From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant; let it not rule over me. – Psalm 19:14 Imagine that you are being held captive. Your hands are tied with ropes. You are a slave to another. You must do what the other commands. You are ruled over. This is what the Psalmist prays to God to protect him from: being ruled by serious sin. When I look back over my life, especially before I became Catholic…
How interesting that our second reading this Sunday is from St. James who exhorts us to put off “selfish ambition” and instead “cultivate peace” (3:16-18). The Gospel passage shows Jesus’s disciples arguing about who was the greatest (Mark 9:34). Later in Mark, James and John ask to be the greatest in the kingdom by sitting at Jesus’s right and left hand (10:35-37). They are still hustling to get a spot at the top! St. James…
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. – Mark 8:33 What do you see when you look at Jesus on a crucifix? Pain, anguish, sorrow, death—all these come to mind. I used to look at the crucifix and wonder why Jesus would suffer for us in this way. I eventually learned that the answer to that question is love. When I started to see the cross as an expression of…
“And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.” – Mark 7:32 In our Gospel passage today, Jesus heals a man who cannot hear or speak. He is essentially cut off from communicating with others. But Jesus is able to communicate His healing touch to the man. Notice that Jesus takes the man aside privately. Healing is one-on-one work. Then Jesus touches…
As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. – John 6:66 Notice one particular group of people in today’s Gospel: the ones who walked away. These were Jesus’s followers, but they abandoned their discipleship over Christ’s teaching on the Eucharist. It was just too difficult for them to believe that they were to eat something that looked like bread and wine, but…
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” – Luke 1:46-47 Spotless Mary, conceived without sin, pray for me that I might have a heart like yours. Pray that I may have a joyful heart that rejoices in God and praises His name above all others, especially above my own name. May I always seek to glorify Him and not myself. Pray for me that…
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. – Matthew 28:17 The Gospel reading for today is from the very end of Matthew. At the tomb on Easter morning, the Risen Christ told Mary Magdalen: “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:10). Then the…
Holy Spirit of Christ, live and move and breathe in me. Speak your words of peace, love, and truth through me. Perform your works of charity, mercy, and power through me. Sing your hymns of praise, joy, and beauty through me. Serve your needy and poor through me. Weep your tears of sorrow and grief through me. Endure your pain and suffering through me. Forgive poor souls through me. Love your beloved children through me.…
God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord. Psalm 47:6/9 St. Augustine said, “Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him.” What does this mean to you, to have your heart ascend with Christ? In the Mass, during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the celebrant prompts, “Lift up your hearts.” We respond, “We lift them up to the Lord.” This is a…
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. John 15:9 What exactly does it mean to “remain” in Jesus’ love? Jesus tells us that one way to remain in His love is by keeping His commandments, just as He has kept God the Father’s commandments (John 15:10). Then He goes on to sum up what He means by “commandments” into one thought: “This is my commandment, that you…