Are you wondering about the opening line of the second reading that "Jesus ... did not regard equality with God something to be grasped?" Father Chuck helps us to understand it by comparing Jesus to a jeweler's son who needs to rescue radiant diamonds (us) from the muck. Jesus understands and embraces the need to become human to be able to triumph over sin as God the Son, and doesn't seek the same role as God the Father.

Catholic Mass readings for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 2025

First Reading: Numbers 21: 4b-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 78: 1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Second Reading: Philippians 2: 6-11
Gospel: John 3: 13-17

How has following Jesus radically changed your life? In today's second reading, St. Paul reveals Christianity as a revolutionary movement in which a slave becomes a beloved brother. It's just as true today that we as Christians are led by God to grow beyond worldly categories.

Catholic Mass readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 7, 2025

First Reading: Wisdom 9: 13-18b
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
Second Reading: Philemon 1: 9-10, 12-17
Alleluia: Psalms 119: 135
Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

Do you think of yourself as a worker for God? As followers of Jesus, we are asked not just to learn His teachings, but to take on a new way of living and being. All we do, even with the esteem of others, is for the glory of God.

Catholic Mass readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 31, 2025

First Reading: Sirach 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 68: 4-5, 6-7, 10-11
Second Reading: Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24
Alleluia: Matthew 11: 29ab
Gospel: Luke 14: 1, 7-14

How many times do we decide to go our own direction rather than follow God? In today's first reading, the esteemed princes don't like God's message of surrender. While God's message may not be popular, let us surrender our control and desires and trust God's love and wisdom.

Catholic Mass readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 17, 2025

First Reading: Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 40: 2, 3, 4, 18
Second Reading: Hebrews 12: 1-4
Alleluia: John 10: 27
Gospel: Luke 12: 49-53

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ conquered sin and death by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father! This double victory is for us all, and our motherly model and teacher of what it looks like is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Listen now to hear how the great things with which the Lord favored Mary—her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption—hold out hope and example for us.

Catholic Mass readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass during the Day, August 15, 2025

First Reading: Revelation 11: 19a; 12: 1-6a, 10ab
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 45: 10, 11, 12, 16
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 20-27
Gospel: Luke 1: 39-56

Fr. Chuck focuses our hearts and minds primarily on the Responsorial Psalm, Ps 132. He invites us to meditate on the refrain, which speaks of the Lord's "ark of holiness," the sacred wooden chest containing the 10 Commandments, above which God's divine presence would dwell. Speaking more generally of the symbolic, poetic, imagery of God dwelling in the Ark, Fr. Chuck explains that some Christians take it as a prophetic symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary as she bore Christ within her womb. Further, he invites us to seek Mary's intercession that by God's grace we, too, can grow into our identity as "arks of God's holiness" giving ourselves over to Jesus Christ actively dwelling in us.

Catholic Mass readings for the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 14, 2025

First Reading: 1 Chronicles 15: 3-4, 15-16; 16: 1-2
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 132: 6-7, 9-10, 13-14
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 54b-57
Gospel: Luke 11: 27-28

Do you find the meaning of faith sometimes to be too big and unreachable a concept? Father Chuck helps break it down for us with an exploration of today's second reading. Let us reflect on these "4 facets of faith"—hearing God's call and obeying it, seeking God's kingdom, receiving God's gifts, and offering them back to God for the good of others. The idea for these "4 facets" arose from Fr. Chuck hearing the Formed Daily Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time by Dr. Tim Gray, President of the Augustine Institute (http://formed.org; http://augustineinstitute.org); thanks, Dr. Gray!

Catholic Mass readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 10, 2025

First Reading: Wisdom 18: 6-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 33: 1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Second Reading: Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19 or 11: 1-2, 8-12
Alleluia: Matthew 24: 42a, 44
Gospel: Luke 12: 32-48