Reflections

March 23, 2025 Today's Reading: Luke 13:1-9 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 27:30-45 ; 28:10-22 ; Mark 9:1-13 [Jesus said,] “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Hurry up and wait. That’s often the situation in this world. You scramble to get a paper or project turned in for class by the due date, and then it takes your teacher...

March 22, 2025 Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 3 - Psalm 5:4-8; antiphon: Psalm 1:6 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 27:1-29 ; Mark 8:22-38 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. (Psalm 5:7) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  The world has forgotten to fear God. Christians, too. We’ve managed to turn God into a...

March 21, 2025 Today's Reading: Genesis 25:1-26 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 24:32-52, 61-67 ; Genesis 25:1-26:35 ; Mark 8:1-21 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. (Genesis 25:26) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jacob is well-named. Ya-akob means “heel-grabber,” and he is called Jacob because he wa...

March 20, 2025 Today's Reading: Catechism: The Creed - The Second Article Daily Lectionary: Genesis 24:1-31 ; Mark 7:24-37 Who has redeemed me…not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death… (Small Catechism: The Creed - The Second Article, Explanation) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  I once heard a corny religious joke about a rich man who want...

March 19, 2025 Today's Reading: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 22:1-19 ; Mark 7:1-23 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:14-15) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. St. Joseph has a small but very im...

March 18, 2025 Today's Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 21:1-21 ; Mark 6:35-56 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:20-21) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Imitation is the sincere...

March 17, 2025 Today's Reading: Jeremiah 26:8-15 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 18:1-15 ; Genesis 18:16-20:18 ; Mark 6:14-34 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. (Jeremiah 26:13) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  You’d better shape up! Perhaps one of your parents or a teacher or a...

March 16, 2025 Today's Reading: Luke 13:31-35 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 16:1-9, 15-17:22 ; Mark 6:1-13 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! (Luke 13:34) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  People don’t like to hear God’s Word. It’...

March 15, 2025 Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 2 - Psalm 74:1-3; antiphon: Psalm 69:9 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 15:1-21 ; Mark 5:21-43 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. (Psalm 69:9) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  The Lord our God is a zealous God. He often reminds us of that in the sacred Scripture. Being zealous can be sinfu...

March 14, 2025  Today's Reading: Mark 5:1-20 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 13:1-18 ; Genesis 14:1-24 ; Mark 5:1-20 And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. (Mark 5:13) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Unclean spirits hate water. When Jesus explains what happens after an unclean spiri...

March 13, 2025 Today's Reading: Catechism: The Creed - The First Article Daily Lectionary: Genesis 11:27-12:20 ; Mark 4:21-41 He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. (Small Catechism: The Creed - The First Article, Explanation) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  “Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill; they sha...

March 12, 2025 Today's Reading: Genesis 8:13-9:17 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 8:13-9:17 ; Genesis 9:18-11:26 ; Mark 4:1-20 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  There’s something special about the blood. Prior to the flood, God had given man “every plant yielding seed that is on the face of al...

March 11, 2025  Today's Reading: Romans 10:8b-13 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 7:11-8:12 ; Mark 3:20-35 “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” (Romans 10:8b) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  St. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:14 to remind us of our proximity to the Word of God. “It is not in heaven,” Moses writes. “Neither is it beyond the sea.” Though it is indeed a heavenly Word and a fo...

March 10, 2025 Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 6:1-7:5 ; Mark 3:1-19 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:11) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God is, by nature, a gift-giver. The wandering Aramean who went down into Egypt and sojourned th...

March 9, 2025  Today's Reading: Luke 4:1-13 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 4:1-26 ; Mark 2:18-28 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (Luke 4:3-4) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Did you catch that? It’s subtle, but it says a world about how the thoughts of the devil and Jesus...

March 8, 2025 Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 1 - Psalm 91:9-13; antiphon: Psalm 91:15-16 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 3:1-24 ; Mark 2:1-17 “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Coming up tomorrow is the Temptation of Jesus. We will hear the devil tempt our Savior three times. In one of those temptations, Satan will qu...

March 7, 2025 Today's Reading: Mark 1:29-45 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 2:4-25 ; Mark 1:29-45 “That evening at sundown they brought to Him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.” (Mark 1:32) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Why did they wait until evening to bring people to Jesus? Turns out, back in verse 21, we find out it was the Sabbath Day until the sun went down. And even though Jesus had alrea...

March 6, 2025 Today's Reading: Catechism: Close of the Commandments Daily Lectionary: Genesis 1:20-2:3 ; Mark 1:14-28 What does God say about all these commandments? He says, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My c...

March 5, 2025  Today's Reading: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Daily Lectionary: Genesis 1:1-19 ; Mark 1:1-13 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  It’s always fascinating that the Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday, the day we put very visible a...

March 4, 2025 Today's Reading: Hebrews 3:1-6 Daily Lectionary: Job 36:1-21 ; John 11:38-57 “But Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in hope.” (Hebrews 3:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  I will spare you from asking whether or not we’re a building (The answer is yes: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Peter 2:4-5.), but there’s a...

March 3, 2025 Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Daily Lectionary: Job 34:10-33 ; John 11:17-37 “…and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:12) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  What is the First Commandment? You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Some...

March 2, 2025  Today's Reading: Luke 9:28-36 Daily Lectionary: Job 33:19-34:9 ; John 11:1-16 “…His clothing became dazzling white.” (Luke 9:29b) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  In the beginning, there was no need for clothes. Adam and Eve didn’t have them, and nobody seemed to mind. At least, at first. Ever since, there has been a difference between the clothes that we wear for ourselves and the cl...

March 1, 2025 Today's Reading: Introit for Transfiguration of our Lord - Psalm 84:1-2, 9, 11; antiphon: Psalm 84:4 Daily Lectionary: Job 33:1-18 ; John 10:22-42 “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!” (Psalm 84:1) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Tomorrow, the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of Jesus. On that mountaintop, Peter will say, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let...

February 28, 2025 Today's Reading: Job 31:1-12, 33-40 Daily Lectionary: Job 31:1-12, 33-40 ; John 9:24-41 “Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!” (Job 31:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  When Christians are confronted with suffering in their lives, they often read the book of Job. After all, Job suffered, and God blessed him. Maybe there’s some secret in there for us...

February 27, 2025 Today's Reading: Catechism: The Tenth Commandment Daily Lectionary: Job 30:16-31 ; John 9:1-23 What is the Tenth Commandment? You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, o...