Reflections

It is the beginning of the sixth century before Christ, about the year 590 BC. The Kingdom of Judah and its capital Jerusalem are terrified. The Babylonians are on the march. They have conquered the Assyrians. Tarsus and Damascus to the North have fallen. All of Mesopotamia, the nations between the Tigris and Euphrates, have […]

When I first read today’s readings (2 Chronicles 24:17‑25 and Matthew 6:24–34), they did not seem to belong together.  Chronicles tells us about King Joash seeming to have learned nothing from the consequences of a sinful society, even though he himself had been saved from death through God’s intercession in yesterday’s readings. The story relates a now

If we thought Queen Jezebel was bad, wait until we read about Queen Athalia (2 Kings 11:1-20).  She was a daughter of King Ahab, but Jezebel probably was not her mother.  Her influence on King Jehoram, her late husband, however, paralleled that of Jezebel on King Ahab. When her son, King Ahaziah died at the

After hearing about the exploits of Elijah in the Second Book of Kings, concluded in yesterday’s reading, today (Sirach 48:1‑15, also known as Ecclesiasticus 48:1-15) we hear Sirach’s poetic description and praise of this prophet.   Sirach provided a similar writing about David’s life. Recall that in a previous Daily Reflection we discussed that the

For some time now, the First Readings at Mass have been following the prophet Elijah, arguably the most righteous person in the Old Testament.  He has lived a long life, been at the center of many dramatic events, and has trained a replacement, young Elisha.  But now, Elijah’s time is over, and God is about

On June 16, 1976, nearly ten thousand black students from Soweto, South Africa, woke up and prepared to join a march in protest against the apartheid regime.  They were speaking out against the discrimination they suffered at school as black children and the poor standard of the curriculum.  In response to the march, the South

Our Gospel readings of this past week have been taken from the Sermon on the Mount.  This sermon stretches over three chapters in Matthew’s Gospel and is the longest single stretch of Jesus’ teachings to be found in Scripture.  The purpose of the sermon is to teach his followers about what the Kingdom of God

The Gospel today (Matthew 9:36 – 10:8) opens with Jesus looking over the crowds of people. He is filled with compassion for them. They are “harassed and helpless” like sheep without a shepherd. Things have not changed that much today. Many are still harassed by various forces and helpless, drifting without any real direction in

There is something about Mary that many non-Catholics have a hard time understanding.   They will insist that Mary does not bother them, it is how Catholics worship Mary that bothers them.  You can read in the most extreme anti-Catholic literature that Catholics have effectively promoted Mary to the fourth person of the Trinity. If

Each summer, usually in June, nineteen days after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Gospels, Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the crowds (Matthew 9:36) and He tells us that He is gentle and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29). The Sacred Heart of Jesus that began