An Earthquake of Grace
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Today's first reading from Acts 16 is the story of another jailbreak. More in a moment. In the Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus tells His disciples that He will...
Open Ears, Open Hearts
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In Acts 16 today, Paul and Luke find themselves in the city of Thyatira, where they meet a woman named Lydia. More on that encounter in a moment. In the...
What a Friend We Have
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You may remember or have sung or still sing the old hymn, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." While that's not a direct quote from Scripture, today's Gospel reading...
Haters Gonna Hate
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More action and adventure today in the first reading from Acts 16. Paul has a vision in which a Macedonian says to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”...
Greater Works
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Today is the Feast of Saints Philip and James. These were two of the Apostles. In the Gospel reading from John 14, Philip says to Jesus, “Master, show us the...
The Magisterium
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In our Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus speaks about joy. "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete."...
St. Joseph the Worker
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Today is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It was instituted in 1955 by Pope Pius XII in part to combat communist ideology. "Work" can mean different things to...
Hardships and Peace
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We see in Acts today the further adventures of Paul and Barnabas. These guys never had a dull moment! They went around to the different cities saying, “It is necessary...
Worship God Alone
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In the Gospel reading today from John 14, Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and...
Vines and Branches
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Today's Gospel reading from John 15 is really about life in Christ - or, as Christians think of it, life. Jesus talks about vines and branches. "Just as a branch...
Greater Works than Jesus?
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In today's Gospel reading from John 14, Philip says to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus seems to be a bit perturbed...
Troubled Heart?
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Today in the first reading, Paul continues his address to those in the synagogue in Antioch. And in the Gospel reading, we see Jesus in the upper room, at the...
The Devouring Devil
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Mark. Mark was a disciple of St. Peter. Peter’s teachings are the basis for Mark’s gospel. Mark accompanied St. Paul on his...
Worship, Prayer and Fasting
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In today's Gospel reading from John 12, Jesus says, "I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness." It seems...
Once Saved, Always Saved?
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Today in Acts, we see more and more people coming to believe through the preaching and teaching of Barnabas and Saul. We also see the first use of the word...
Getting in God's Way
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In today’s Gospel reading from John 10, we hear Jesus say, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” What is the abundant life about...
Good Shepherd Sunday
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Today is referred to Good Shepherd Sunday. In the Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” He continues with the analogy of referring to his followers...
Are You Convinced?
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In today's first reading from Acts 9, Peter raises a woman from the dead. It's reminiscent of the scene from Jairus' daughter's room. Powerful! In John 6, we finish the...
KNOW THIS VERSE!
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Sometimes we can be so thick-headed that God needs to use a (metaphoric) 2x4 over the head to get our attention. Such was the case with Saul of Tarsus, aka...
Authority and Scripture
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Back in Acts 8 for our first reading today. We see a very interesting story about an Ethiopian eunuch who has an encounter with Philip. More on that in a...
The Resurrection of the Body
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In the first reading from Acts 8 today, we read about Saul persecuting the Church. Because of the persecution happening in Jerusalem, all but the Apostles left there. We read...
The New Manna
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Stephen was the first martyr; he was the first person in recorded history to shed his blood and die for the sake of his faith in Jesus. In the first...
Will Work for Food
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Today in Acts 6, we begin reading about St. Stephen. This was a very bold guy who was about to find himself in some real trouble. But even in the...
Witnessing
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In today's Gospel reading from Luke 24, Jesus appears to some of His disciples after the resurrection. He explains to them how all of the Scriptures pointed to Him as...
Men Called to Serve
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In today’s first reading from Acts 6, we read about the ordination of our first deacons. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus...
Rejoice in Humiliation
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Another uber-cool reading from Acts of the Apostles today. Be sure to read what Gamaliel, a famous rabbi, says about this new “Jesus movement.” (My words, not the Scripture.) We...
Deliverance
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In today's first reading from Acts 5, the Apostles were dragged before the Sanhedrin and chastised for teaching in the name of Jesus. Peter and the Apostles replied, "We must...
Everything About This Life
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Today's Gospel reading begins with perhaps the most well known passage of Scripture - John 3:16. In the first reading from Acts 5, we read the story of a miraculous...
Was the Early Church Communist?
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Today's Gospel reading is a continuation of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus from John 3. Our first reading is from Acts 4."The community of believers was of one heart...
The First Christian
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Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. This is the moment when the Angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her she had been chosen to...
Confession and Divine Mercy
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Today, the Second Sunday of Easter, is Divine Mercy Sunday. Our Gospel reading from John 20 gives some insight into Divine Mercy and the sacrament of Confession. Jesus appeared to...
Proclaim the Gospel
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Today in Acts 4, the Sanhedrin comes to the conclusion that something astonishing happened through Peter and John. But just to be safe, they tell them not to ever again...
Jesus Alone Saves
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In Acts 4 today, we pick up the story of Peter and John right after the healing of the crippled beggar. More on that in a moment. In our Gospel...
The Turning Point
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We're back in Acts 3 today for our first reading. The Gospel reading picks up where we left off yesterday in Luke 24, following the story of the disciples on...
A Greater Gift
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Another great story from Acts 3 for our first reading today. We’ll talk about that in a moment. The Gospel reading from Luke 24 is one of the most interesting...
Emmaus and the Eucharist
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In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 24, we read the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They have an encounter with the risen Jesus, but don’t recognize...
Save Yourselves?
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Back we go to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 today. When the people heard about salvation through Christ Jesus, they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What are...
Fearful Yet Overjoyed
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Happy Easter Monday! I hope your Easter was filled with blessings. For the next fifty days, our first reading will be from Acts of the Apostles. Today we hear part...
Alleluia!!
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Jesus is risen! Alleluia! Happy Easter! The long season of Lent has come to a close. Now it's time to celebrate! While Lent is forty days long, the season of...
Holy Saturday
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Holy Saturday is an interesting day. It reminds me of waiting in the doctor’s office waiting room after you have had some tests run. You’re kind of in a state...
Holy Thursday, Priesthood and Eucharist
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Lent is over today. Now, that doesn’t mean that you stop with your Lenten penances and practices. Those should continue into Saturday evening. Tonight we begin the Sacred Triduum. It...
I'm Like Judas
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When we think of the brutality that Jesus suffered for us, we can see that this was all foretold in today’s first reading from Isaiah 50. “I gave my back...
The Best Intentions
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Our first reading today is from Isaiah 49, more from the prophesies of the Servant of the Lord. “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation...
Of Bruised Reeds
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Monday of Holy Week. For the next few days, our first readings will be from Isaiah, the prophesies of the Servant of the Lord. We’ll talk about today’s reading in...
Remembering Christ's Passion
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Today is one of the most well-attended Mass days of the year. Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday. Outside of Christmas and Easter, more people come to Palm Sunday Mass than...
Dying for the Many
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As we approach Palm Sunday, the story of the final week of Jesus’ life unfolds. In the first reading from Ezekiel 37, the prophet speaks of the return of the...
On Vengeance
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You may have heard the saying, "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." That's from Romans 12:19, and not part of today's liturgy. But it comes to mind for me because...
The Author of Life
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There are only a very few instances of God changing someone’s name in the Scriptures. Today we see the first of these in Genesis 17. Abram gets a new name....
Out of the Fire
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In today’s first reading from Daniel 3, we see the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego getting thrown into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had faith. Faith enough...
The Real Father's Day
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While in the USA, Father's Day is celebrated in June, I think today should be the real Father's Day. Why? Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph. In...