Mass Reading & Meditation for November 5, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Psalm 27
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom do I fear? (Psalm 27:1)
David had a host of things to fear: enemies and foes coming “to devour” his flesh; armies encamped, and wars waged, against him; even the threat of disruption in his immediate family. But in the midst of all these [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for November 1, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Matthew 5:1-12
All Saints
Blessed are they … (Matthew 5:4)
It’s easy to read the beatitudes and see in them the lives of the saints. We could probably take a pencil and paper right now and make a quick list: poor in spirit—St. Francis; mourning—St. Monica; hungry for righteousness—St. Benedict; merciful—Mother Teresa; clean of heart—St. Maria [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 31, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Romans 11:1-2, 11-12,25-29
The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)
St. Paul grieved deeply that many of his fellow Jews had not accepted the gospel message. Earlier in his letter to the Romans, Paul expressed “great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart” for the Jewish people, and even went so [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 30, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 14:1-6
Once again, Jesus found himself in the middle of a controversy.
The Pharisees who confronted him held to a limited interpretation of God’s commands, which led them to suspect Jesus and look for any opportunity to trip him up. For his part, Jesus took their scrutiny as a chance to teach them about [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 28, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Ephesians 2:19-22
Sts. Simon and Jude
You are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 2:19-20)
Have you ever researched your family tree? It’s an interesting way to find out where you came from, and it can tell you a [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 26, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Romans 8:12-17
Adoption and slavery—what a contrast!
St. Paul used these images because he wanted to emphasize, in the strongest terms possible, the difference between living in “the flesh” and living in the Spirit.
When Paul talks about the flesh (Romans 8:12), he isn’t referring to our physical bodies—which were created by God and are “very [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 24, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 13:1-9
How many parents do you know who, at one point or another, have had to threaten their child with some kind of serious consequence for bad behavior?
Hopefully the threat is given in love and from a desire to form the child properly. Good parents will do whatever is necessary to nurture and [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 21, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 12:39-48
If the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. (Luke 12:39)
Have you ever wondered why Jesus compared himself to a thief when preaching about his second coming? Why did he also use the example of a [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 20, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Romans 5:12,15,17-21
Coming home from Mass one Sunday morning, a woman decided to quiz her teenage son.
“Did you enjoy Mass?” she asked. “It was okay,” came the somewhat indifferent response. “What did you think the homily was about?” The boy replied, “It was about Jesus, and the priest was for him.” “Was that all?” [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for October 19, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 12:13-21
A man appeals to Jesus for justice against a brother who isn’t sharing with him, but Jesus doesn’t intervene.
Instead, he cautions the questioner against the poison of greed, telling a story about a barn-building fool who “stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God” (Luke 12:21).
The [...]