(Jer.2:1-3,7-8,12-13; Ps.36:6-11; Mt.13:10-17) “They look but do not see, they listen but do not hear or understand.” Oh how “sacred to the Lord was Israel, the first fruits of His harvest.” And oh how they loved the Lord “as a bride,” following Him so closely. But oh how they have forgotten “the devotion of their youth” and turned from Him. For when He “brought [them] into the garden lands to eat its goodly fruits,” they did not seek Him from whom all their blessings flowed, but rather “entered...
Jul 20, 2022•4 min
(Mic.6:1-4,6-8; Ps.50:5-6,8-9,16-17,21,23; Mt.12:38-42) “The Lord has a plea against His people, and He enters into trial with Israel.” “God Himself is the judge,” brothers and sisters. And so He declares: “Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” All are brought before His throne, and all must “present [their] plea” in His presence. And what shall we say on that Day? Will you “come before Him with holocausts, with calves a year old? Will the Lord ...
Jul 17, 2022•5 min
(Lam.2:2,10-14,18-19; Ps.74:1-7,19-21; Mt.8:5-17) “It was our infirmities He bore, our sufferings He endured.” And oh how deep are those sufferings; “great as the sea is [our] downfall.” And graphically are they seen in the destruction of Jerusalem; sharply they pierce the flesh of the Son. Yes, the Lord “has torn down in His anger the fortresses of daughter Judah… On the ground in silence sit the old men of daughter Zion; they strew dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth. The ma...
Jun 24, 2022•6 min
(2Kgs.17:5-8,13-15,18; Ps.60:3-5,7,12-13; Mt.7:1-5) “In His great anger against Israel, the Lord put them away out of His sight.” Jesus instructs His disciples today, “If you want to avoid judgment, stop passing judgment.” In other words, “Judge not and you shall not be judged.” Here is the prerequisite not only for avoiding judgment and condemnation at the hand of God, but also for assisting and healing others, as is our call. If we wish to serve as Christians and remove the speck of sin from o...
Jun 19, 2022•6 min
(Jas.2:14-24,26; Ps.112:1-6; Mk.8:34-9:1) “Faith without works is as dead as a body without breath.” How dead indeed is a body without breath; how short a time we can go without breathing before dying. And so how much is our faith dependent on works to remain alive. Brothers and sisters, we are human, we have bodies – of the earth, of flesh and bone, we are. We are not angels. And having bodies we must use what God gave us, what we are: it is in such action we prove the worth of our salt. We can...
Feb 17, 2022•5 min
(Jas.2:1-9; Ps.34:2-7; Mk.8:27-33) “You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s!” This is a most important statement Jesus makes; it really cuts to the heart of His teaching, and to His sacrifice for our sins. He has just finished asking His apostles, “Who do you say that I am?” and for perhaps the first time heard their belief that He is the Messiah. This is a critical moment. But there is no time to sit back and enjoy it, for “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suff...
Feb 16, 2022•5 min
(Jas.1:19-27; Ps.15:1-5; Mk.8:22-26) “Jesus laid hands on his eyes, and he saw perfectly.” What is it to see perfectly but to be as “the man who peers into freedom’s ideal law and abides by it”? For to see perfectly is to see as God sees, not looking upon the surface of things – that which is reflected in a mirror – but to see the light of God reflected off the souls of His children. And not merely to speak of such things, but, as James states so forthrightly, to “act on this word,” to let the L...
Feb 15, 2022•4 min
(Sir.47:2-11; Ps.18:31,47,50-51; Mk.6:14-29) “Herod feared John, knowing him to be an upright and holy man.” O how the Lord has given power to His great men. It is He who “gave great victories to [the] king.” David “called upon the Most High God, who gave strength to his right arm”; and as David “made sport of lions as though they were kids,” as he “slew the giant” and his “tens of thousands” in battle, so John the Baptist slays the sins of the multitude, even striking great fear into the heart ...
Feb 03, 2022•5 min
(1Sm.1:1-8; Ps.116:12-19; Mk.1:14-20) “Hannah was childless.” And so she would “weep and refuse to eat,” for it was “a constant reproach to her that the Lord had left her barren.” But He will not leave her barren long. Her husband’s love for her despite her condition and her own prayers will soon be answered: she will give birth to the great prophet and priest, Samuel, who will anoint kings in Israel. And her song of joy, which will foreshadow our Blessed Mother’s own Magnificat, is here foresha...
Jan 09, 2022•4 min
(Dn.7:15-27; Dn.3:59,82-87; Lk.21:34-36) “The day I speak of will come upon all who dwell on the face of the earth.” And so we must “pray constantly for the strength to escape whatever is in prospect, and to stand before the Son of Man.” The vision is explained to Daniel, and really it is quite simple: evil shall come, but good shall triumph in the end. Kingdoms of the Beast, of the evil one, “shall arise on earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingship, to possess it fore...
