Daily Catholic Reflection: Wednesday, February 26, 2024, Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Sirach 4:11-19

Psalm 119:165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175

Mark 9:38-40                           Full Readings

Saint Maria Bertila Boscardin

The Spirit Blows Where He Wills

Brethren, Jesus today challenges disciples as they came reporting that they stopped a man casting out demons in Jesus' name because he was not part of them. Jesus' challenge to the disciples gives us an important lesson today. Most times we are fond of thinking that God's mission is only about us, as priests, or religious, or even only the Catholic Church, and in this way trying to limit the action of the Spirit, putting him in a box, not knowing that the Spirit moves and blows where he wills. He uses anybody, from anywhere, from any religion, and from any status, to show the action of God in the world and in his people. Jesus today passes a lesson that we should not limit the Spirit in his actions.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Thursday, February 20, 2025, Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Genesis 9:1-13

Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23

Mark 8:27-33                          Full Readings

Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto

But You, Who Do You Say I Am?

Today, we read from the book of Genesis, the first covenant ever made between God and a person, Noah, after the Flood, and the covenant was that nothing of the flesh shall ever be swept away, no more flood to sweep the earth again, while giving a sign that will always signify this covenant, the Rainbow. More importantly, God blessed them, just as he blessed the first man, to fill the world and rule it but they were not to eat flesh with blood. Why was this law very important?

Daily Catholic Reflection: Tuesday, February 17, 2025, Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10

Psalm 29:1a, 2, 3ac-4, 3b & 9c-10

Mark 8:14-21                           Full Readings

Blessed John of Fiesole

We are Leavens Ourselves

The story of Noah and the Flood is not only a well-told epic but also marks the great divide between the world of the ancient myths, swept away in the flood, and an approach approximating more nearly to a historical presentation, which starts gaining shape as from Gen 13. God here is angry, regretting why he created humanity, which had turned into evil, and so decides to destroy the whole humanity and all created things. However, Noah won favour before God and was instructed to build the ark to save that which would bring life again after the great flood. Noah, by faith, obedience, and listening, heeded God's call. Do we sometimes make God regret why he created us?

Daily Catholic Reflection: Sunday, February 16, 2025, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6

1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

Luke 6:17, 20-26                     Full Readings

Saint Gilbert of Sempringham

Living a Blessed Life

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Spe Salvi writes: "Obviously there is a contradiction in our attitude, which points to an inner contradiction in our very existence. On the one hand, we do not want to die; above all, those who love us do not want us to die. Yet on the other hand, neither do we want to continue living indefinitely, nor was the earth created with that in view. So what do we really want?...ultimately we want only one thing—” the blessed life," the life which is simply life, simply “happiness” (Spe Salvi 11). But how do we find this blessed life, a life of happiness, and how do we attain it?

Daily Catholic Reflection: Thursday, February 13, 2025, Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Genesis 2:18-25

Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

Mark 7:24-30                      Full Readings

Saint Giles Mary of Saint Joseph

Humility When Praying

In the second account of the beginning of all things, the way in which man continues the creative work of God is shown by his naming the animals. A thing with no name cannot be fully grasped and is not really complete. Under the friendly guidance of God, man completes the divine work of creation. Having joined in the act of creation, the man will take affectionate care of what he has completed. But none of these is a fit companion, and man remains solitary, miserable, and incomplete without a partner, so God made a woman out of the man's rib. Sometimes, this reading is used to justify the dominance of men over women, but truly, the man cannot claim that he is superior as the source of the material that made a woman, for the LORD God does the work of moulding the woman from the rib just as he had moulded the man from earth. The act of creating a woman from the rib of a man didn't imply dominion of man over woman but shows that God can do anything he wants, and we should not interpret it in our own way to suit what we want.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17

Psalm 104:1-2a, 27-28, 29bc-30

Mark 7: 14-23                   Full Readings

Saint Apollonia

It's Our Inner self that Matters.

The second creation account, which we read today in the first reading, is somehow different from the first. In the previous account, no material had been used for the creation of Adam (or of anything else), but here the LORD God uses dust or crumbly earth, and the likeness to God is expressed by the breath of God breathed directly into the nostrils of the man. In the previous account, the Spirit was there already, hovering over the waters, but in this case, it is the spirit of God that gives life to the man. The man actually receives the life of God. The application of this reading in today's world of vices and immoralities, especially murder and suicide, is that man cannot create his own life and also, he may not take his own life; this is a unique gift of God, given in trust, the symbol and guarantee of dependence on God.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Tuesday, February 11, 2025, Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Genesis 1:20—2:4a

Psalm 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Mark 7:1-13                        Full Readings

Our Lady of Lourdes

Worshiping From the Heart

Brethren, Why did God create us? Simple and basic catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that he created us to know him, love him (then worship him) and be with him in heaven forever. In the first reading, in the account of creation that we read in Genesis, human beings are created last, as a sign of our dignity.  We are created in God’s image and likeness with intelligence and free will.  Male and female, He created us. Both genders are fashioned in the image of God, not one greater than the other.  We reveal God’s image in us when we show compassion, fidelity and care for others.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Monday, February 10, 2025, Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin

