Daily Gospel Reflection on Veritas Catholic Network

Today’s Gospel Reading is Mt 5:20-26 Jesus tells us that our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and the pharisees. The scribes and pharisees live out the law “perfectly”. If they are faithful, what is Jesus asking us? How do you pass perfection? Jesus means it isn’t just about doing things the right way, it’s about understanding the law in light of the Gospel. It is the law of love. Le...

Today’s Gospel Reading is Mt 16:13-19 You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. With this confession of faith, Jesus says, “you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” If Jesus is the Son of the Living God than everything that He promises us is true. He is able to make Himself available for us in the Eucharist, He is able to for...

The Gospel Reading from Catholic Mass Today is Lk 11:29-32 Jesus reminds the crowd about what is really happening. He puts Himself in the proper context by comparing Himself to King Solomon & the prophet Jonah. Naturally, Fr. Sam compares Jesus to the Beatles (who, to be fair, compared themselves to Jesus first). The thing to be understood (that Paul, John, George and Ringo probably didn’t und...

The Gospel Reading from Catholic Mass today is Mt 6:7-15 Jesus gives us the “Our Father”, teaching us how to pray. The whole Lenten season is about learning how to pray more intensely. The Our Father reminds us to praise God and to recognize us that God is our Father. It also reminds us that our fellow Christians are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus teaches us to ask boldly for what we ne...

The Gospel Reading from Catholic Mass today is Mt 25:31-36 This is the famous parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus speaks to those who have followed him and have done his will. He says blessed are you because you have fed me, you have clothed me, you visited me and took care of me. To those who ignored him in need he says, when I was hungry and thirsty you did nothing for me. Whatever you did...

The Gospel Reading from Catholic Mass today is Mk 1:12-15 Mark’s Gospel is written with a great sense of urgency. In this passage, Jesus, who had just driven out into the desert for forty days in order to be tested by Satan, returns and begins to preach that it is the “time of fulfillment”. While the "time of fulfillment" happened when Jesus said it, because He remains present to us through the Sa...

The Gospel Reading from Catholic Mass today is Lk 5:27-32  Jesus calls the tax collector Levi (Matthew). When Jesus sees him at the booth he says, “come follow me”, and Matthew immediately gets up to do so. This a perfect example of the way we are called to respond to Jesus, especially during Lent. Jesus calls us now, “come follow me”, and we are to go, immediately. Jesus comes to call sinners to...

The Gospel reading from Catholic Mass today is Mt 9:14-15 This reading reminds us what the season of Lent is all about. In it, Jesus explains to his disciples that He knows (and now we know) where the ministry of Jesus leads. That while we have been saved from our sins and can really commune with Jesus, there is a very real difference in the way Jesus accompanies us. He doesn’t walk with us in the...

The Gospel reading from Catholic Mass today is Lk 9:22-25 "If anyone wishes to come after he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me". Now is a time for repentance and penance. Penance is a mortification of the body mind and spirit. We mortify the appetites so as to increase our discipline and empower us to live a fruitful spiritual life. Penance is also a sacramental grace whe...

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent!  The three primary pillars of this season are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In these three pillars we commune with God, go without lesser goods so as to seek out greater goods, and give in charity to those who are poor. All Christians are called to all three of these during the Lenten season. When we rely on God He unlocks our capacit...

The Gospel reading from Catholic Mass today is Mark 8: 14-21. The perfect reading for Mardi Gras! The disciples have only brought one loaf of bread and are going to be hungry. Jesus, of course, provides for them. As we get ready for lent we should be thinking about prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Thus, along with the disciples, Jesus is reminding us of the times miraculously fed so many. In the mi...

Today's Catholic Mass Gospel Reading is Mark 8:11-13 The Pharisees are pushing Jesus for a sign. Since we’re in the 8th chapter of Mark’s Gospel, they’ve already seen Jesus cleanse Lepers, drive out demons, and perform many miracles. In other words, they should know that Jesus teaches with authority. Thus, Jesus tells them that they won’t receive another sign, because until they see the sign of Jo...

Today’s Sunday Gospel Reading is Mark 1:40-45 Jesus heals a leper with a compassionate touch, telling the him that He does in fact “will” the his healing, that he’d be made whole. We are all called to some kind of healing, and while not all will experience a physical healing, Jesus seeks to make us whole! Ordinarily we’d be celebrating our Lady of Lourdes today. A common theme, every year thousand...

The Gospel reading from Catholic Mass today is Mark 7:31-37 Today’s Gospel illustrates the importance of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Jesus performs physical acts. He prays over the man he heals, He puts his finger in the man’s ear, he says “Ephphatha”, which means “be opened” and the man receives the gift of hearing and speech. The deaf man represents all of us. How often are we incapable of...

The Gospel Reading from Catholic Mass today is Mark 7: 24-30 Jesus encounters the Syrophoenician woman. She comes asking Jesus for something and at first Jesus does something surprising… nothing. Why would Jesus ignore this woman? Jesus ignores her so that she will come even closer to Him, so that her desire for Him would grow. Jesus engages her in conversation: “what is that you really desire, wh...

Today’s Gospel Reading is Mark 7:14-23.   Jesus informs us that what enters us can not defile us spiritually, but rather, it’s what comes from within (the thoughts and motivations of the heart) that actually defile us.   This is all contrary to how the Jewish people understood the “cleanliness” of food. They believed that if you ate an unclean food, there was a real defilement of the soul that hap...

Mark 7:1-13 This is a tough Gospel if we’re being honest. It’s difficult because Jesus is criticized for his disciples not observing every the law. Then, Jesus points out that the pharisees aren’t following the law as they should be. Namely, they’re finding loopholes. Is finding loopholes the right spiritual disposition we should have? Are we selective about which commandments we follow? Do we fin...

Today's Gospel Reading is Mark 6:53-56 The people are immediately looking for people that they can bring to Jesus to heal. They "scurried about" the surrounding country looking for people! This should be taken as a sign of the evangelical zeal, the sense of urgency, that should be embedded within our desire to share the Gospel. To be evangelical means to have a sense of urgency in sharing the Gosp...

Today's Gospel reading is Mark 1:29-39 Jesus takes care of all those people who come to Him, but He also takes the time to go off on His own to pray because He too is restored by His relationship with His Heavenly Father.  Nonetheless, when the disciples find Him to inform Him that "everyone" is looking for Him Jesus decides to go to them as well. This is something we Christians need to remember,...

Today's Gospel Reading Mark 6: 30-34   The apostles, after having gone out on their apostolic mission, have been brought to a new place by Jesus so that they can be refreshed and rest. Ultimately, Jesus then teaches them to pray for vocations.   The saints are the answer to that prayer. They are those who have responded to the call because "the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few". The sa...

Today's Gospel Reading is Luke 2:22-40 Jesus is raised in a family and home that fulfills the Law. Jesus Himself is the fulfillment of the prophets and the Law. Even more than this, Jesus is the reason that the Law even exists, namely, to bring us into right relationship with God. We need the law because we live in a sinful world and the law helps us to understand how to properly live. In other wo...

Today's Gospel is Mark 6:7-13 Jesus instructs the apostles to go out two by two saying "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were s...