Mass Reading & Meditation for September 19, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 8:4-15
There’s something miraculous about the growth of a seed.
When planted in rich soil and watered regularly, this small, hard pellet slowly turns into something completely different. We don’t have to tell the seed how to do it. It just knows what to do. And in that mysterious process, we see God’s handiwork.
There’s [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 18, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: 1 Timothy 6:2-12
The love of money is the root of all evils. (1 Timothy 6:10)
We all know that money can be a source of temptation. But how can it be “the root of all evils”—especially these days, when it’s so scarce? In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola gives us an answer. [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 17, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 7:36-50
As she wept at Jesus’ feet, bathed them with her tears, and anointed them, the woman in today’s Gospel reading shamelessly demonstrated her love for Jesus.
She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t fear rejection. Her actions overflowed from a conviction deep in her soul that Jesus loved her, and she wanted to return that [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 16, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 7:31-35
We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep. (Luke 7:32)
At some time in your life, you may have experienced communication problems with someone close to you—perhaps a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, or a relative. You tried to talk to them, [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 15, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: John 19:25-27
Our Lady of Sorrows
If you have ever visited St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, you’ve probably spent a few moments admiring Michelangelo’s Pietà. And even if you’ve only seen a picture of this well-known sculpture, you know how poignantly it portrays Our Lady of Sorrows. A powerful meditation in marble, it shows Mary [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 12, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 6:43-49
“Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.”
This old adage has much gospel truth within it. In fact, today’s reading about fruit reflecting the kind of tree it comes from says something very similar. How and where you are rooted shows the way you will grow and [...]

Mass Reading & Meditation for September 11, 2009

Catholic Meditations
Meditation: 1 Timothy 1:1-2,12-14
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man. (1 Timothy 1:13).
What a graphic, but accurate, picture this passage paints of St. Paul before his conversion! He supported and even enabled the execution of the deacon Stephen (Acts 8:1). He “persecuted the church of God beyond measure and [...]