Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

As He blessed, He left them, and was taken up to heaven.” –Luke 24:51 Jesus ascended in “mid-blessing.” The apostles responded by “blessing God” (Lk 24:53, our transl). These are the final words of Luke’s Gospel. The last word for Luke is that the ascended Christ is blessing us for which we are blessing Him. “When He ascended on high, He…gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:8; see Ps 68:19) “that He might fill all men with His gifts” (Eph 4:10). When Jesus ascended, He fulfilled the prophecy: “From this day, I will bless!” (Hg 2:19) Therefore, “bless the Lord, O...

“When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained to him God’s new way in greater detail.” –Acts 18:26 Priscilla and Aquila were kicked out of Rome because they were Jews (Acts 18:2). They were victims of religious persecution and became refugees. Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers (Acts 18:3), and they had a Christian community based at their home (Rm 16:5). This husband and wife were nobodies by the world’s standards. They were just two obscure people, oppressed by Rome’s political machine and ignored by the world. However, in God’s eyes and therefore in reality, Priscilla and...

“I give you My assurance, whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in My name.” –John 16:23 Today begins nine days of prayer, the Pentecost Novena, to ask God to prepare our hearts to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. God pours out the Holy Spirit beyond measure and without ration (Jn 3:34; Eph 3:20). Nevertheless, we need to prepare our hearts. We don’t pray the Pentecost Novena because God needs persuading, but rather because we need docility to receive the Spirit. Jesus revealed that our heavenly Father won’t give us “a poisonous snake when...

“I tell you truly: you will weep and mourn.” –John 16:20 Tomorrow begins the Pentecost Novena, nine days of intense prayer to receive the Holy Spirit when He comes in a new way on Pentecost Sunday. The nine days of this Holy Spirit novena correspond closely to the nine months of a woman’s pregnancy. The baby dwells within the mother during the pregnancy. Similarly, the Holy Spirit dwells within us (1 Cor 3:16). As the baby grows within the mother’s womb, the mother undergoes dramatic changes. Everything in her lifestyle changes. She wears a completely different set of clothes. She...

“When they heard about the raising of the dead, some sneered.” –Acts 17:32 “With power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great respect was paid to them all” (Acts 4:33). Paul, the least of the apostles (1 Cor 15:9), also witnessed with power for the risen Christ except when he preached at Athens. There, while a few believed, others sneered at Paul (Acts 17:32), called him a “magpie” (Acts 17:18), and refused to take him seriously. At Athens, Paul seemed to have lost his power, his anointing from the Spirit. Like Paul, we may...