Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

November 1 Blessed Are They   Images created using Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12a (The Beatitudes) Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rej...

October 31 Humility or Humiliation? Image created by Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-11 (Humility or Humiliation?) One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, "When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, `Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, `Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Reflection: What is ...

October 30   Healing on the Sabbath Image created by Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Luke 14:1-6 (Healing on the Sabbath) Healing of the Man with Dropsy on the Sabbath. On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” But they kept silent; so, he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son so, ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” But they were unable to answer his question. Reflection: Paul’s letter to the Philippians bursts with thanks: every time he thinks of them, he thanks God, and his prayers for them are full of joy! He is grateful for their partnership in the Gospel from the very first day. And he...

  October 29 Jesus' Sorrow For Jerusalem Today’s Gospel: Luke 13:31-35 (Jesus' Sorrow For Jerusalem) “At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, `Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'" Reflection: Jesus knew exactly what was waiting for Him in Jerusalem: that He would be rejected and betrayed an...

  October 28   Feast of Saints Simon & Jude Apostles Image created using Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Luke 6:12-16 (The Twelve Apostles) “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” Reflection: Paul says we are no longer strangers and aliens but fellow citizens and members of God’s household! That household is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. Each of us is a stone in a growing temple where God lives. What a beautiful thing to be: a living stone! Today we celebrate two ...

October 27 The Kingdom of God Image created using Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Luke 13:18-21 (The Kingdom of God) “He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." And again, he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." Reflection: Mustard seeds and leaven can sound like an odd way for Jesus to describe the kingdom of God, but both of them start out so small you could easily overlook them and then quietly grow into something much bigger than anyone expected, which is exactly how our love for God tends to work in our own hearts. It often begins with nothing more than a little curiosity about who Jesus is, and that curiosity pulls us towar...

October 26 Freed From Your Infirmity Image created using Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Luke 13:10-17 (Freed From Your Infirmity) “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound f...

October 25   The Greatest Commandment Image created using Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40 (The Greatest Commandment) “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." Reflection: Which is the greatest commandment? Why did they ask this? Because love needs to be brought into the light, and when they tried to trap Jesus with that very question, He didn’t hand him a long list of rules. He gave him two commands: love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as you love yourself...

October 24   The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree Image created by Google AI Image Creator. Today’s Gospel: Luke 13:1-9 (Parable of the Barren Fig Tree) A Call to Repentance. At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found ...