Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“Instruct me.” —Psalm 119:33 There are two ways of life, and God has given us freedom to make our own choice. “Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him” (Sir 15:17). Yet He gives us every instruction needed to say “Yes” to God’s way and “No” to Satan’s way. So the Church leads us to pray with the psalmist in today’s psalm response, “Instruct me” (Ps 119:33). We need to beg the Lord for His instruction because we have been entrusted with the power to choose. There is no neutrality in this choice. So it...

“Ephphatha!…Be opened!” —Mark 7:34 Jesus took the deaf man “off by himself away from the crowd” (Mk 7:33). Jesus moved the man away from chaos, disorder, skepticism, peer pressure, and negativity. This peace was the environment in which full healing could best be done. So many people listen to everything but the Lord. Particularly, people listen to the voice of the evil one (Gn 3:1ff). In the present-day secular culture, the voice of evil resounds, twisting and redefining God’s good and holy order. The kingdom of darkness calls “evil good, and good evil” (Is 5:20). The secular culture opposes God...

“The Lord God said: ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.’ ” –Genesis 2:18 The first spoken words in the Holy Bible from man are about the topic of marriage. Adam rejoices that he has been given his beloved wife Eve: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gn 2:23). The last time a human speaks in the Bible is likewise a word of rejoicing about a marriage: the Bride, that is, the Church, together with the Holy Spirit say, “Come!” (Rv...

“What emerges from within a man, that and nothing else is what makes him impure.” –Mark 7:20 “All these evils come from within and render a man impure.” —Mark 7:23 The source of “acts of fornication, theft, murder, adulterous conduct, greed, maliciousness, deceit, sensuality, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, an obtuse spirit” (Mk 7:21-22) is the impurity inside us. Consequently, it is very important to be cleansed inside and to remain clean inside. This means that: The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of God’s most precious gifts because of its cleansing power. The penitential rite at the beginning of Mass is one...