Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“Peter was thus detained in prison, while the church prayed fervently to God on his behalf.” —Acts 12:5 Because Jesus is God and is Head of the Church, the Church is invincible. For example, Peter, the leader of the leaders of the early Church, was miraculously freed from “death row” shortly before King Herod had planned to execute him. Paul, the great missionary of the early Church, testified: “I was saved from the lion’s jaws. The Lord will continue to rescue me from all attempts to do me harm and will bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tm...

“It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:8 God became incarnate. He became a man. “In Jesus Christ God not only speaks to man but also seeks him out. The Incarnation of the Son of God attests that God goes in search of man. Jesus speaks of this search as the finding of a lost sheep (cf Lk 15:1-7). It is a search which begins in the heart of God and culminates in the Incarnation of the Word” (Towards the Third Millennium, Pope St....

“The reason was that He taught with authority and not like their scribes.” —Matthew 7:29 The religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not teach with authority as He did. They informed, educated, and enlightened people, but they didn’t always expect the people to respond and obey. Jesus did. He warned us not to give lip-service to God’s Word and nullify the commandments (Mt 15:3-8). Jesus said that if we didn’t hear His words and put them into practice, our lives would collapse (Mt 7:26-27). He clearly expected us to be doers of the Word (Jas 1:22). He taught with authority,...

“I will make your reward very great.” —Genesis 15:1 God had asked Abram to leave his homeland at age seventy-five and follow Him to an unknown land. Abram did as God asked. After he had spent “some time” in that land (Gn 15:1), God unexpectedly promised him a great reward (Gn 15:1). The Lord often speaks of the rewards of obedient faith: “Do not, then, surrender your confidence; it will have great reward” (Heb 10:35). “Look out that you…do not lose what you have worked for; you must receive your reward in full” (2 Jn 8). “God is not unjust;...

“How narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it!” —Matthew 7:14 The homilist at this morning’s Mass gave a vivid example from his childhood of following the narrow way. In his youth, his scout troop was holding a skills contest. One of the skills involved riding a bicycle along a straight and thin line. To succeed in the contest, the bicyclist had to keep his wheels on the line. When he focused on keeping the bike’s wheels on the line, his wheels invariably strayed off in one direction...