Category: Sunday Faith Reflections
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Sunday Reflection: the great symphony of heaven
“For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Yes, from those who have no divine life in them, who choose to cling to their sin, even the joys and pleasures of this life will…
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Sunday Reflection: Be ready
I love how, in the last weeks leading up to Advent, the Church prepares us for Advent and the new liturgical year by choosing readings for Sunday Mass from the end of either Matthew, Mark, or Luke with themes that transition directly into Advent: waiting, watching, the Second Coming, the Judgment. The Parable of the…
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Sunday Reflection: on humility
The psalm at Mass today is one of my favorites. I have the Grail translation of it memorized thanks to the Divine Office: O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor haughty my eyes. I have not gone after things too great, nor marvels beyond me. Truly I have set my soul in silence in…
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Sunday Reflection: prioritize God over the world
Jesus gives some practical and divinely wise advice today in the Gospel at Mass, wise enough to get Him out of an almost inescapable trap set by the Pharisees: “Give to God what belongs to God, and to Ceasar what belongs to Caesar.” Inherent in this is the ability to discern what, in fact, does…
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Sunday Reflection: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me”
The second reading at Mass today includes a famous verse from the end of St. Paul’s letter to the Phillippians: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” I think this verse is often misinterpreted when taken out of context. When you read it IN context, you understand that St. Paul is saying…
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Sunday Reflection: guard your thoughts
St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading at Mass, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4) In another letter, St.…
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Sunday Reflection: it’s how you END
Today’s Gospel at Mass stresses the parable of two sons: one tells his father he will go out and work in the vineyard, but doesn’t. The other says he won’t, but then ends up ultimately obeying his father. St. Augustine said, and he would know from personal experience, that “every saint has a past, and…
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Sunday Reflection: The last shall be first
Today’s Gospel passage at Mass is such a mysterious parable. It really flips things around, humanly speaking. It turns the human sense of justice on its head. A man goes out to hire day laborers. He agrees with them for the usual daily wage. As the day progresses, he hires more and more people. He…
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Sunday Reflection: on forgiveness
Today’s readings at Mass are all about forgiveness and the mercy of God. Truly, the parable of the unforgiving servant is one of the most striking and unforgettable (I think) of any of Jesus’s parables. That parable issues a stark warning. It provides the same warning as the Our Father: “Forgive us our debts as…
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