Catholic Daily Reflections Podcast By My Catholic Life! cover art

Catholic Daily Reflections

Catholic Daily Reflections

By: My Catholic Life!
Listen for free

About this listen

 My Catholic Life! presents the beauty and splendor of our Catholic faith in a down to earth and practical way. These daily audio reflections come from the "Catholic Daily Reflections Series" which is available in online format from our website. They are also available in e eBook or paperback format.

May these reflections assist you on your journey of personal conversion!Copyright My Catholic Life! Inc. Christianity Ministry & Evangelism Spirituality
Episodes
  • Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Authentic Love

    Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Authentic Love
    Jun 13 2025
    Read Online“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37–38 At first read, this appears to be a difficult teaching of our Lord. But when properly understood, it is clear that it helps us keep our relationships with God and with our family properly ordered in charity and truth. Following this command will never result in a lack of love for family; rather, it will help us to love solely with the heart of Christ.What does this teaching of Jesus require of us? Simply put, if a family member, or anyone else, imposes expectations on us that are contrary to the will of God, then we must choose the will of God over those other expectations. To understand this more clearly, think about how one might choose to love “father or mother” or “son or daughter” more than God. Say, for example, that a child chooses to go astray in their moral or faith life, and they want their parents to support them in their sin. But the parents remain firm in their moral convictions and, out of love, offer no support for the immoral lifestyle their child has chosen. This would become especially difficult for the parents if the child becomes angry and criticizes the parents, with the claim that the parents are being judgmental and are lacking in love. What the child is actually requesting is “Mom and dad, you must love me more than God and His laws.” And if the parents do not support their child’s misguided lifestyle, the relationship may be deeply wounded. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that Jesus followed this command by saying, “and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” Love always involves the Cross. At times, it is a cross of personal self-sacrifice and self-giving. And at other times, it’s a cross by which our love is misunderstood, and we are deemed as “unloving” by those we actually love the most. When parents truly love their child, they will care first and foremost for their child’s eternal salvation and moral living, and they will not choose “friendship” with their child over truth.Of course, this same truth applies to every relationship we will have and even to our “relationship” to society as a whole. More and more, there are those who demand of us all that we support them in behaviors that are objectively disordered and contrary to the will of God. We are told that if we oppose these choices that some make, then we are judgmental and hateful. But this is exactly what Jesus is speaking about. If we choose to “love” others more than God and His holy will, meaning, if our first priority is to make people “feel” supported in the immoral and confused decisions they make, then we are not actually loving them at all. At least not with the love of God. Instead, we are prioritizing their sin over the truth they so deeply need to know so as to be set free and to enter into an authentic relationship of love with the God of Truth. Reflect, today, upon true love. Love is only true love when it is grounded and centered in God and every moral law He has set forth. Reflect upon your own relationships, especially with family and those closest to you. Do you love them with the pure love of God? Does your love remain firmly rooted in the will of God? Or do you, at times, choose to compromise the truths of faith and morality so as to appease the misguided expectations of others. Kindness, gentleness and compassion must always be present. But moral truth must also be just as present and must be the foundation of every virtue we exercise in our relationships with everyone. Do not be afraid to love others exclusively with the mind and heart of God. Doing so is the only way to have true love for everyone in your life so as to help save their souls. Lord of All, You call all people to love You with all of their mind, heart, soul and strength. You call us all to adhere to every truth that You have spoken. Give me the courage and love I need to not only love You above all but to also love others with Your love alone. Help me to embrace Your Cross when this is difficult so that I will be a better instrument of the love You have for all. Jesus, I trust in You. Image: James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
    Show more Show less
    7 mins
  • Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - Daily Sincerity and Honesty

    Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - Daily Sincerity and Honesty
    Jun 13 2025
    Read Online

    Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all…” Matthew 5:33–34

    The purpose of an oath was to guarantee the truthfulness of the statement made. Sometimes this can be very good. For example, many of the Sacraments involve making a public vow before God and the Church. In these cases, the vow is a form of oath that is solemnized so as to invite the grace of God to enter and strengthen it. It becomes a way of making a public witness to one’s faith and an expression of one’s need for God’s grace to be faithful to the promise that is made.

    Jesus is not speaking about these forms of public vows, oaths and promises in the Gospel today. Instead, He is addressing a practice that some engaged in, whereby they regularly swore on God’s name about the truthfulness of what they were saying. The problem with this is that it takes something solemn and sacred and carelessly turns it into something ordinary. There is no need to “swear to God” about everything one says.

