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Daily Reflections

Daily Scripture, September 17, 2025

Scripture:

1 Timothy 3:14-16
Luke 7:31-35

Reflection:

Our readings today might aptly be described as a “lesson on manners,” a brief but very insightful tutorial on how Christians ought and ought not to behave. In the passage from 1 Timothy, we are reminded that through baptism we were incorporated into “the household of God.” Even though all of us belong to multiple “households” (family, friendships, local communities, groups and organizations), none should ever become more important than the household of God, which is “the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.” The household of God is our true place of belonging, the foundation and center of our lives; no other “household” should ever supplant it.

Lest we think the household of God is a haphazard collection of individuals, each doing as he or she pleases, the writer insists that every member should “know how to behave in the household of God.” That’s because as we grow as members of that household, we are initiated into the ways of God that have been revealed to us in Christ. By learning the “manners” of Christ, we can fulfill our baptismal vocation of witnessing Christ in our lives until, as 1 Timothy promises, he is “believed in throughout the world.”

By contrast, today’s strange nugget of a gospel shows us how not to behave; it is a pithy, if initially perplexing, lesson in “bad manners.” Jesus zeroes in on people who are always finding fault, always criticizing, and using that as an excuse to reject the message as well as the messenger. John the Baptist comes along, and rather than taking his message to heart, they declare, “He is possessed by a demon.” Then Jesus stands right in front of them, and rather than opening their hearts to receive him, they mock him as “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” As a result, they stay exactly as they were, untouched, unchanged, unredeemed. That’s not only bad manners; it’s also an inconsolable tragedy.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province.

Daily Scripture, May 19, 2024

Pentecost Sunday Scripture: Acts 2:1-111 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25John 20:19-23 or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15 Reflection: If you take away their breath, they perish and return to their dust. When » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 18, 2024

Scripture: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31John 21:20-25 Reflection: How many times have we verbalized our interpretation of someone without really knowing all the facts, without knowing their back story or true self? » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 17, 2024

Scripture: Acts 25:13b-21John 21:15-19 Reflection: “Do you love me?” It is the most penetrating, personal question anyone can ask us, and in today’s gospel, it is the question Jesus asks » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 16, 2024

Scripture: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11John 17:20-26 Reflection: Severe weather and tornado season started early this year in the Midwest and the South. I was awed and dumbstruck to see one hit » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 15, 2024

Scripture: Acts 20:28-38John 17:11b-19 Reflection: “Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 14, 2024

Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle Scripture: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26John 15:9-17 Reflection: How often do we feel undervalued? How does being on theB-Team typically make us feel about ourselves? And when » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 13, 2024

Scripture: Acts 19:1-8John 16:29-33 Reflection: The first thing that strikes me about our reading from the Acts of the Apostles is the mention of John the Baptist for the second » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 12, 2024

The Ascension of the Lord Scripture: Acts 1:1-11Ephesians 1:17-23 or 4:1-13Mark 16:15-20 Reflection: Today, the feast of the Solemnity of the Ascension is celebrated in most dioceses in the United » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 11, 2024

Scripture: Acts 18:23-28John 16:23b-28 Reflection: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.”   That verse sounds as if God has given us a blank check to » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, May 10, 2024

Scripture: Acts 18:9-18John 16:20-23 Reflection: I remember what labor was like for me – long and intense. Despite what it says in the Gospel, once my son was born, I » Continue Reading.

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