Daily Catholic Reflection: September 1, 2020, Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

1 Corinthians 2:10b-16,

Responsorial Psalm PS 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13AB, 13CD-14

Luke 4:31-37 Full Readings

Saint Giles

 Which Demon is possessing you?

Today's Gospel presents to us Jesus rebuking and chasing away demons from a possessed man. It might be a surprise that demons recognised Jesus as the Holy one of God, but it was not a true confession rather it was a way of defending themselves in order not to be cast out of the man.  Jesus however, doesn't even give them  a chance  to say any more word but he shut them up and drove them out of the man. Jesus not only shows power over evil forces but also the power and the authority of his word.

Daily Catholic Reflection: 31 August, 2020, Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time, Year A.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5,

Psalm 119:97.98.99.100.101. 102,

Luke 4:16—30 Full Readings

Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

 The True Mission of Jesus

The first part of today's Gospel Gospel is one of my favourite passages in the Gospel because it explains the heart of Jesus' Mission and what it entails, which also explains our mission too as Christians. Jesus stood on the pulpit and after being given a scroll, he opened the book of prophet Isaiah and found where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Afterwards, he continued talking and after seeing the unbelief of his own people of Nazareth and praising the Gentiles, he told them that a prophet is not accepted in his own country and at the end they drove him out of their town trying to kill him but he went through them.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 30, 2020, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Jeremiah 20:7-9,

Psalm 63:2.3-4.5-6.8—9,

Romans 12:1-2,

Matthew 16:21-27 Full Readings

Saint Jeanne Jugan

 Seduced By God

Today's readings tell us about being seduced by God, which requires giving up our bodies for the service of God and the kingdom and being ready for persecution for the sake of the kingdom.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 29, 2020, Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist, Year A.

I Corinthians 1:26-31,

Psalm 33: 12-13.18-19.20-21,

Mark 6:17-29  Full Readings

The Passion of John the Baptist

Stand for Truth and Justice

Today we celebrate the memorial of the beheading or passion of John the Baptist, a courageous man who stood for the truth and justice. This created hatred between him and Herodias and was finally beheaded due to this hatred as we see in the Gospel. Today's Gospel presents to us various aspects and teachings which we can learn as Christians.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 28, 2020,Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Year A

I Corinthians 1:17-25,

Psalm 33: 1-2.4-5.10- 11,

Matthew 25: 1-13 Full Readings

Saint Augustine of Hippo

 Being Wise Versus Foolishness

Today's Readings are all talking about Wisdom. The first reading presents to us that even God's foolishness is far more than the highest human wisdom, which calls us to only trust in God if we want true wisdom. The Gospel makes a clear distinction between the wise and the foolish maidens who were waiting for the bridegroom. Five of them took extra oil and foolish ones never took more extra oil. When the bridegroom came, he found that the lamps of foolish ones had gone off and had no more oil. On going out to buy oil the door was locked and the bridegroom told them as they came back, "I don't know you."

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 27, 2020, Memorial of Saint Monica, Year A

1 Corinthians 1:1-9,

Psalm 145:2-3.4-5.6-7,

Matthew 24:42-51 Full Readings

Saint Monica

Stay Awake 

Today's Gospel presents to us Jesus telling his disciples to stay awake because they do not know when the son of Man will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. He compares this warning with the thief who comes to steal as a surprise without warning, otherwise if the master of the house knew that the thief is coming, he would prepare for him and catch him. In the same way will Jesus come back on the final judgement day, the day which nobody knows, and that is why Jesus' message to the disciples is also our message today so that we start awake and that that day finds us ready to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 26, 2020, Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

2 Thessalonians 3 :6- 10. 16- 18,

Psalm 128:1-2.4-5,

Matthew 23 :27-32 Full Readings

Saint Joseph Calasanz

 Religious Integrity

The first Reading and the Gospel both talk about religious Integrity. in the first Reading which is the final reading from Thessalonians makes this point: Christianity should not be an excuse for idleness, everyone must work for his or her own food. Even Jesus was not lazy. Some people had stopped working and that's why Paul warns them. They had  possibly laid off work in expectation of the imminent coming of Christ, which would make all such work superfluous and useless. Alternatively, the mutual support given by the Christians to one another may have been so generous that some were contented to live on hand-outs without the need to do any work themselves.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 25, 2020, Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year A.

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 -3a.14-17,

Psalm 96:10.11-12a. l2b- 13,

Matthew 23:23-26 Full Readings

Saint Louis of france

 Religious Congruence

Brethren, today's Gospel presents to us a critique to the Pharisees and Scribes by Jesus. Jesus rebukes them for just washing outside the cup and inside is very dirty. This can be termed as hypocrisy which is simply lack of congruence (outside not reflecting the inside). Jesus tells them and he tells us today too, to first wash the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean too.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 24, 2020, Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle, Year A

Revelation 21:9b-14,

PSALM Ps145:10-11.12-13ab.17-18,

John 1:45-51 Full Readings

Saint Bartholomew

 Avoiding Prejudice

Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint Bartholomew, one of the twelve also identified with Nathaniel whom we see being brought by Philip to Jesus in the Gospel today. Nathaniel had prejudice about Nazareth and that's why when Philip tells him that he had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, he asked, can anything good come from Nazareth? What a prejudice! However, his prejudice is cleared by Jesus' response after telling him who he really is and that he had seen him under the fig tree.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 23, 2020, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Isaiah 22:19-23,

Ps  138:1-2a.2bcd-3.6,

Romans 11:33-36,

Matthew 16:13-20 Full Readings

Saint Rose of Lima

Who do you say Jesus is?

