Category Archives: Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflections

For the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 11-24-22, Year CReadings: Rv 18:1-2, 21-23, 19:1-3,9a; Ps 100:1b-2,3,4,5; Gospel Lk 21:20-28Memorial: St Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, MartyrsTheme:  Be Prepared, Do Not be Afraid “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by theContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 11-24-22”

For the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 11-17-22, Year CReadings: Rv 5:1-10; Ps 149:1b-6a & 9b; Gospel Lk 19:41-44Memorial: St. Elizabeth of Hungary, ReligiousTheme:  Worthy Is Christ In the apocryphal writing of Revelations, we read the amazing symbolism that describes figures, themes, and objects in glorious ways. We hear numbers, such as seven (theContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 11-17-22”

For the 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 11-10-22, Year CReadings: Phlm 7-20; Ps 146:7-10; Gospel Lk 17:20-25Memorial: St. Leo The Great, Pope, Doctor of the Church, +461Theme:  Forgiveness & Reconciliation Working at the jail ministry, I have learned a few things about forgiveness, reconciliation, and deceit. Although I have only been at this forContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Homily 11-10-22”

Homily for the 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 10-27-22, Year CReadings: Eph 6:10-20; Ps 144:1b,2,9-10; Gospel Lk 13:31-35Theme:  Persevere for the Lord’s Coming “I will never agree with you on your version of Catholicism.” These words were texted to me on a post I put on Facebook about abortion. Part of my response was,Continue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Homily 10-27-22”

Deacon Steven Johnson’s ReflectionReflection for the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 10-20-22, Year CReadings: Eph 3:14-21; Ps 33:1-2,4-5,11-12,18-19; Gospel Lk 12:49-53Optional Memorial: St. Paul of the Cross, PriestTheme: Choose Wisely “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” These words of Jesus’s, at first hearing,Continue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 10-20-22”

Reflection for the 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 10-13-22, Year CReadings: Eph 1:1-10; Ps 98:1-6; Gospel Lk 11:47-54Theme: The Stumbling Block of Hypocrisy Are you a stumbling block to others who are looking for Christ? This whole week we have been reading from Luke, Chapter 11, in which we find Jesus admonishing the ScribesContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 10-13-22”

Reflection for the 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 10-6-22, Year CReadings: Gal 3:1-5; Ps Lk 1:69-75; Gospel Lk 11:5-13Optional Memorial: St. Bruno, Priest; Blessed Marie Rose Durocher, VirginTheme: Law & Faith “O stupid Galatians!” Wow, not many people would appreciate being called stupid, but that is exactly what St. Paul said to the ChristianContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 10-6-22”

Reflection for the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 9-29-22, Year CReadings: Dn 7:9-10,13-14; Ps :138-1,2abcde-3, 4-5; Gospel Jn 1:47-51Feast: Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, ArchangelsTheme: All Serve and Worship God “Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him.” In the book of Daniel, who are these thousands of thousands ministering to God? There are manyContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 9-29-22”

Reflection for the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 9-22-22, Year CReadings: Eccl 1:2-11; Ps 90:3-6, 12-14, 17bc; Gospel Lk 9:7-9Theme: Building a Treasure in Heaven “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” Almost everyone has heard this quote from the book of Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth). In the Hellenist (Greek) meaning of “vanity.” it is literallyContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 9-22-22”

Reflection for the 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 9-8-22, Year CReadings: Mi 1:1-16; Ps 13:6abc; Gospel Mt 1:1-16, 18-23Feast: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin MaryTheme: Without Birth, There Is No Life Today we celebrate a feast of the Virgin Mary. It is a celebration of her birth. Without her being born, Christ wouldContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 9-8-22”

Deacon Steven Johnson’s HomilyHomily for the 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 9-1-22, Year CReadings: 1 Cor 3:18-23; Ps 24:1b-4b, 5-6; Gospel Lk 5:1-11Theme: Do Not Outsmart Yourself St. Paul says it best, “If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For theContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Homily – 9-1-22”

Homily for the 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 8-25-22, Year CReadings: 1 Cor 1:1-9; Ps 145:2-7; Gospel Mt 24:42-51Optional Memorials: St. Louis, King of France, St. Joseph Calasanz, PriestTheme: Be Prepared The Boy Scouts’ motto is, “Be Prepared.” For any person who went through scouting in the older days, whether boy scouts or girlContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Homily – 8-25-22”

Deacon Steven Johnson’s ReflectionReflection for the 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 8-18-22, Year CReadings: Ez 36:23-38; Ps 51:12-15, 18-19; Gospel Mt 22:1-14Theme: Recognizing When to Change Our Ways Tom counted the days he had left until his release from prison. He sat in his cell and thought about how he got there, and whatContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 8-18-22”

Deacon Steven Johnson’s ReflectionReflection for the 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 8-11-22, Year CReadings: Ez 12:1-12; Ps 78:58-57, 58-59, 61-62; Gospel Mt 18:21-19:1Memorial: St. Clare – VirginTheme: “To Err is Human, To Forgive Divine” “To err is human, to forgive divine,” Alexander Pope, English poet, from his poem, “An Essay on Criticism,” Part II,Continue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 8-11-22”

Reflection for the 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 8-4-22, Year CReadings: Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:12-15, 18-19; Gospel Mt 16:13-23Memorial: St. John Vianney – Priest Born May 8th, 1786, in Dardilly, France. Died 1859 in Ars, France. Patron St. of Priests & Parish Clergy Theme: Failure Can Lead to Success As humans, we learn byContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection – 8-4-22”

Reflection for the 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 7-28-22, Year C Readings: Jer 18:1-6; Ps 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab; Gospel Mt 13:47-53 Theme: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly In the 1966 spaghetti western movie starring Clint Eastwood, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” forces of good, bad, and ugly tussle with eachContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 7-28-22”

Reflection for the 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 7-21-22, Year CReadings: Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13; Ps 36:6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11; Gospel Mt 13:10-17Optional Memorial: St Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest, Doctor of the ChurchTheme: Hear and See the Lord Sometimes, it seems, that you can talk to someone until you are blue in the face andContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 7-21-22”

Deacon Steven Johnson’s ReflectionReflection for the 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 7-14-22, Year CReadings: Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19; Ps 102:13-14ab, 15-21; Gospel Mt 11:28-30Memorial: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, VirginTheme: Burden of Our Own Making In today’s fast-paced life, we can build up burdens that, in and of themselves are not necessarily burdensome, but as aContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 7-14-22”

Homily for the 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 7-7-22, Year CReadings: Hos 11:1-4, 8c-9; Ps 80:2ac, 3b, 15-16; Gospel Mt 10:7-15?Theme: Freely You Have Received, so Freely You Shall Give Have you ever received an advertisement about a person coming to your area to spread an inspirational message they received about God, Jesus, theContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Homily 7-7-22”

Deacon Steven Johnson’s ReflectionReflection for the 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 6-30-22, Year CReadings: Am 7:10-17; Ps 19:8-11; Gospel Mt 9:1-8Optional Memorial: The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman ChurchTheme: What is Right is Wrong, What is Wrong is Right Many times, throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus teaching a message counter to theContinue reading “Deacon Steven Johnson’s Reflection 6-30-22”