I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11 Imagine a little lost sheep, all beat up and stuck in the brambles of the wilderness. She wandered away from the flock and now lost, hungry, hurt, and afraid, she is in need of someone to save her. She can’t save herself this time. Sheep are known for straying off like this. When we sin, our souls “stray…
Let those who fear the Lord say, ‘His mercy endures forever.’ Psalm 118:4 This week we celebrate the Sunday of Divine Mercy, God’s immense, steadfast love and compassion for His people. The word ‘mercy’ comes from the Latin word misericordia. You can break that word down into miseria, meaning misery, and cor, meaning heart. Mercy, then, is the compassion that we share with another due to their suffering–we suffer with them in our hearts. Here’s…
He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp. – Leviticus 13:46 Our healing theme from last week continues this week as Jesus heals a man with leprosy (Mark 1:40-45). This disease was so contagious that those who suffered from it were forced to live by themselves and endured social and religious exclusion. Our first reading from Sunday shows this clearly: “As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean,…
“And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” – Matthew 25:40 Happy feast of Christ the King! This week, I want to walk you through some imaginative prayer with Sunday’s Gospel passage on the Great Judgement, Matthew 25:31-46. First, take some time to prayerfully read the passage, focusing your attention on Jesus’ words; try…
“Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’” – Matthew 25:11-12 Let’s try something different for this week’s reflection on the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins: a mini Bible study! First, prayerfully meditate on Matthew 25:1-13. What does the oil represent? Second, read Matthew 22:37-40, our Gospel passage from a few Sundays…
“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David – Matthew 15:22 Each of the readings for this Sunday talk about unity, the coming together of different people from various places, all oriented toward the Lord. Isaiah writes the prophecy of all nations being united in the Lord: “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7). In the Responsorial Psalm we cry out, “O God, let all the nations praise…
Come see a man who told me everything I have done. – John 4:29 This week in our Lenten adventure we travel to Jacob’s well in the land of Samaria. Jesus stopped at the well and along came a woman coming to draw water in the middle of the day. The other women did this task together in the cool of the morning. But this woman was alone. When we hear about her life we…
Blessed are they…-Matthew 5:1-12 The Beatitudes are a rule of life that can help us live a life that is truly happy and holy. It’s a picture of a life lived virtuously, full of faith in the Lord, confident hope in His promises, and love of God and neighbor. Following the Beatitudes is like a blueprint for conforming our hearts to Christ’s Sacred Heart. Christ is the exemplary image of each one of the Beatitudes.…
O God, be merciful to me a sinner. – Luke 18:13 It can be difficult for me to admit my wrongdoings. It’s not easy to look at myself with honesty to see my true faults. In truth, I can only do this peacefully by seeing myself as a beloved child of God, no matter what my sins have been. This Sunday’s Gospel passage shows us a model for what admitting our sinfulness means. First off,…
When I reflect on the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), thankfulness for God’s mercy wells up within me. Perhaps because I’ve been away from my home in Christ in the past, it’s easy to remember what it was like to trust in the world and seek its pleasures instead of trusting in Jesus. I was searching in “a distant country” for happiness. Far from Christ, I was indeed a lost sheep. Reflecting on…