Category Archives: Daily Reflection

Persistence

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Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us a glimpse into the ordinary life of Saint Paul and how God’s extraordinary grace works through very human circumstances.

Paul arrives in Corinth, a bustling, morally complex city (a nice way of saying it was a typical naval port town). Apart from its activities in support of Mediterranean trade and shipping, because of its international flavor it was a center of a wide variety of temples. One of the larger communities was Jewish, in part because of political persecution in Rome. It is there that Paul  meets Aquila and Priscilla, refugees from Rome. It seems as though they met in the course of their ordinary work: tentmakers. Of course, we remember them as great evangelizers.

This passage reminds us that evangelization often begins and happens in the ordinary. Paul’s partnership with Aquila and Priscilla is not just practical—it’s providential. It’s a reminder for us: our workplaces, our homes, our daily routines can become sacred spaces if we allow God to work through them.

Later in the passage, we see Paul’s persistent preaching. Despite rejection in the synagogue, he doesn’t give up. He simply moves next door, to the house of Titius Justus. And what happens? Crispus, the synagogue leader, comes to believe in the Lord, along with his entire household. Paul’s endurance, guided by the Spirit, bears fruit—just not in the way or place he may have first expected.

Paul is “kicked out” of Corinth, but he has sown the seeds of faith. Someone else will harvest the fruit of his work – as it often is and will be.

So, what does this mean for us? Few of us are preachers, but your example of faith in your job, in your family, or among your neighbors, can touch hearts. Maybe you’re facing rejection or disappointment, but, like Paul, be persistent; don’t give up. New possibilities exist in the very next session of ordinary. And don’t convince yourself that your life is too ordinary to matter in God’s plan. The history of CHristianity is a story of butchers, bakers, candlestick makers – and tentmakers, too – being used by God as a springboard for the Gospel.

Ask for the grace today to be faithful in the ordinary, open to the Spirit’s prompting, and persistent in love, so that like Paul, we trust that God is at work, even when we can’t yet see the full fruit..

Image credit: Saint Paul Writing His Epistles | attributed to Valentin de Boulogne | Houston Museum of Fine Arts| PD-US

Faith that Frees

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In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Silas are stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison. Their only “crime” was setting a slave girl free from possession by a spirit – and interfering with the men who profited by her oracles. But what stands out most in this passage isn’t the injustice they suffered — it’s what they did while imprisoned: they prayed and sang hymns to God.

Paul and Silas were not only physically bound, but also humiliated and wounded. Yet, “about midnight”, when things seemed darkest, they chose to pray and sing. This is more than optimism — it is deep trust in God. They didn’t wait for their chains to fall off before worshiping. They worshiped while still in chains.

What about us? How often do we wait for our problems to be solved before thanking God? Paul and Silas show us that praise is not dependent on our situation — it needs to be rooted in our relationship with God.

“there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose” (Acts 16:26)

But Paul and Silas don’t run — and neither do the other prisoners. Something about their prayerful presence kept everyone calm and centered.

What about us? I hope you realize that your quiet prayers, your long years of trust in God might be helping others just by being steady, faithful, and present. It is witness and can influence those around us. The jailer, who was ready to take his own life thinking the prisoners had escaped, finds hope because of their witness. Paul says, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” (v.28)  The jailer, shaken to the core, falls before them and asks: “…what must I do to be saved?”

Paul responds with the Gospel in its simplest form: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” That very night, the jailer and his whole household are baptized. He who once held Paul and Silas captive now washes their wounds. This is the power of grace: it reverses roles, heals enemies, and brings salvation where there was despair.

When we find ourselves “in prison” — whether through suffering, discouragement, or uncertainty — may we remember this lesson from Paul and Silas. Let us choose prayer over panic, praise over bitterness, and faith over fear. God still opens prison doors and loosens chains — sometimes not by removing the problem, but by transforming hearts, starting with our own.

Image credit: “Paul and Silas in Prison” | Joseph Mulder (ca.1725) | Museum of Fine Arts Ghent | PS-US

Love: the obedience of Faith

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This is my commandment: love one another as I love you…You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12,14)

I have to admit the words “if you do what I command you” have always struck me as somewhat “off.” These words come in the middle of a long talk Jesus is giving the Apostles. It occurs after the conclusion of the Last Supper but before the events at the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus is arrested and begins the Passion. Is Jesus’ love and friendship going to be conditional or provisional in some way? Does this mean the statement “Jesus loves us no matter what” has some serious limits somewhere in the small print?

