Category Archives: Lent

Mar 03 2024

He Understands Us Well / Dios Nos Entiende Bien

Click here for daily readings Jesus came to save. From what? From sin, yes. From death, yes. But he goes to the very root cause of those things in every word and action of his life – and the root is hypocrisy and eg...

Mar 02 2024

Christ’s Universal Love / El Amor Universal de Cristo

Click here for daily readings Several months ago, I had the privilege of serving as Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for the first time at a Sunday Mass. Although I had jumped in a time or two to help out during daily Ma...

Mar 01 2024

Rejected but Redeemed / Rechazado Pero Redimido

Click here for daily readings Both the story of Joseph and the parable of the vineyard tell us that God prepares our good works ahead of time and that no matter what happens, our experiences are not wasted. Unless we choo...

Feb 29 2024

God’s Lavish Ways / Las Maneras Abundantes de Dios

Click here for daily readings When God does things, he does them lavishly. The book of Genesis opens with the stunning array of all creation being poured forth from God’s hands in his limitless love. And here, in th...

Feb 28 2024

Uncomfortable Being Uncomfortable / Incómodos con la Incomodidad

Click here for daily readings Today my oldest brother turns 52 years old. Sometimes it blows my mind. It seems like just yesterday we were all growing up together in a big white house in West Michigan, playing outside all day ev...

Feb 27 2024

Phylacteries and Tassels / Filacterias y Franjas

Click here for daily readings To a 21st Century individual, the word “phylactery” isn’t commonplace. Tassels are more widely recognized, but usually as the fringe of a scarf or rug. What do these things ...

Feb 26 2024

Undeserved Mercy / La Misericordia Inmerecida

Click here for daily reading During Lent, we have many occasions to express contrition, sorrow for our sins. Alongside this contrition are frequent reminders of the great mercy of God. In our first reading, Daniel goes th...

Feb 25 2024

Mountaintop Experiences / Experiencias en la Cima del Monte

Click here for daily readings A popular church hymn declares, “Glory and Praise to Our God, who alone gives light to our days. Many are the blessings He bears to those who trust in His ways”. We can see the gl...

Feb 24 2024

Be Perfect? Be Different. / ¿Ser perfecto? Ser Diferente.

Click here for daily readings “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” When I read these words of Jesus, I’m always a little confused. I am, after all, human. How can I be perfect? &l...

Feb 23 2024

What God Really Wants / Lo Que Dios Realmente Quiere

Click here for daily readings Jesus often calls his listeners to surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, the ones who kept the Law perfectly and put themselves in high places of judgment over others. We ar...

Feb 22 2024

Keys That Bind and Loose / Llaves que Atan y Desatan

Click here for daily readings In today’s Gospel, we encounter a pivotal moment in the life of Jesus and the foundation of His Church: the profound truth that because of Peter’s clear confession of faith, he be...

Feb 21 2024

An Evil Generation That Needs the Lord / Una Generación Malvada que Necesita al Señor

Click here for daily readings Imagine how the Jews reacted when Jesus told the crowd that they were an evil generation and compared them to the Ninevites. As we might recall, in the Old Testament, God told Jonah to go to ...

Feb 20 2024

Forgive, Yes. Forget, No. / Perdonar, Sí. Olvidar, No.

Click here for daily readings I love this reading! I love this wording of a familiar prayer that I can recite so easily. I love it because this version doesn’t roll so easily off the tongue and as I trip over the wo...

Feb 19 2024

God Crowns His Own Gifts / Dios Corona a sus Propios Dones

Click here for daily readings In our walk with Christ, we can mistakenly think that all we must do in order to be a good Christian is to avoid sin. It reminds me of my son when he was four years old. He asked me what I wo...

Feb 18 2024

Covenant and Commitment / Alianza y Compromiso

Click here for daily readings At first glance it may seem a little odd that the first Sunday of Lent would have a reading about God’s covenant with Noah. We all know the story. God sent a flood to wipe out the earth...

Feb 17 2024

Repentance / El Arrepentimiento

Click here for daily readings It is Saturday, Feb. 17, the fourth day of Lent. We are already one-tenth of the way through the Lenten journey. Let’s face it, the Catholic Church goes all in at the beginning of Lent,...

Feb 16 2024

Being Jesus’ Disciple in Today’s World / Ser Discípulo de Jesús en el Mundo de Hoy

Click here for daily readings Today’s Gospel includes a passage from Matthew that states “John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not...

Feb 15 2024

Deny Yourself / Negar a Ti Mismo

Click here for daily readings Lent has begun. It’s time to focus on prayer, almsgiving and fasting. My prayer and fasting this year will focus on the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, ‘Laudate Deum’...

Feb 14 2024

A Silent Proclamation on our Foreheads / Una Proclamación Silenciosa en la Frente

Click here for daily readings Today’s Gospel sets the tone for the whole season of Lent, a season marked deeply by self-examination and repentance, reflection and reparation, all of which are encapsulated in the rem...

Apr 08 2023

The Joy of the Resurrection / La Alegría de la Resurrección

Click here for daily readings How do you begin to describe with words the joy in the Resurrection scene? There probably aren’t any ways in spoken language to capture the raw emotion Mary Magdalene must have felt at ...