1-2,5-9; Gospel: John 12:24-26 Listen to the Mass Readings Giving sets the tone for living. If we give bountifully of our possessions, time, and energy (2 Cor 9:6), we will live an abundant life (Jn 10:10). If, however, we give sparingly (2 Cor 9:6), do the minimum, and not go beyond the letter of the law (2...

“I will do to you just what I have heard you say.” –Numbers 14:28 Mass Readings: August 9 First: Numbers 13:1-2,25–14:1,26-29,34-35; Resp: Psalm 106:6-7,13-14,21-23; Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28 Listen to the Mass Readings Twelve Israelite scouts walked around in the promised land. Ten saw disaster and sowed “discouraging reports among the Israelites” (Nm 13:32); two saw God’s hand poised to bless His people with swift entrance into the promised land, and these two scouts sowed faith and confidence (Nm 14:6ff). The people listened to the majority and died outside of the promised land. Pope St. John Paul II has prophesied that...

“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses.” –Numbers 12:1 Mass Readings: August 8 First: 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Resp: Psalm 37:3-6,30-31; Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16 Listen to the Mass Readings A few years ago, when the news broke of sexual scandals of some Catholic priests, a certain man was publicly berating all priests, even on occasion during Holy Mass. This angered me to the point that I had to bring it to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A holy priest I knew was hearing Confessions that day. With peaceful calmness, he quietly mentioned that it is a spiritual work of mercy to bear wrongs...

“Israel I would feed with the best of wheat.” –Psalm 81:17 Mass Readings: August 7 First: Numbers 11:4-15; Resp: Psalm 81:12-17; Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21 Listen to the Mass Readings Less than twenty-four hours before His death, Jesus took what appeared to be bread and wine and said “This is My body,” and “This is My blood” (Mt 26:26, 28). The obvious response to these seemingly absurd statements is: “How can He give us His flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52) Yet, before we dismiss Jesus’ words as those of a lunatic, we should remember that the Lord fed the entire Israelite...