Nov 26, 2021•5 min
(Dn.7:2-14; Dn.3:59,75-81; Lk.21:29-33) “The beast was slain and its body thrown into the fire to be burnt up.” Daniel prophesies the coming of pagan empires in his vision of the four beasts. The vision is, in short, an overview of the coming salvation. Notice that even as Daniel watches the beasts emerge with their horns and tusks and great iron teeth, even as he watches these terrible creatures devour and crush and trample in a kind of destructive euphoria… what does he see? “Thrones were set ...
Nov 25, 2021•4 min
(Dn.6:12-28; Dn.3:59,68-74; Lk.21:20-28) “Your ransom is near at hand.” “He is a deliverer and savior, working signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.” And as “He delivered Daniel from the lions’ power,” so He shall save our souls from the destruction to come upon the face of the earth. The king’s prayer is answered: “To Daniel he said, ‘May your God whom you serve so constantly, save you.’” And when the lions’ mouths are closed because of David’s innocence before God and men, Darius in awe of...
Nov 24, 2021•5 min
(Rm.8:26-30; Ps.13:4-6; Lk.13:22-30) “Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?” We question. We wonder. With the man who spoke to the Lord as He made His way toward Jerusalem, as He approached His own death, we question Jesus, “Who will be saved?” particularly as we face our own imminent death. Jesus answers the man, and so He responds to us, too. His answer is simple: “Come in through the narrow door.” His answer is wise, and comes with, and itself is, a warning to us not to take for g...
Oct 26, 2021•5 min
(Rm.8:1-11; Ps.24:1-6; Lk.13:1-9) “You will all come to the same end unless you reform.” We hear again today in our readings of the distinction between those who are of the flesh, and so of sin, and those who are of the spirit and justice. And since “the tendency of the flesh is toward death but that of the spirit toward life and peace,” rightly does Jesus warn us that we will die in our sin if we do not repent and turn to Him. For indeed He and the Father, with the Spirit, are of life and have ...
Oct 22, 2021•5 min
(Rm.2:1-11; Ps.62:2-3,6-7,9,13; Lk.11:42-46) “Your hard and impenitent heart is storing up retribution for that day of wrath when the just judgment of God will be revealed.” “He will repay every man for what he has done… Yes, affliction and anguish will come upon every man who has done evil… But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who has done good.” This is the just judgment, and it comes only from God, not from sinful man. And so we are chastised in preparation for that day, tha...
Oct 12, 2021•5 min
(Hg.1:15-2:9; Ps.43:1-5; Lk.9:18-22) “Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the Lord of hosts.” “Take courage… and work! For I am with you,” the Lord says through the prophet Haggai to the remnant of the people returned from exile as they prepare to rebuild the temple. “My spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!” Of course, we know these words of encouragement are eternal, even as we know that “the future glory” of the temple prophesied by Haggai refers ultima...
Sep 23, 2021•5 min
(1Tm.4:12-16; Ps.111:2,7-10; Lk.7:36-50) “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who live by it.” If “the works of His hands are faithful and just,” as His children living in His Word and as His image, we must “be a continuing example of love, faith, and purity.” If we do not attend to this duty, “so that everyone may see [our] progress,” how shall we “bring to salvation [ourselves] and all who hear [us]”? Our love of Him must shine forth in all we do. And what is the fear ...
Sep 15, 2021•5 min
(Col.3:12-17; Ps.150:1-6; Lk.6:27-38) “Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.” “Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns, and inspired songs.” Such is our speech and action when dedicated to God. Our lives indeed become a symphony of His grace when we “let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in [us].” The “blast of the trumpet… with lyre and harp… with timbrel and dance… with strings and pipe… with sounding of cymbals,” which ou...
Sep 08, 2021•5 min
(Col.1:15-20; Ps.100:1-5; Lk.5:33-39) “New wine should be poured into fresh skins.” “The blood of His cross” is poured forth for us; it becomes the new wine we drink this day, that which makes us new men by its grace. The scribes and Pharisees refuse this new wine, saying, “I find the old wine better,” so they cannot see “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creatures,” standing before them this day. Do we see Him? Do we hear His teaching? Do we allow His Word and His presence to...
Sep 02, 2021•6 min
(Jgs.11:29-39; Ps.40:5,7-10; Mt.22:1-14) “You have made a vow to the Lord. Do with me as you have vowed.” As with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is blessed not so much for giving birth to Jesus – or consecrating herself to God as a virgin – as for hearing and doing the word of God, being the handmaiden of the Lord extraordinaire… so the Lord delights not in “sacrifice and oblation,” per se, but in “ears open to obedience.” In accepting the sacrifice of her fertility (the greatest sacrifice a woman...
