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The Love that Compels

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Daily Reflections

Daily Scripture, August 26, 2025

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 23:23-26

Reflection:

“You have searched me and you know me, Lord.” This is today’s psalm response.

I want to edit it. “You have searched me and you know me, Lord, and yet you still love me.” For good reason, many of us are terrified of allowing others to see the full truth of who we are. We have scars. We have disordered affections. We have petty desires. We have disappointments and insecurities. We believe that if others really knew us, they could not possibly love us. Yet that is exactly what Jesus Christ does. We are sinners, we are broken and flawed…yet we are loved.

We don’t often hear in the gospels about Jesus getting in the faces of others, but he let’s loose in today’s gospel: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.” The expression of faith begins within our hearts not in liturgical rubrics or pious devotions. Those cannot replace what is in our hearts, they should express what in our hearts.

All around us there are plenty of self-proclaiming Christians who are, in the words of my father, simply “crude.” He loved that word to describe behavior that was cruel and rude. It is jarring to hear some, wearing a gold cross around their necks, proceed to demean others with crude nicknames or calling them losers. Where is the connection between the inside and the outside? How does God’s love revealed in the Passion of Christ and proclaimed in the cross around my neck lead me to love others, even the sinner?

We are not spared from Jesus getting in our faces. Woe to you, politicians… Woe to you, church leaders… Woe to you… Woe to me, hypocrite. Cleanse first the inside so that our care for others may be clean. We are sinners yet loved. Broken yet redeemed. In that experience of being loved and redeemed, let us love and raise others up.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Daily Scripture, October 21, 2008

Scripture: Ephesians 2:12-22 Luke 12:35-38 Reflection: We are in the fall of the year, when the harvest is being gathered from the fields. This is the final stage of a » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 19, 2008

Scripture: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 Thessalonians 1:1-5b Matthew 22:15-21 Reflection: The Gospel reading for today is written by a professional who understood perfectly what was going on, Matthew the tax collector! » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 12, 2008

Scripture: Isaiah 25:6-10a Philippians 4:12-14,19-20 Matthew 22:1-14 Reflection: Jesus never explicitly says what the kingdom of heaven is. Instead he says it is like such and such. In this parable, » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 11, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 3:22-29 Luke 11:27-28 Reflection: A group of enthusiastic retreatants shouted "Amen!" one weekend when asked if they believe in the Communion of Saints.  They were affirming and celebrating » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 13, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1 Luke 11:29-32 Reflection: On my mom’s first visit to Immaculate Conception rectory, Fr. Eric said to her: "How does it feel to have a son » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 10, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 3:7-14 Luke 11:15-26 Reflection:  In Jesus’ day, the factions of the religious elite pitted themselves against each other.  They so emphasized the letter of the law that they » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 15, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 5:18-25 Luke 11:42-46 Reflection: St. Theresa of Avila was a great mystic of the sixteenth century and reformer of the Carmelite Nuns. The reading from Romans defines her » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 9, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 3:1-5 Luke 11:5-13 Reflection: The baby had a stuffy nose, the kind of yucky, mucous congestion so common in infants.  The mother heard the whimpering and fussing begin, » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 8, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14 Luke 11:1-4 Reflection: During this Jubilee year of St. Paul the Apostle, his letter to the Galatians gives us insight into Paul’s character. Paul was a » Continue Reading.

Daily Scripture, October 7, 2008

Scripture: Galatians 1:13-24 Luke 10:38-42 Reflection: "You kids are not like Jesus, he would be in church saying the Rosary, but you raise a riot and keep your pastor awake!" » Continue Reading.

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