There is something huge being played out that gives context to Jesus’ words. Jesus is offering a relationship far deeper than that of a master-servant. He calls His disciples “friends”, not just followers or servants. This is radical —friendship with the Son of God is possible. But this friendship is not casual or superficial. It’s grounded in obedience to His commands, which center around love (John 15:12 – “Love one another as I have loved you”).

Maybe, like me, you sometimes hear this as conditional: “I’ll be your friend only if you obey.” But the long arc of Jesus’ teaching and his mission shows that He is not setting a bar they must clear to earn His friendship. Rather obedience is the evidence of that friendship. It is the fruit of abiding in the love of Jesus. Friendship leads us into His way, following His words and actions. We may not always understand, but we trust our friend. This walk with Jesus naturally leads to transformation so that we want to obey Him.. 

St. Paul talks about the obedience of faith in Letter to the Romans.  It is a phrase that reflects the covenantal nature of love. Biblical love is covenantal, not just emotional. Jesus is inviting His disciples (and us)  into a relationship that mirrors His relationship with the Father—a relationship marked by love and shared purpose. His command is not a burdensome law, but a calling to live in the fullness of divine love.

It is this obedience of faith that echoes a reading earlier this week: the parable of the Vine and the Branches. The goal is to remain in Jesus and bear good fruit. A passive faith that shows no evidence of a transformation is not what Jesus means when He says “love one another as I love you.” It is about love one another sacrificially; always seeking the good for the other.

John 15:14 is not about Jesus setting conditions for His affection. It’s about revealing the nature of true friendship with Him—a relationship of intimacy, loyalty, and obedience. To be Jesus’ friend is to walk in His love, listen to His voice, and live His way.

Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), “Jesus taking leave of his Apostles,” ca. 1310 | Panel 4 of the Maestro, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | PD-US

Pruning

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The vineyard does not just happen by itself. There is a complex dance between the vine, the branches and the vine grower. For example, did you know that a single grape-vine can produce as much as 13 feet of new branch growth in one growing season. What happens if all that new growth remains un-pruned? It would not be unusual for that un-pruned vine to have as many as 300 fruit producing buds. While that might sound great, that’s way too many buds for the plant to support. You might have lots of produce, but it will be incredibly low quality, and good for not much. It would probably just end up as fuel for the fire. You would have to prune as much as 75% of the buds and other vegetative growth so the plant can properly develop and ripen the good fruit. The goal is always good fruit.

And it is not just the buds that need to be pruned in growing season. In the late winter, some of last year’s branches need to be cut off. A branch that is more than two years old will no longer produce fruit – and so you cut it off to leave capacity for the new growth to flourish and produce fruit.

There have been many seasons in my life and the harvest of each season has been uneven. The barren seasons are the ones when I removed myself – at least to some degree – from the nourishment of the vine; when my needs outweigh the needs of the community. And yet, by the grace of God, there have been more seasons when the fruit has been plentiful. Those were, and continue to be, the seasons when I allow the grace of the vine grower to empty my garages and storage units, set down the baggage and burdens, and move away from the paths of sin. The seasons when I remembered to whom I belong – the One who said: “Remain in me, as I remain in you.”

This is more than good advice or an invitation. This is a promise, like it or not, Jesus will hold onto us as surely as the vine holds dear the branches. No matter what has been accumulated that is burdensome, troublesome, onerous, worrying, or unsettling, God is committed to nourish life and hope from the very places that seem most devoid of goodness. It is a promise that God in Jesus will bring all things to a good end.

That promise is real. So real that His only Son Jesus chose not to sit back in heaven, removed from the messiness of life, but planted himself as the true vine right in the middle of our days and nights, our joys and sorrow, and all the frailties and faults of life in this world – so that we would know of God’s unending promise to us.

Remain in Him as He remains in you.

