Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“…lest I come and strike the land with doom.” –Malachi 3:24 Mass Readings: December 23 First: Malachi 3:1-4,23-24;Resp: Psalm 25:4-5,8-10,14; Gospel: Luke 1:57-66 Listen to the Mass Readings In the last words of the Old Testament, the Lord warns us that unless fathers turn their hearts to their children and vice versa, He will “come and strike the land with doom.” The last words of the New Testament and of the Bible are: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen!” (Rv 22:21) Life is either doomed or graced. Life before we live for Christ is doomed,...

“Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” –1 Samuel 1:28 Mass Readings: December 22 First: 1 Samuel 1:24-28; Resp: 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8; Gospel: Luke 1:46-56 Listen to the Mass Readings The meaning of Christmas is: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (Jn 3:16). Christmas is God’s gift of a Child. To be in the Christmas Spirit, we should be like Hannah and give our children to the Lord (1 Sm 1:28). This is done by: married couples lovingly having all the...

“For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth.” –Song of Songs 2:11-12 Mass Readings: December 21 First: Song of Solomon 2:8-14; Resp: Psalm 33:2-3,11-12,20-21; Gospel: Luke 1:39-45 Listen to the Mass Readings When the Church tells us on the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere that “winter is past,” it is calling us to walk by faith and not by sight (see 2 Cor 5:7). Faith is “conviction about things we do not see” (Heb 11:1). Mary was a pregnant teenager, who could have been divorced by her...

“Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God?” –Isaiah 7:13 Mass Readings: December 20 First: Isaiah 7:10-14; Resp: Psalm 24:1-6; Gospel: Luke 1:26-38 Listen to the Mass Readings Before writing this, I sat at two airports for several hours as my flights were canceled and/or delayed. I was very weary. Then I read Isaiah 7:13. In a manner of speaking, I weary God when I: complain and whine about my own weariness, refuse to “walk by faith” (see 2 Cor 5:7), sin, disobey the Lord, refuse to forgive, refuse to repent, gossip, waste...

“His wife was barren and had borne no children.” –Judges 13:2 Mass Readings: December 19 First: Judges 13:2-7,24-25; Resp: Psalm 71:3-6,16-17; Gospel: Luke 1:5-25 Listen to the Mass Readings Today the Church introduces us to the mother of Samson and to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer. Both of these women were barren, but the Lord miraculously made them fruitful. Are you barren, not physically, but spiritually? How many people have you helped lead to Christ this Advent? How many spiritual children have you begotten in the last couple of years? (see Phlm 10; 1 Cor 4:15) With how...