    First of all, if one feels a need to call on God’s name regularly so as to convince another of the truthfulness of their statements, then it is most likely the case that they do so because they are struggling with dishonesty. Oath-taking on a regular basis seems to presuppose a human tendency to lie. For that reason, it is not ideal to go about one’s daily interactions with this presupposition. Instead, as Christians we must strive for a fundamental disposition of truthfulness. Jesus concludes this Gospel teaching by saying, “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.” In other words, work to become a person of true honesty and integrity. Be sincere in all of your dealings, and do not begin with a presupposition of dishonesty. Begin with the intention of complete honesty and sincerity, and that will suffice.

    Furthermore, if one were to go about their day making one oath after another, swearing on God’s name to the truthfulness every time, this would have the effect of lessening the solemnity of those few times when this is a good and holy practice. Making public vows, such as marriage vows, or public promises, such as priests make, are unique and solemn. Publicly renewing our faith within the Church, taking an oath as one begins the responsibility of some public office, or any other more solemn opportunity for oath-taking should be seen as a special occasion. Therefore, our daily commitments must simply be the fruit of our honesty and integrity as persons.

    Reflect, today, upon your own daily approach to honesty and sincerity. Do you go about your day with the goal of living in the truth, speaking the truth and seeking the truth? Are you honest with others, seeking good and clear communication with them? Ponder these questions and know that interior integrity requires these virtues of honesty and sincerity. Seek that integrity and others will benefit as they grow to trust you each and every day.

    Lord, You are the source of all truth, and You are Truth Itself. Please help me to become a daily instrument of that Truth in all that I say and do. I choose You and Your holy will always, and I choose to be Your instrument for all to see. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Image: Image via Pxhere

    Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.com
    Copyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
    Show more Show less
    5 mins
  • Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - The Love of Friendship

    Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - The Love of Friendship
    Jun 12 2025
    Read OnlineIf your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. Matthew 5:29–30This imagery of tearing out your eye and cutting off your hand is clearly meant to get our attention. Though we can be certain that Jesus is not actually suggesting we mutilate our bodies, we should not hesitate to prayerfully ponder this imagery so as to understand the truths Jesus is speaking.Saint Augustine, in reflecting upon this passage, states: “By the eye we must understand our most cherished friend…” Augustine further points out that Jesus specifically mentions the “right eye” as a way of denoting those friendships that have a “higher degree of affection” (Serm. in Mont. i. 13.). Thus, although friendship—especially very close friendship—is a gift, sometimes those close to us can become a source of sin or an occasion of sin. In that case, they are not truly friends, and it might be better to limit or even end that relationship rather than to allow it to lead us into sin.Think about the people in your own life. Though we must love all people with the love of God, friendship is more than love. Friendship establishes a special bond with another and opens you up to their presence and influence in your life. When you establish a friendship, you allow another a certain influence in your life. When that influence is good, then the friendship produces much good fruit. But when that influence is evil, then that friendship becomes a danger to the good of your soul. In that case, it may need to be torn out or cut off so that you are not drawn into serious sin or even the occasion of sin.When a friend in your life becomes an occasion of sin to you, your love for them must remain, but it must also change. Love, in this case, may take on the form of a loving rebuke, a withdrawal of your own heart, or a limiting of your interactions. But this is love. By analogy, when a person sins against God, their relationship with God also changes. God withdraws His friendship. He is less present to the person, and their internal communion diminishes or even ends when the sin is serious. This is not a lack of love on God’s part; it is simply the effect of sin. So also in our relations with another, when the grace of God is not mutually given and received between two people, then friendship in the truest sense is not possible. True friendship is always centered in God’s grace and dependent upon it. Therefore, when God is excluded from a relationship, that relationship must change from a true friendship to a relationship that imitates God’s love for a sinner. Mercy, compassion and forgiveness must continually be offered, but interior communion and unity will end. But this is love.Reflect, today, upon those in your life whom God has given you to love. First, reflect upon those relationships that do have God at the center. These relationships will become true friendships and will produce an abundance of good fruit in your life. Rejoice in these friendships and give thanks to God for them. Second, reflect upon any relationship that does not bear good fruit. As you do, prayerfully consider how you approach that relationship. Do you attempt to maintain a “friendship” even though God is not able to be the center of that relationship? If so, ponder how God is calling you to change that relationship so that it more fully reflects the love God has for you and for that other person in your life.My Lord and true Friend, I thank You for loving me with a perfect love. I pray that I will always be open to that love so that my unity with You will ever deepen. I also pray that I will be an instrument of Your love to others. Please give me the grace to love everyone in my life in the way that You love them, nothing less and nothing more. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: El Salvador beneint by Lluís Ribes Mateu, license CC BY-NC 2.0Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
    Show more Show less
    6 mins
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
I really appreciate this podcast providing short reflections on topics that I can take to prayer each day. Thank you! 

Hopeful for prayer 

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.