The 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal said that most of us spend our lives seeking diversions in a desperate attempt to avoid the hard and simple questions: who am I? What is...
Homily: Fourteenth Sunday Year C Reading 1: To a people who are returning to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon, their initial reaction is disheartening. The city is in total destruction. It...
K. Chesterton once said, “A saint only means a man who really knows that he is a sinner. "St. Anselm, the great medieval theologian who is often unfairly blamed for the cruel theology...
Reflection on Scripture Fourteenth Sunday Gospel C Disciples sent to minister
By spiritaflame 10:54 AMFourteenth Sunday Gospel CAt that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. · These seventy-two are disciples other...
“As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came...
"And yet you hear people complaining about this present day and age because things were so much better in former times. I wonder what would happen if they could be taken back to...
St. Augustine gives the meaning of the feast of the Sacred Heart: “Let us return to the heart that we may find Him” Pope Benedict XVI once said: “This Heart consists, not of...
Today, as we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, we are reminded that he was a prophet of the Most High God. He was called to prepare the way for the coming...
Homily: 13th Sunday Year C Reading 1: Elijah is a prophet of God who served God faithfully. Now, he is called by God to pass the baton, the torch of prophecy to...
As Catholics, we focus more on Jesus than the Holy Spirit. But the two work hand in hand. Father Cantalamessa explains it this way: "It was the Holy Spirit who gave force to...
Thirteenth Sunday Gospel CWhen the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. · Jesus’ ministry in Galilee has been...
"Take care above all things, most honored lady, not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one...
If we are not to lie when we call ourselves "Christians," we must bear witness to it by our way of living."(St. Gregory of Nyssa)This quote puts our lives into perspective. Be who...
St. Ambrose wrote: The bread is bread before the sacramental words are pronounced. . . Which words make the consecration effective and whose words are they? They belong to the Lord Jesus! Everything...
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"O precious and wonderful banquet that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness! Could anything be of more intrinsic value? Under the old law it was the flesh of calves and goats that...
Novena prayer to Sacred Heart of Jesus June 15-23, 2022 O Divine Jesus, you said: Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto...
Homily: Feast of Corpus Christi Year C Reading 1: We know very little about the person Melchizedek. He was King of Jerusalem and priest of God. He recognized that Abraham was a...
"When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries." (St. Josemaria Escriva)How blessed are we to have the presence of Jesus in our day, in our...
Reflection on Scripture Feast of Corpus Christi Gospel C Anticipating the Gift of Eucharist
By spiritaflame 8:17 AMFeast of Corpus Christi Gospel CJesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. · Notice Jesus confirmed his teaching by healing those in...
“I am the bread of life….I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for...
"Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed...
"Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. . ....
Homily Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity Reading 1: We say God is All-wise. The Holy Spirit is personified as Wisdom. The Old Testament people were not able to grasp the mystery of...
In today's Gospel we hear Jesus say to his disciples: "Unless your righteousness surpasses the Scribes and Pharisees you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven." What was the righteousness of the...
Eleventh Sunday Gospel CA Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that...
"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you...
Where do you find your true joy, the joy that is not just a feeling, but an inner realization of fulfillment? The prophet Isaiah gives us the answer. "I rejoice heartily in the...
" It is a question of an inner strength, rooted in love (cf. Eph 3:17), which St. Paul writes about to the faithful of Ephesus: may the Father "grant you in accord with the...
The Blessed Virgin Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment she was conceived in her mother's womb. For she was conceived by God's grace from from Original Sin and sharing...
Thought of the Day June 1, 2022 Our transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit
By spiritaflame 11:44 AMYesterday, we reflected on the power and role of the Holy Spirit in the conception of the Son of God as Man with the consent of Mary. We reflected on the first "epiclesis"...
