Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“You are proving your faith, and laboring in love, and showing constancy of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” –1 Thessalonians 1:3 Mass Readings: August 28 First: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5,8-10;Resp: Psalm 149:1-6,9;Gospel: Matthew 23:13-22 Listen to the Mass Readings Life in Christ is like a marathon race or a championship fight (2 Tm 4:7). The Christian life is both a joyous celebration (see Phil 4:4) and “a great contest of suffering” (Heb 10:32). To win the victory, we must have faith, hope, and love. By faith, we can move mountains (Mt 17:20). By hope, we can persevere in even the...

“Blest are you, Simon son of Jonah! No mere man has revealed this to you, but My heavenly Father.” –Matthew 16:17 God the Father revealed to Simon that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Mt 16:16). As with all divine revelations, this was a catalyst leading to Simon’s name being changed to Peter (Mt 16:18), Jesus building His Church on Peter (Mt 16:18), Peter being given the authority symbolized by the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:19), and Jesus insisting on the cross as the essence of discipleship (Mt 16:24). Peter naturally did not...

“The field she entered to glean after the harvesters happened to be the section belonging to Boaz.” –Ruth 2:3 Mass Readings: August 26 First: Ruth 2:1-3,8-11; 4:13-17; Resp: Psalm 128:1-5; Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12 Listen to the Mass Readings Boaz was a redeemer. He redeemed Ruth from a present with only poverty and a future with only destitution and loneliness. “Boaz took Ruth” (Ru 4:13), entered into a contract to personally pay the price of her “redemption” (Ru 4:7), and brought her into “a future full of hope” as his wife (Jer 29:11). Finally, Boaz didn’t simply redeem Ruth and then...

“For wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” –Ruth 1:16 Mass Readings: August 25 First: Ruth 1:1,3-6,14-16,22; Resp: Psalm 146:5-10; Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40 Listen to the Mass Readings “There was a famine in the land” (Ru 1:1). Therefore, Naomi’s family moved to Moab in order to survive (Ru 1:1). Then, Naomi’s husband died (Ru 1:3). Next, her two sons died (Ru 1:5). Naomi was in such despair that she thought she should change her name to “Mara,” meaning “bitter” (Ru 1:20). When one rotten...

“I saw you.” –John 1:48, 50 Mass Readings: August 24 First: Revelation 21:9-14; Resp: Psalm 145:10-13,17-18; Gospel: John 1:45-51 Listen to the Mass Readings Nathanael (Bartholomew) had a negative attitude toward Jesus before he even met Him, simply because Jesus was from Nazareth (Jn 1:46). In contrast, Jesus had a positive attitude toward Nathanael even before Jesus met him. Jesus did not focus on Nathanael’s sins; He called Nathanael “a true Israelite” in whom there was no guile (Jn 1:47). Nathanael responded to Jesus’ affirmation of him by affirming Jesus as “the Son of God” and “the King of Israel”...