Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“When His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the power of the Holy Spirit.” –Matthew 1:18 Mass Readings: December 18 First: Jeremiah 23:5-8; Resp: Psalm 72:1-2,12-13,18-19; Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25 Listen to the Mass Readings Joseph knew His wife was pregnant by someone other than him. The only possibility seemed to be that Mary was an adulteress. Yet in a dream, an angel told Joseph that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:20). Would you believe this miracle? Would you believe something that had never happened before? Would...

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.” –Isaiah 61:1 To meet Christ this Christmas, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us (see Jn 16:13). Most of us have the Holy Spirit because we have been baptized and confirmed. However, the central question is: “Does the Holy Spirit have us?” Do we relate to the Holy Spirit as a Person? (seeCatechism, 686) Does the Holy Spirit possess our lives to direct us as He wills? With Mary, have we said to the Holy Spirit: “Let it be done to me according to...

“How awesome are you, Elijah! Whose glory is equal to yours?” –Sirach 48:4 Mass Readings: December 16 First: Sirach 48:1-4,9-11; Resp: Psalm 80:2-3,15-16,18-19; Gospel: Matthew 17:10-13 Listen to the Mass Readings   The ministry of Elijah preceded the coming of Jesus at His Incarnation, is preceding Christ’s coming this Christmastime, and will precede His final coming at the end of the world. Elijah’s ministry is to re-establish God’s people (Sir 48:10) and to restore all things (Mt 17:11). Consequently, at this time before Christ’s Christmas coming, the following three prophecies of Isaiah are being fulfilled by new Elijahs: “Build up,...

“I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water.” –Isaiah 41:18 Mass Readings: December 14 First: Isaiah 41:13-20;Resp: Psalm 145:1,9-13;Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15 Listen to the Mass Readings As the Israelites who were in exile in Babylon returned to their homeland through the desert, God promised to fulfill their needs, especially for water. The Israelites considered their task hopeless; they were weak to the point of considering themselves no more than worms or maggots (see Is 41:14). Yet God would do the miracles necessary for them to have an abundant harvest. Thus God promised...