No One is Exempt
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In our Gospel reading today from Mark 7, a woman comes to Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter. The woman is a Greek, not a child of Israel. At...
Breathless
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus declares all foods clean, negating the many dietary laws of the Jews. He says it is not what goes into one's mouth...
Jesus' Condemnation of tradition
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In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 8, Solomon stands before the altar in the magnificent temple that he had built and offers up a prayer to God. This is...
Jesus' Healing Power
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Solomon has taken over as king after the death of his father, David. In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 8, we read about the ark of the covenant being...
Looking for Jesus
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In the Gospel reading today from Mark 1, Jesus leaves early in the morning, before the sun came up, to go off to a deserted place to pray. Simon and...
The First Step Toward Wisdom
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In today’s first reading from 1 Kings 3, we meet Solomon. Solomon’s father, David, had just died. The son had ascended to the throne of Israel. More in a moment....
The Presentation of Our Children
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Jewish people “presented” their children to the Lord in the temple shortly after their birth. In the first...
They Preached Repentance
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In the Gospel reading from Mark 6, we see Jesus sending out the Twelve. He tells them what they need to do. So what do they do? “So they went...
Offended
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Taking responsibility seems to be something that has gotten lost these days. I suppose that has always been true in some measure. It seems people, especially leaders, always want to...
Family Life, and Death
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In today's readings, we see two stories about life and death in a family. In the first reading from 2 Samuel, David's son Absalom is killed. Absalom had been hunting...
Legion
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In today’s first reading from 2 Samuel 15, a man comes alongside David and begins cursing and throwing stones at him and his soldiers. One of David’s soldiers asks permission...
Amazed by Jesus
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 1, Jesus casts and unclean spirit out of a man. The people's reaction? "All were amazed..." Jesus was amazing then. He's still amazing today....
The Consequences of Sin
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Jesus cares about every area of our lives – our welfare, our hopes and dreams. Jesus cares. In the Gospel reading today, the disciples question that. They are in a...
Stir Into Flame
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. It is a special day for my parish, as I attend St. Timothy Parish. Because it is a shared...
Conversion: A Never-ending Process
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Jesus’ words from today’s Gospel reading from Mark 16 are ones that St. Paul took seriously. Jesus said, “Go...
Sowing Seeds of Grace
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Today's Gospel reading is the parable of the sower from Mark 4. Jesus tells a story of a man who goes out and sows seeds all over. The seeds fall...
Dancing Hearts
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When it comes to God, the family is pretty large. What do I mean? In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of God is my brother...
How Satan Plunders
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In today's first reading from 2 Samuel 5, we see David being anointed as king of Israel. In the Gospel reading from Mark 3, Jesus is accused of driving out...
Believe in the Gospel
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 1, we read about Jesus beginning His public ministry. He opens His public ministry with these words: "This is the time of fulfillment. The...
He is Out of His Mind
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For the first reading today, we start in 2 Samuel. Saul and his son, Jonathan, David’s best friend, have been killed in battle. David laments the death of these two...
David's Example of Mercy
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King Saul and David had a real on again/off again relationship. In today's reading from 1 Samuel 24, we see it being off again. Saul is hunting David down. Saul...
Jealousy and Envy
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Goliath was dead. You would think that King Saul would be overjoyed that David, one of his own, had slain the Philistine. And he was…for a short time. More in...
Defeating Your Golaith
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In the Gospel reading today from Mark 3, Jesus has another run-in with the Pharisees about the sabbath. Jesus asks them, “Is it lawful to do good ont he sabbath...
Of Books and Covers
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In today’s first reading from 1 Samuel 16, we read about the anointing of David. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Mark 2, Jesus is...
What's in a Name?
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Name changes in the Scriptures are not real common, especially when that name change is given by God. You better believe that a great significance is attached. We see one...
Into the Unknown
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Today's Gospel reading from Mark 2 is about the call of Levi. Not sure who Levi is? We know him better as Matthew. He was a tax collector. Jesus sees...
The Danger of Following the Herd
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You would think that as God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel would enjoy being different, set apart. Uh…not so much. We see this in today’s first reading. More in...
Fight Manfully!
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In today's Gospel reading from Mark 1, Jesus heals a leper. In our first reading from 1 Samuel 4, the Israelites go to battle with the Philistines. When the Philistines...
Everyone is Looking
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Today's first reading from 1 Samuel 3 is the story of the call of Samuel. When the LORD calls Samuel, he doesn't know what's going on. So Eli the priest...
Pouring Out Your Troubles
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In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 1, Jesus casts an unclean spirit out of a man while in the synagogue in Capernaum. The people recognized the authority that Jesus had,...
The Baptism of the Lord
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Today the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. We see that moment in Mark’s Gospel where John the Baptist has just baptized Jesus when a voice came from the...
Wise Men Still Seek Him
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Today is the Feast of Epiphany. The Gospel reading tells the story of the Three Kings, or the Three Wise Men. They heard that the King of the Jews had...
Life in the Son
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In today's first reading from 1 John 5, St. John writes this: And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Every...
Loving in Deed and Truth
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In the Gospel reading today from John 1, we see an encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew, says to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of...
To Whom Do You Belong?
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Today's reflection is about a topic that doesn't seem to get covered much these days: sin. St. John covers a lot of ground on this in our first reading from...
We Shall Be Like Him
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Do you know John 1:29? If you’re Catholic, I’m certain you do. We hear it every time we go to Mass, as the priest holds the consecrated host aloft, right...
Remain in Him
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Keeping your faith in Christ is pretty important. (That's a bit of understatement, in case you're wondering.) In our first reading today from 1 John 2 we see this clearly...
Theotokos
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Happy New Year! Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. In honor of that, I want to share with you a chapter from A Minute...
Your Holy Family
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Today is the Feast of the Holy Family, always the Sunday after Christmas. All of the readings today talk about family. In the Gospel reading from Luke 2, we read about...
Anna's Evangelization
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 2, we read about the prophetess Anna. "And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child...
The Canticle of Simeon
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Today is the fifth day in the Octave of Christmas. In our first reading from 1 John 2, St. John talks about light and darkness. He writes, “Whoever says he...
The Holy Innocents
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Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. On this day we remember all those children who were slaughtered in Bethlehem and the surrounding area after the birth of Jesus....
Sprinting to the Lord
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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. St. John was the beloved disciple, the author of the fourth Gospel, three letters in the New Testament and the...
The Witness of St. Stephen
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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr. In the first reading from Acts of the Apostles, we see the story of Stephen’s martyrdom. And in...
A Christmas Thank You
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Christmas is here! Christmas is here! I can remember waking up VERY early on Christmas mornings when I was a kid and yelling that out to my brothers and sisters....
Nothing is Impossible
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While today is Christmas Eve, in the liturgy it is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Just a reminder that for Mass attendance, you don't get a twofer. One must attend...
Zechariah's Silence
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Today's Gospel reading is the naming of John the Baptist. John's father, Zechariah, was struck dumb after the angel announced to him that he and his wife would have a...
Hannah and Mary's Prayer
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In today’s first reading from 1 Samuel 1, we see Hannah giving up her only son to the service of the Lord. Eli, the priest, had prayed that Hannah might...
Filled With the Holy Spirit
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As the Christmas story continues to unfold in the liturgy, today's Gospel reading is the story of the visitation, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth's greeting to Mary is...
The Handmaid of the Lord
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During December, we see a few readings multiple times. Today’s Gospel reading is a case in point. In fact, it is the exact same Gospel reading we saw on the Feast...