Image credit: Pexels CC-BY-NC-ND

Remain in His Love

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“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” (John 15:9-10)

But have you noticed the nature of “love” that is the focus? What is absent in these verses are any words about the disciples loving Jesus or God. Although such images and words are found elsewhere in the Gospel of John. Clearly one of the great commandments is to love God.  But here in the Farewell Discourse, on the eve of Jesus’ departure from their lives in the manner in which they are accustomed, the emphasis in our text is on God’s love for them (us) and their (our) love for one another.

I like this story by Philip Yancy (What’s So Amazing about Grace? 68-69) reflecting on these verses:

Not long ago I received in the mail a postcard from a friend that had on it only six words, “I am the one Jesus loves.” I smiled when I saw the return address, for my strange friend excels at these pious slogans. When I called him, though, he told me the slogan came from the author and speaker Brennan Manning. At a seminar, Manning referred to Jesus’ closest friend on earth, the disciple named John, identified in the Gospels as “the one Jesus loved.” Manning said, “If John were to be asked, ‘What is your primary identity in life?’ he would not reply, ‘I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,’ but rather, ‘I am the one Jesus loves.’“

What would it mean, I ask myself, if I too came to the place where I saw my primary identity in life as “the one Jesus loves”? How differently would I view myself at the end of a day?

Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible’s astounding words about God’s love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?

Gail O’Day [John in the New Interpreter’s Bible, 759] remarks: “Jesus reminds the disciples (including the readers) that their place with him is the result of his initiative, not theirs; relationship with Jesus is ultimately a result of God’s grace (cf. 6:37-39, 44).” 

These verses are a reminder that in the reality of the post-Resurrection world, when secular concerns and challenges bring us to the edge of strength and perseverance, we are loved.

Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), “Jesus taking leave of his Apostles,” ca. 1310 | Panel 4 of the Maestro, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain

Belonging

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It’s a late December day in Jerusalem. Jesus is walking in the Temple area, and as usual, he’s drawing a crowd during the Feast of the Dedication (better known to us as Hanukkah). The people have come with a question. Perhaps they’ve heard one of Jesus’s enigmatic parables, or witnessed one of his miracles.  Or maybe they just want to trap him into saying something they consider blasphemous.  Whatever the motive, they ask: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Seems as an odd choice for a gospel so soon after Easter. How could we be “in suspense” after the Resurrection? But then again, maybe it tells us the truth about how faith works.

Most of the time, faith isn’t a clean ascent from confusion to clarity, doubt to trust.  It’s a perpetual turning.  A circle we trace from knowing to unknowing, from unbelief to belief.  From “He is Risen, alleluia, alleluia,” to “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  Is it a weakness in our faith? No, it’s just what we human beings do. Sometimes our prayer starts, “if you really are…” good, caring, loving…. there at all… show up, speak plainly, act decisively.  

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A Woman of the Word

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Today’s gospel is a familiar part of the Christmas story – the Angel Gabriel inviting Mary into the plans of God for redemption and salvation of the world. Given its proximity to Christmas, I suspect we quickly want to jump the 9 months of pregnancy and have our thoughts move quickly to the Nativity of Jesus. But let us put things on “pause” for a moment and savor the scene on its own – as have Da Vinci, Rembrandt, El Greco and countless iconographers over the ages.

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The Promises of God

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There is a lot going on this week: the nation remembers Pearl Harbor, the church remembers St. Ambrose and St. Lucy, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Season of Advent continues. And then there is the whole of “Christmas things.” We all are getting busy about many things and our list of things to do just gets a little longer.

Since the beginning of Advent this year we have heard from the Prophet Isaiah. The verses have all been brimming with Hope. Today is a bit of an exception. I would note that in all times, especially so in troubling times, there are some among us who lead with Hope. Some among us have retreated into different kinds of shells, keeping the world at bay, keeping Hope at a distance. Some just flat out do not listen. The passage from the Prophet Isaiah, is from a section in which the prophet is exasperated by the people’s failure to respond:

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Remembering

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The people are exiled in Babylon, their capital city and Temple destroyed. The prophet Isaiah has offered them assurance that they are not abandoned by God. In yesterday’s first reading the message was: your trials are not without purpose – it is a time for you to remember the choices that brought these troubles into your lives but also to remember that God is both just and compassionate. The prophet assures them that their hardship will end; they will be restored.

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