Genesis 1:1-19

Psalm 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10, 12, 24, 35c

Mark 6:53-56                        Full Readings

Saint Scholastica

Extraordinary Faith

Brethren, in the first reading we see the first creation story, an explanation of how the universe came into being. The two slightly different accounts of the creation are not meant to be historical; they can’t be! One difficulty is that it is now firmly established scientifically that the universe existed for countless billions of years before humans existed to record what was happening. Another more obvious difficulty is that the sun and the moon are said to have been created only on the fourth day: what could be meant by a ‘day’ without sunrise and sunset? Nevertheless, they are true in that they teach us significant truths, not so much about what happened but about ourselves today, our relationship to the Creator, whom we call ‘God’, our environment, and one another. The creation stories answer many of our fundamental questions of humanity, like what is the origin of the universe, the origin of man, the origin of evil and suffering, and many others, and are necessary for our faith in God.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Sunday, February 9, 2024, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8

Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Luke 5:1-11                        Full Readings

Saint Jerome Emilliani 

Called, Transformed and Sent

Brethren, the central message of this Sunday's readings is that despite our unworthiness, sinfulness, state of being, the standard of living, and unclean lips, with our positive response to God's call, God transforms us and makes us fishers of his people to take part in his divine mission. The first reading and the gospel describe two calls, that of Isaiah, chosen as prophet, and that of the first apostles, transformed by Christ into “fishers of men.” When Isaiah first heard the call of the Lord, he became aware of his frailty. How could a man living among people with unclean lips and himself having unclean lips speak in the name of God? But God touched his lips with a burning fire, purged his sins, and he became a great prophet indeed. Peter, when called by Jesus to be a “fisher of men,” like Isaiah, felt unworthy and said, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ And yet Jesus chose him and his fellow fishermen for his mission. We are called by God to be prophets like Isaiah and “fishers of men” like Peter.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Saturday, February 8, 2024, Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, year C

Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21

Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

Mark 6:30-34                         Full Readings

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Come Away and Rest

Today, we conclude our four-week semi-sequential reading of the Letter to the Hebrews. The letter has dealt with various issues, especially focusing on the high priesthood of Jesus, showing that the purpose of the old sacrifices and the rituals of the Old Law has been so much better fulfilled by the once and for all sacrifice and the blood of Christ. Now in concluding the Letter (esp. from Ch 12—last four readings), the author turns to the practical advice and encouragement to the recipients of the letter and all of us in general. Today, he gives us these pieces of advice: firstly, to always have the unending sacrifice of praise of Christ (a heartfelt sacrifice of praise, a genuine expression of devotion not like the sacrifices of the Old Law but, fittingly with Psalm 51, a humble and a broken Spirit); secondly, to keep on doing good works and sharing our resources (genuine acts of charity and Christian generosity); and finally, to obey our religious leaders. Then the final blessing, which appropriately reverts to the theme which has been dominant in the Letter, 'the blood that sealed the eternal covenant.'

Daily Catholic Reflection: Friday, January 7, 2025, Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Hebrews 13:1-8

Psalm 27:1, 3, 5, 8b-9abc

Mark 6:14-29                           Full Readings

Saint Colette

Herod's Guilty Conscience

Brethren, the evil of wrongdoings does not pass without their execution. Their consequences, guilt and sorrow, can destroy the perpetrator of the action. Herod in the gospel today, having ordered the execution of John due to political arrogance and blind commitment to an oath, was continually haunted by his guilt. Thus, the growing fame of Jesus was seen by him as the return from the dead of John the Baptist, whose head he had cut off. A lot of people are in bondage with their past sins and are constantly perturbed by guilt. We need not remain entrapped by past iniquity when the cleansing blood of Christ is present in the sacrament of reconciliation. Don't be like Herod, for in Christ, you are more than the sin of your past!

Daily Catholic Reflection: Thursday, February 6, 2025, Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24

Psalm 48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 9, 10-11

Mark 6:7-13                            Full Readings

Saint Paul Miki and Companions

Sent Two by Two

Today, we read from the final section of the Letter to the Hebrews, and the excitement is tangible in this section. The comparison is being made between the two covenants, the one made on Mount Sinai by Moses and the other made on Mount Zion by Jesus the high priest and mediator. In the former, the whole accent was on the awe and majesty of the scene and the danger of death for anyone who came too close, the frightening, noisy confusion; even Moses himself was afraid. In the latter, all is peace and celebration, with millions of angels gathered for the festival, and everyone is a first-born son, supremely valuable as individuals. This is the prospect to which everyone is looking forward.

Daily Catholic Reflection: Saturday, February 2, 2024, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Mal 3:1-4

PS 24:7, 8, 9, 10

Heb 2:14-18

Lk 2:22-40                            Full Readings

Presentation of Our Lord

Being Consecrated to Christ

Brethren, today we celebrate the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 40 days after his birth. On the same day, we celebrate the day of consecrated religious men and women and those of Apostolic life societies. It is an invitation to consecrate ourselves to Christ in serving and loving his people. It is also an invitation to present our children to the Lord.