Catholic Daily Reflections

Read Online Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.” Mark 12:10–12 Today’s Gospel takes place during...

Read Online God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the nam...

Read Online Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” Mark 11:27–28 Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem for Passover, which would culminate in His death. In the preceding...

Read Online Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots. Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Mark 11:20–21 The prophets often used the image of a barren fig tree to symbolize Israel’s fruitless spirituality (cf. Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 8:13). Though they were God’s chosen people, with whom God es...

Read Online As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Mark 10:46–48 T...

Read Online “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.” Mark 10:33–34 How often do we fail to grasp the suffering of others, consumed instead by our own c...

Read Online Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Mark 10:28 Peter had just witnessed Jesus’ conversation with the rich young man, to whom Jesus said, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). After the young man went away sad because he had many possessions, Jesus turned to the di...

Read Online Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. John 19:25–27 Yesterday, we celebrated the grea...

Read Online Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” John 20:21–23 Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, which took place fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead. Toda...

Read Online Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” John 21:20–22 Just before today’s...

Read Online Meeting Us Where We Are At After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time…” John 21:15–16 Today’s resurrection appearance is the thir...

Read Online “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24 You are the Father’s gift to Jesus the Son. What an amazing reality to understand! This profound truth is at the heart of today’s Gospel in which Jesus speaks of the unique and intimate rela...

Read Online “Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.”  John 17:11 In the ancient world, a name was not only a means of identification but also an expression of the authority and power that the person possessed. For instance, when a king or ruler issued a decree, it was done “in the...

Read Online “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.” John 17:9–10 Though the Church has traditionally summarized sin under the seven capital sins, sin is also understood to arise from three primary sources: the flesh, the world, and t...

Read Online The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” John 16:29–30 Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus often speaks in allegories and metaphors that the disciples struggle to comprehend. Among these, He refe...

Read Online Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.” John 17:1–2 The entirety of Chapter 17 of John’s Gospel is traditionally referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. This prayer concludes the Last Sup...

Read Online The Prayer of Divine Worship Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” John 16:23–24 During Jesus’ Last Supper Discourse, the theme of praying to the Father in Jesus’ name comes up repeatedly. Each time, Je...

Read Online “When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” John 16:21–22 When we live fully united to...

Read Online One of the Twelve “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles. Acts 1:24–26 Matthias, the saint we honor today, was named an Apostle to replace...

Read Online “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18–20 What a monumental task the Apostles were given! These are Jesus’ p...

Read Online Bearing All Truth Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”  John 16:12–13 Even Jesus’ closest companions, who spent three years with Him during His public ministry, could not bear the fullness of Truth without the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. This is a significan...

Read Online Finding Hope in Grief Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” John 16:5–7 Each of us experiences g...

Read Online Giving Bold Witness Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26–27 The Last Supper Discourse spans from Chapters 13–17 in John’s Gospel, making it Jesus’ longest continuous teaching i...

Read Online “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.” John 14:18–20 The feeling of being an orphan, of longing for belonging, reflects a deeper spiritual reality Jesus addressed with His disciples in...

Read Online Chosen Out of the World Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.” John 15:18–19 No one wants to be hated. Yet our Lord makes it very clear that because He has “chosen you out of...