Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“The Lord was pleased to crush Him in infirmity.” –Isaiah 53:10 Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be “pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins” (Is 53:5). Jesus was crushed because “the Lord laid upon Him the guilt of us all” (Is 53:6). One person’s guilt can cause him or her to collapse (see Hos 14:2) or even be crushed. Imagine (if you can) all the weight of all the guilt of all sins of every person who has lived or will ever live. Imagine this weight pressing upon one person at one time. Then you can understand why “so...

“Whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.” –Luke 12:10 To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to refuse to acknowledge Jesus publicly before man (Lk 12:8-9). However, the Lord does not expect us to speak up and stand up for Him by our own power. The Holy Spirit gives us His power to witness for Jesus (see Acts 1:8; Jn 15:26-27). Therefore, if we do not share our faith and our love for Jesus, we are refusing the help of the Holy Spirit. This is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. “Do not worry about how to defend yourselves or...

“What you have whispered in locked rooms will be proclaimed from the rooftops.” –Luke 12:3 “From heaven the Lord looks down” (Ps 33:13). Does He look down as a cosmic Big Brother, waiting for the chance to shout our sins and failures from the rooftops (Lk 12:3)? Jesus took our shame upon Himself. He was shamed as He was crucified naked in public, dying the shameful death of a criminal. The Lord loves us so intimately that He is interested in everything about us. Because He is present within us (see Jn 6:56; 17:23), He loves us completely and even...

EVANGELIST, AND MISSIONARY “I have no one with me but Luke.” –2 Timothy 4:11 St. Luke was a physician (Col 4:14). Physicians usually have greater powers of observation than most other people. This enables them to make better diagnoses. Traditionally, Luke also has been known as an artist. Artists likewise have greater powers of observation. Luke accompanied St. Paul in his missionary work (see 2 Tm 4:11). For many years, Luke saw firsthand the wondrous works of the Holy Spirit in the Church’s first generation. Luke probably completed the final editing of his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles...

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s lead.” –Galatians 5:25 Sometimes you will find that most of the verses of the Scripture passages for Mass each day are acceptable even to pagans, secular humanists, and fallen-away Catholics. For example, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus points out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and tells the Bible lawyers not to burden people without helping them (Lk 11:43-46). Many anti-Christians certainly agree with Jesus on these two points. In today’s reading from Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is described as love, joy, and peace (Gal 5:22). Almost everyone...