Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

FUTURE NOW

“As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate and drank, they took husbands and wives, right up to the day Noah entered the ark – and when the flood came, it destroyed them all.” –Luke 17:26-27 At the end of the world, many people will not be prepared. This has also been the case with Noah’s flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other catastrophes. Thus, to be prepared for the future, we must be prepared in the present for anything. Are you ready for...

SAVING SAYINGS

“He saved us.” –Titus 3:5 “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us” (Ti 3:4-5). “He saved us through the baptism of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit He lavished on us through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Ti 3:5-6). We have been saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8; see also Lk 17:19). Jesus, Whose name means “Yahweh saves,” is our Savior, our only Savior (see Acts 4:12). The Lord commands us to: Rejoice in our salvation (Is 25:9). With Mary, we exclaim: “My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord,...

THE MALE-MAN

“Tell the older men that they must be temperate, serious-minded, and self-controlled; likewise sound in the faith, loving, and steadfast.” –Titus 2:2 “Tell the young men to keep themselves completely under control.” –Titus 2:6 In the USA, we often expect our parishes and pastors to provide for the religious education of our children. We expect our pastors to provide the sacraments and to reach out especially to the elderly and the sick. These expectations are good, but they are different than the early Church’s expectations for ministry. St. Paul expected St. Titus, the pastor of the church of Crete, to...

“FATHER, FORGIVE” (LK 23:34)

“If he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day turns back to you saying, ‘I am sorry,’ forgive him.” –Luke 17:4 We are made in the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:27). As disciples of Jesus, we try to be like Jesus in every aspect of our conduct (1 Pt 1:15). In this way, we are like God, for Jesus is God and the “exact Representation of the Father’s Being” (Heb 1:3). To be like God means to work, suffer, give, love, and forgive as God does. This means we must forgive seven times...

LIFE-GIVING

“They gave from their surplus wealth, but she gave from her want, all that she had to live on.” –Mark 12:44 God the Father loves us so much that He gave His Son to us (Jn 3:16). Jesus gave His life for us when He died on the cross. The Holy Spirit gives us charisms, gifts of the Spirit (see 1 Cor 12:4ff). Because God is the greatest Giver, He teaches us that it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Because God is the greatest Giver, Jesus, Who is God, sat down opposite the treasury and observed...