Let Us Love One Another in God

Photo of snail and rose speaking the couplet, "Let us love one another in God for this is the Kingdom of God."
โ€œLet Us Love One Another in Godโ€
Mark 12:28-34 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

Gospel

Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, โ€œWhich is the first of all the commandments?โ€… Read the rest

Crushed Like Grapes

Photo of snail and roses speaking the couplet about Mark 12:1-12, "On grapes, the Lord hired farmers to tread. / But his Son they crushed into wine and bread."
โ€œCrushed Like Grapesโ€
A reflection on Mark 12:1-12
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
ยฉ๏ธ2023 Gloria M. Chang

The beloved Son was crushed like grapes to become the wine that saves us.

The Parable of the Tenants

Gospel

Mark 12:1-12

He began to speak to them in parables.ย … Read the rest

Your Grief Will Become Joy

Photo of baby snail on a rose with text of the Shalom Snail couplet, "Your Grief Will Become Joy."
โ€œYour Grief Will Become Joyโ€
A reflection on John 16:20-22
Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter
ยฉ๏ธ2022 Gloria M. Chang

Sorrow is not the end; through Christ, anguish gives way to unshakable joy that no one can take away.

Gospel

John 16:20-22

Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.ย … Read the rest

Kinship With Christ

Photo of snail and rose speaking the couplet about kinship with Christ.
โ€œKinship With Christโ€
Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
A reflection on Mark 3:31-35
ยฉ2023 Gloria M. Chang

Kinship with Christ transcends blood: whoever does God’s will becomes his mother, brother, sister.ย 

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.

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Three Witnesses to the Victory of the Son

Photo of snail and rose with text overlay of a poetic quatrain on the 1 John 5:5-13 reflection.
โ€œThree Witnesses to the Victory of the Sonโ€
A reflection on 1 John 5:5-13
Friday after Epiphany
ยฉ๏ธ2026 Gloria M. Chang

A reflection on 1 John 5:5-13 for Friday after Epiphany: John proclaims three enduring witnessesโ€”the Spirit, the water, and the bloodโ€”that testify to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the source of victory over the world and eternal life.… Read the rest

God is Love, Day 4

Photo of snail and rose speaking 1 John 4:16, "God is Love."
โ€œGod is Love, Day 4โ€
1 John 4:16b
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.โ€

St. John of the Cross

God is love, 
and whoever remains in love 
remains in God and God in him. 

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Anna the Prophetess

Anna the Prophetess, Shalom Snail, Christmas
โ€œAnna the Prophetessโ€
Luke 2:36-40 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.

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A Light for Revelation to the Gentiles

โ€œA Light For Revelation to the Gentilesโ€
Luke 2:22-35 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, โ€œEvery male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,โ€ and to offer the sacrifice of โ€œa pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,โ€ in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

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Saint Stephen the Protomartyr

โ€œSaint Stephen the Protomartyrโ€
A reflection on Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59
ยฉ๏ธ2022 Gloria M. Chang

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. 

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Joseph’s Dream

Photo of snail and rose with text overlay of the Shalom Snail couplet, "Joseph's Dream."
โ€œJosephโ€™s Dreamโ€
A reflection on Matthew 1:18-24
Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)
ยฉ๏ธ2022 Gloria M. Chang

In Joseph’s Dream, divine mercy transformed a righteous man’s sorrow into joyful guardianship of the Savior.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

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