Today’s Gospel presents a very fundamental question, Who is Jesus to You? to  us the confession of Peter that Jesus is Christ the Son of Living God, with this confession Peter is renamed a Rock and that on this rock, it is where Jesus will build his church. He was then given the keys of heaven and whatever he would bind on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever he would unbind on earth would be unbound in heaven.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 22, 2020, Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Year A

Ezekiel 43:1-7a,

Ps 85:9ab and 10.11-12.13-14,

Matthew 23 : 1-12  Full Readings

Queenship of Mary

Mary Our Queen

Beloved brethren, One week after we have celebrated the Assumption our Blessed Mother, today we are transported to the heavenly realm to witness her being crowned as the Queen of heaven and earth. She is the Mother of the Son of God, the king of the universe. She is the obedient daughter of the Father who surrendered herself fully to his will. She is the spouse of the Holy Spirit who overshadowed her and brought forth the Son of God into our world. She is the sinless virgin, full of grace and love. She is the co-redemptrix and the Mother of the church. She is the sure hope and a channel of grace for us. Her royal crowning indicates that we, her children, also are called to share in her glory. We attain our crown of glory if we choose to follow her Son and surrender our lives to the will of the Father under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 21, 2020, Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope, Year A

Ezekiel 37 :1-14,

Psalm 107:2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9,

Matthew 22:34-40 Full Readings

Saint Pius X

The Greatest Commandment

Today's Gospel presents to us the greatest commandment summarised by Jesus from all the 613 pieces of laws in the Old Testament. He summarises it as loving God with all your heart, your soul and all your mind and that you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. The pairing of these commandments were of course a shock to the Jews because they  thought only love of God mattered not the love of the neighbor. Jesus puts them on the same level as being the greatest which means claiming that you love God while hate your neighbor is not love at all.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 20, 2020, Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, Year A

Ezekiel 36:23-28,

Psalm 51 : 12-13.14- I 5.18-19,

Matthew 22: 1-14 Full Reading

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor

Getting Ready For the Wedding Feast.

Today's Gospel presents to us a King who gave a feast for his son's wedding. He invited his guests but surprisingly at the time of the feast none of them turned up while giving different reasons. The servants then went to the streets and invited everyone they came across to come for a wedding and one came without a wedding garment. He was bound and chased away to where there is grinding of teeth and suffering. 

A wedding is a time of joy and completion after long preparation, a time of love and of complete satisfaction. In Judaism at the time of Jesus the coming of the Messiah is often compared to a wedding-feast. The Letter to the Ephesians teaches that the love in a human wedding is only a pale shadow of Christ’s love for his bride, the Church. Therefore, this wedding feast anticipates the wedding in heaven where Christ the bridegroom marries his bride the Church. Are you ready for this wedding?

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 19, 2020, Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

Ezekiel 34: 1-11,

Ps 23:1-3a.3b-4.5.6,

Matthew 20: 1-16a Full Readings

Saint John Eudes

 Are You Happy with someone's Success?

Today's Gospel presents to us a landowner who hired the workers at different times, morning, mid morning, afternoon and late evening at eleventh hour. Starting with the ones who came at eleventh hour, he gave all of them one denarii but the workers who came in the morning, received it with ungrateful hearts and complained about why they got the same wage as those who came late. The master asked them, are you envious because I am generous?

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 18, 2020, Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

Ezekiel 28: 1- I0,

Psalm: DEUTERONOMY 32:26-27AB, 27CD-28, 30, 35CD-36AB

Matthew 19:23-30 Full Readings

Saint Louis of Toulouse

 The Rich and the Kingdom

Today’s readings are a continuation of the message of yesterday, the inadequacy of riches. Beloved brethren, The word of God describes how hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is not a denigration of material wealth. We must know that material wealth is a gift from God. In fact, the Bible also sometimes describes salvation in terms of material wealth. The prophet Ezekiel, however, speaks of another kind of wealth that harms our relationship with God. It is the haughty attitude that makes us play god in the lives of other people by dominating them. It is the attitude of over confidence which makes us feel superior to others or arrogant because we think we are wiser than they. These are attitudes that contradict the gospel injunction to be meek and humble of heart.

Daily Catholic Refection: August 17, 2020, Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A.

Ezekiel 24:15-24,

Psam: Deuteronomy 22: 18-19, 20, 21

Matthew 19: 16-22 Full Readings

Saint Joan of the Cross

The inadequacy of Riches

Today's Gospel presents to us what we must do to become perfect and inherit the kingdom of God apart from following the commandments. Jesus tells the young rich man to go and sell all he had and give the  money to the poor. The young man could not imagine this for he had so much and he went away very sad. Will your riches stop you from attaining the Kingdom of God?  The Gospel shows us the inadequacy of riches especially in the aspects of the kingdom of God.

