Catholic Daily Reflections

Read Online Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:39–40 Are you “fully trained?” What does it mean to be fully trained? Jesus makes it clear that those who are fully trained will be like their teacher. Of course, we...

Read Online People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:13–14 Simplicity, trust, purity of intent, transparency, and resiliency are all qualities that children often have by nature...

Read Online Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them. The Pharisees approached him and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. Mark 10:1–2 Notice the contrast above. The crowds gathered around Jesus to listen to Him. Clearly, they were coming to faith. But the P...

Read Online “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42 St. Bede, an early Church Father, states that “he who is great, whatever he may suffer, departs not from the faith; but he who is little and weak in mind looks out for occasions of stumbling.” In other wo...

Read Online John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him…” Mark 9:38–39 Why would John and the other disciples try to stop someone from driving out demons? To understand this, imagine the scene. John and the other disciples had come to believe that Jesus was the Christ, t...

Read Online Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” Mark 9:30–31 Why would Jesus wish that no one know that He and His disciples were traveling...

Read Online As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John and approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Mark 9:14 This line, from the beginning of today’s Gospel, reveals a transition from an experience of incredible glory to one that is very sad. On the mountain, Jesus was transfigured before three of His disciples, and a smal...

Read Online “But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:35–36 It is certainly difficult to be “kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” But doing so is exactly what our Lord c...

Read Online “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  Matthew 16:18–19 There are several foundational truths taught to us by this pa...

Read Online “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Mark 8:36 This short and direct question is worth much meditation. In Mark’s Gospel, this line comes within the context of Jesus teaching about the requirements of being His disciple. And it comes after Jesus began to explicitly teach that He Himself would suffer and die as the Christ. Think about this questio...

Read Online Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Mark 8:27 In answer to this question, the disciples informed Jesus that some thought He was “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” But then Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was. It was Peter who responded...

Read Online When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Mark 8:22–23 Bethsaida was one of the towns just north of the Sea of Galilee in which Jesus preached. Later in His public ministry, Jesus condemns the town of Bethsaida for its failure to convert. “Woe to...

Read Online “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?” Mark 8:17–18 How would you answer these questions that Jesus posed to His disciples if He had posed them to you? It takes humility to admit that you do not yet understand or comprehend, that your heart is in fact hardened, and that you fail to see and hear all that God...

Read Online The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”  Mark 8:11–12 Jesus had performed many miracles. He healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and fed thou...

Read Online “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.” Luke 6:24–26 Luke 6:20–49 offers us a shortened version of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew’s Gospe...

Read Online “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.”  Mark 8:2–3 Jesus’ primary mission was a spiritual one. He came to set us free from the effects of sin so that we could enter the glories of Heaven...

Read Online They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Mark 7:37 This line is the conclusion to the story of Jesus healing a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. The man was brought to Jesus, Jesus took him off by himself, cried out “ Ephphatha! ” (that is, “Be opened!”), and the man was cured. And though this was...

Read Online Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. Mark 7:25–26 A parent’s love is powerful. And the woman in this story clearly loves her daughter. It is that love that drives this mother to seek out Jesus in the hope that He will...

Read Online Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” Mark 7:14–15 What is within you? What is in your heart? Today’s Gospel concludes with a list of vices that sadly come from within: “evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adulter...

Read Online When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. Mark 7:6–8 It seems quite clear that Jesus’ instant fame led these religious leaders to jealousy and envy, and they wanted to find fault with Him. As a result, they carefully observed Jesus and His disci...

Read Online Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed. Mark 6:56 It would have been truly awe-inspiring to witness Jesus healing the sick. The people who witnessed this clearly had never seen anything like it before. For those who were sick, or...

Read Online  After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. Luke 5:4–6  Jesus had just cured Simon Peter’s mother-in-law...

Read Online “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”  Mark 6:34 The Twelve had just returned from going about the countryside preaching the Gospel. They were tired. Jesus, in His compassion, invites them to come away with Him to rest for a while. So they get in a boat to cross over to a deserted place. But when the people hear about this, they hurry on foot to the place that...

Read Online Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. Mark 6:20 Ideally, when the Gospel is preached and received by another, the effect is that the receiver is filled with joy, consolation and a desire to change. The Gospel is transforming for those who truly listen and...

Read Online Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. Mark 6:7–8 Why would Jesus instruct the Twelve to go forth to preach with authority but to take nothing with them on the journey? Most people who set out on a journ...