Catholic Daily Reflections

Read Online When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. Mark 6:34 Both Jesus and the Twelve Apostles had been working very hard. The Twelve had been out on mission to many of the neighboring towns preaching, healing the sick and casting out demons. Upon the completion of the...

Read Online The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. Matthew 12:14–16 This passage goes on to say that Jesus withdrew to a more deserted place to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 42:1–4). That prophecy...

Read Online Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” Matthew 12:1–2 When Moses gave the Ten Commandments to the people, there was a prohibition against working on the Sabbath. The Third Com...

Read Online “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Matthew 11:29–30 For those first followers of Jesus, a “yoke” was a familiar term. Many would have worked with oxen and other animals on a regular basis to plow their fields. To do so, they would place a wooden yoke over the oxen...

Read Online At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”  Matthew 11:25 This passage is in stark contrast to the passage just before it in which Jesus chastised the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for not repenting and believing in H...

Read Online “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.” Matthew 11:21–22 Chorazin and Bethsaida were Jewish towns that Jesus visited frequently to preach and to perf...

Read Online “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37–38 At first read, this appears to be a difficult teaching of our Lord. But when properly understood, it is clear that it helps us keep our relationships with G...

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. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. Mark 6:7–9 If you felt called by God to go forth to another land to spread the Gospel message, you most...

Read Online “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” Matthew 10:27 What is it that our Lord speaks to you in the “darkness” and what is it that you “hear whispered” by Him? This is an important question to consider, since whatever it is that is spoken that way must be spoken “in the light” and proclaimed “on the housetops.” Recall...

Read Online “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matthew 10:19–20 This is an easy lesson to understand but very hard to live. This teaching of Jesus comes within the context of Him telling His Apostles that...

Read Online “Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” Matthew 10:14–15 Recall how Jesus harshly condemned the Pharisees for their hardness of heart. In Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 23, Jesus issues sev...

Read Online Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 10:5–7 The very last words of Jesus, just prior to His Ascension into Heaven, expands the mandate we read above that Jesus gave to His Apost...

Read Online Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35–36 Jesus was quite zealous for souls. Zeal is an energy, a passion and a drive...

Read Online A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter!  Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. Matthew 9:20–21 What a tremendous amount of faith this woman had! She had suffered...

Read Online Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Mark 6:4–6 Why was Jesus “not able to perform any mighty deed” in His hometown of Nazareth? Because the peop...

Read Online “No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16–17 The parable above teaches us that even if some...

Read Online “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.  Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  Matthew 9:12–13 Would you describe yourself as one who is “well” or one who is “sick?” Are you among the “righteous” or the “sinners?” Be careful how you answer this question. Of course, the pride that...

Read Online After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” Matthew 9:1–2 Just prior to this passage, Jesus cast out demons from two men from the town of the Gadarenes. Afterwards, the townspeople told Him to l...

Read Online “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” John 20:27–29 Thomas the Apostle, in many ways, represents each and every one of...

Read Online As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. Matthew 8:23–24 This experience had quite an impression upon the disciples, which is evidenced by the fact that it is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels. We also see this in the concluding words of the story after Jesus c...

Read Online “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”  Matthew 8:19–20 It is unclear from this passage alone why Jesus answered this scribe the way He did. At first, the statement of the scribe seems very devout: “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” But many of the C...

Read Online He took the child by the hand and said to her, “ Talitha koum ,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat. Mark 5:41–43 Jairus was the leader of the synagogue in Capernaum. In...

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 16:17–19 Saints Peter and Paul are often referred to as two of the great...

Read Online When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Matthew 8:1–4 To do homage to another is to publicly express reverence and respect. This is what this leper did to Jesus. He “did him homage.” But the leper went even further. He also expressed his certain faith that Jesus...

Read Online When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7:28–29 These lines conclude the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew’s Gospel chapters 5–7. In that lengthy sermon, Jesus touches on many topics and presents us with a summary of all we need to know in our lives of faith. In these c...