Let the peoples praise you, O God...20th Sunday in Ordinary time, Year A, Psalm

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 16, 2020, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Isaiah 56: 1,6-7,

Ps 67:2-3.5.6.8 (Watch it here),

Romans 11:13-15.29-32,

Matthew 15:21-28)_ Full Readings

Saint Stephen of Hungary

Persistence in prayer

Today's Gospel presents to us the discussion between Jesus and the Canaanite woman who was begging Jesus to have mercy on her and heal her daughter who was tormented by the devil. Jesus' reply to this woman may be taken in a literary sense to be too harsh but it was to test her faith. Jesus said that he came only for the people of Israel not strangers and that you cannot give baby's food to the dogs. However the woman could not give up though she was called a dog and replied saying, even dogs eat the scraps from the master's table and at this Jesus saw the woman's faith and healed her daughter.

Catholic Daily Reflection: August 15, 2020,Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Year A

Revelation 11:19a:12:1-6a.10ab,

I Corinthians 15:20-27,

Luke 1:39-56 Full Readings

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

Glorifying the Lord with Humility

Today we celebrate the feast of Assumption of Mary into heaven one of the greatest feasts of the Catholic Church. We remember when Mary was taken into heaven with her body just as her Son ascended into heaven after his resurrection. It is not easy for someone to be taken to heaven just like that, but what was so special with Mary? Mary is the mother of Christ, the Immaculate one who is the only person known as far as our faith tells us, born without original sin, which means he was prepared by God before coming conception to carry the Son of God, she had what we call, Preservative Grace.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 14, 2020, Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, Year A

 Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63,

Psalm: Isaiah12: 2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

Matthew 19:3-12) Full Readings

Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe

The Two Vocations

In today’s first God reminds us of all he has done to bring us to love him but we are too stubborn and disobedient to care. However, God’s love is so strong that not even our sins can diminish it. The power of God lies in his ability to forgive sins and so let us always respond to this love. In the Gospel, Jesus is talking about two vocations, marriage and celibacy. Marriage is modeled to reflect this love of God that forgives and endures. This love thinks first of the good of the other person. This love inspires compassion because it understands other people’s mistakes and weaknesses. This love sees the good in others and does not give up on them. Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe is remembered today for this same love because he died like Christ by choosing to die in place of a man with family.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 13, 2020, Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A.

Ezekiel 12: 1- 12,

Psalm 78:56-57.58-59.61-62,

Matthew 18 :21-19:1 Full Readings

Saints Pontian and Hippolytus

Forgive and you will be Forgiven

The end of the community or ecclesial discourse of Matthew teaches us today another very important aspect of living in peace with one another as well as the whole Church. After being approached by Peter and being asked how many times we should forgive, Jesus responds seventy-seven times. He later tells a parable of a wicked servant who was forgiven the whole debt he owed his master and in turn the servant could not forgive the fellow servant which made his master withdraw his forgiveness from him and then put him in prison.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 12, 2020, Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

Ezekiel 9: 1-7; 10:18-22,

Psalm 113: lb-2.3-4.5-6,

Matthew 18:15-20 Full Readings

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

 Making Peace 

Today's Gospel is part of the community or ecclesial discourse which we started reading yesterday and which  Matthew presents in the whole of Chapter 18. This discourse gives the guidelines upon which the church of Christ will depend on in preserving the memory of Christ and in spreading the Gospel. Jesus today teaches us the best way to make peace with one another and says that if a person wrongs you or if you wrong any person, go to that person individually ask for forgiveness and if you win his or her heart then you have won your brother or sister back. But if the person refuses, don't give up take a trusted friend or friends who are not judgmental to talk to the person, and if the person refuses again, then tell the Christian community, and if the person refuses, you have done your part and you are no longer guilty, regard the other one as a sinner. He gives a stern warning that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose here will be loosed in heaven. However, Jesus promises to be with us always and whatever we ask in His name we shall get.

Daily Catholic Reflection: August 11, 2020, Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin, Year A.

Ezekiel 2:8—3:4,

Ps119:14.24.72. 103.111.131,

Matthew 18:1-5. 10.12- 14 Full Readings

Saint Clare of Assisi

 Becoming Great in the Kingdom of God

Today's readings present to us two powerful images which depict a message concerning our relationship with God's word and communing with Him.

The first reading presents to us Ezekiel eating the scroll which was presented to him by God. The scroll had the word of the Lord written on it and it was sweet as honey. This image brings a message about the sweetness of the Word of God. This is also depicted in the psalm today, that the word of God is sweeter than honey. The sweetness comes because it is always joy to receive the word of God as we see in Jeremiah 15:16. Brethren, how do we relate with the word of God. Most often we go for mass or for service and the word of God is proclaimed to us, do we internalise it and savour it's sweetness or we just hear and it passes away or because of routine it has lost value in us?