Scriptural Quote

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The Gospel Message of Today and Daily Resolution

Matthew 6: 19-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Father Paul brief homily based on the above Gospel reading was very profound. He said that people have a tendency to love things and use people. They should instead use things and love people.

I will do everything this day out of love for Christ and to help establish his Kingdom, renewing my conscious efforts to store up treasures in heaven.

Regnum Christi Daily Meditation

Gospel - 5th Sunday of Lent - The Woman Caught in Adultery

John 8: 1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the women before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Father Romeo gave an interesting homily tonight based on the Gospel reading.

When the Pharisees and the scribes brought the adulterous women to His attention, Jesus was on the ground writing in the dirt.  Father illustrated the following point to us.  He said that when we do not like or are not interested in what we are hearing, we do not pay attention; we busy ourselves with other things.  This is what Jesus did by bending over and writing on the ground with His fingers.  He did not like what the Pharisees and the scribes were up to.

I thought it was interesting that the main question of that Gospel passage according to Father Romeo was not WHAT was Jesus writing but instead WHY was Jesus writing on the ground in front of the Pharisees and scribes.

Father went on to say that when we gossip about our neighbors, God will not listen to our prayers.  Prayers like those are not heard by God.  Just like Jesus would not listen to the Pharisees and scribes.

Another point Father made was the fact that Jesus referred to the woman caught in adultery as "Woman". Father reminded us that Jesus only called one other woman "Woman" and that was His own mother. Father said that Jesus was giving dignity to that woman by referring to her as "Woman".

Keep in mind that Father's homily was more eloquent.

The Transfiguration

Good homily by Fr. Ignatius who offers a contrast of Mount Tabor and Mount Calvary.

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time

...Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light..." (Matthew 11:25-30)

Gospel- Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Matt. 16: 18-19
Source

11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel - 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio

Lady in Blue

The following reflection is by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen on the Wedding Feast at Cana.

Picture the marriage feast of Cana.

There our blessed Lord is beyond the Jordan, gathering up His first disciples. Mary is already at the feast. The Lord comes with His new disciples, and Mary who always knows our wants before we know them, says, "They have no wine."

They had water, the water of the Old Testament, but they had no wine.

And Jesus replies, "Woman"- not mother- "Woman, what to me is to thee?" That is the way it is in the original. "My hour has not yet come." The hour refers to His passion and death, His combat with evil.

Now He is equivalently saying to His mother, "My dear mother, you want me to begin my public life,
to declare myself the Messiah and the Son of God.
Do you realize that the moment I do that, your relationship to me changes?
You will then no longer be my mother.
You will then be the mother of everyone whom I will redeem.
You will be the universal mother of all mankind.
You will be the woman of Genesis.
You will be the mother of the living."

Mary's heart must have burned at not hearing herself called "mother." So our blessed Lord, it seems, anticipated His public life.

It is not often that mothers send their sons to the battlefield. Mary did. If the Father sent the Son, the mother would send the Son.

From Through the Year with Fulton Sheen: Inspirational Selections for Each Day of the Year. Compled by Henry Dieterich.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

The Good Shepherd by Murillo Source: All Posters

Third Sunday of Easter

Supper at Emmaus by Jacobo Bassano

Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday

Doubting Thomas by Peter Paul Rubens
My Lord and My God

Spy Wednesday

Palm Sunday

Painting by Giotto

5th Sunday of Lent

Painting by Giotto

St. John 11: 1-45

Fourth Sunday of Lent - Laetare Sunday

Gospel - Third Sunday of Lent

The Woman of Samaria at the Well
by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1282-1339

Our Lord's Tears

Engraving of Jesus' Lamentation Over Jerusalem
by Gustave Dore
In meditating on one of Fr. Patrick Peyton's Sorrowful mystery passages, I was struck by the thought of Jesus crying. When I think of Jesus, I think of him as a serious young man, thoughtful and wise. Yet, I'm sure our Lord had a sense of humor. Even more striking is the thought that he also wept.

We have the passage in Luke (19:38-42) as he entered triumphantly into Jerusalem:

"...They proclaimed: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.'

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.'
He said in reply, 'I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!'

As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If this day you only knew what makes for peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes'..."

We also have the passage in John 11:32:35 when Lazarus dies:

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Sir, come and see.'

And Jesus wept.

My poor Jesus, you shed your precious tears while you walked the earth and now you continue to weep for all the pains we cause you by our sins. May I in my small and meager ways try to relieve your sufferings daily by little sacrifices of self-denial.

The Second Sunday of Lent

The Transfiguration of Our Lord by Duccio di Buoninsegna

First Sunday of Lent