Aug 18, 2021•6 min
(Nm.20:1-13; Ps.95:1-2,6-9; Mt.16:13-23) “‘You are the Messiah,’ Simon Peter answered, ‘the Son of the Living God!’” With this response, because of this faith come from the “heavenly Father,” Jesus declares to Peter, “You are ‘Rock’, and on this rock I will build my Church.” He entrusts to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with power to bind and loose. As from the rock Moses struck, “water gushed out in abundance for the community… to drink,” so through Peter and the Church Christ has found...
Aug 04, 2021•6 min
(Sir.36:1,5-6,10-17; Ps.79:8-9,11,13; Mk.10:32-35) “Take pity on your holy city, Jerusalem, your dwelling place.” The prayer of the wise man is good, but I see that the same answer the Lord gave James and John when they asked to sit “one at [His] right hand and the other at [His] left” in His glory, could be given to Sirach: “You do not know what you are asking.” For neither knows the implication of their request – neither can see that it will only be fulfilled in a painful death. In our gospel ...
May 25, 2021•5 min
(Phil.1:1-11; Ps.111:1-6; Lk.14:1-6) “My prayer is that your love may more and more abound.” Paul’s prayer is addressed to the Philippians, who “have all continually helped promote the Gospel from the very first day” he came into their midst preaching. He overflows with love for them himself and finds them present “to a man” sharing in his “gracious lot,” even as he “lie[s] in prison” far from their land. And so he prays that always “with a clear conscience and blameless conduct [they] may learn...
Oct 29, 2020•5 min
(Hb.1:12-2:4; Ps.9:8-13; Mt.17:14-20) “They trust in you who cherish your name, for you forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.” “Why could we not expel it?” the disciples asked Jesus regarding the boy so severely possessed by a demon. “‘Because you have so little trust,’ He told them.” Brothers and sisters, is it the Lord who “delays”? Is it He who fails to cast wickedness and misery from our midst? Or is it not rather we who fail in faith? We complain and ask, When will the Lord act? but is th...
Aug 07, 2020•4 min
(Jer.30:1-2,12-15,18-22; Ps.102:16-23,29; Mt.15:1-2,10-14) “Every planting not put down by my heavenly Father will be uprooted.” Is it not these Pharisees of whom Jeremiah speaks when he prophesies, “Incurable is your wound, grievous your bruise”? Truly there is “no remedy for [their] running sore, no healing for [them].” Blind shall they ever be, for they do but harden their hearts when their sin is brought up before their eyes. And so, though Jesus comes to “restore the tents of Jacob,” “when ...
Aug 03, 2020•4 min
(Amos 5:14-15,21-24; Ps.50:7-13,16-17,23; Mt.8:28-34) “Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you.” The chastising continues in our readings today. Against the people’s vain sacrifices and “noisy songs,” both Amos and our psalmist speak in the Lord’s name. In need of healing as the two men “possessed by demons” do we find ourselves in the sight of God. “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, though you hate discipline and cast my words ...
Jun 30, 2020•5 min
(2Tm.3:10-17; Ps.119:157,160-161,165-166,168; Mk.12:35-37) “Princes persecute me without cause but my heart stands in awe of your word.” The Word of God and persecution are our topics for today. On the one hand, Paul tells Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching,” and Jesus uses a passage of Scripture (Psalm 110) to refute His persecutors and verify that the Son of God, the Word of God made flesh, is indeed greater than David – being David’s Son insofar as the flesh...
Jun 04, 2020•5 min
(Rm.8:31-39; Ps.109:21-22,26-27,30-31; Lk.13:31-35) “For your sake we are being slain all the day long.” And yet, “in all this we are more than conquerors because of Him who has loved us.” We die. Each day we die, we sacrifice our lives. We are “as sheep to be slaughtered.” This is our call, to be as our Lord who was crucified – our King wears a crown of thorns. And yet in all this apparent weakness, in all those places where violence seems to reign, where death presumes dominion over us… it is ...
Oct 30, 2019•5 min
(Dt.31:1-8; Dt.32:3-4,7-9,12; Mt.18:1-5,10,12-14) “It is the Lord who marches before you; He will be with you and never fail or forsake you.” “Do not fear or be dismayed,” little ones, the Lord is with us and watches over us. Just as it was He who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, so it is He who leads us now into His “heavenly reign.” In our first reading the Israelites stand poised to attain that which they have been so long promised. Centuries after God’s call to Abraham and at the e...
Aug 12, 2019•5 min
(Ex.14:21-15:1; Ex.15:1,8-10,12,17; Mt.12:46-50) “Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians.” The Lord fought for the Israelites, His people. Working great wonders, He brought them forth from the land of Egypt. Indeed, “the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.” So great was His love for His chosen ones that He saved them in this miraculous fashion, casting their enemies into the sea. Th...
Jul 22, 2019•6 min
