Category: Bible Reading & Meditation
“We are in the One Who is true, for we are in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” –1 John 5:20 On this second last day of the Christmas season, it is good to ask ourselves: “Are we having a good Christmas season, a good year, and a good century?” Whether something is good does not depend on our getting our way but on God getting His way, and whether we do God’s will depends on our loving God. Moreover, to love God we must know God, especially His saving death and glorious Resurrection....
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“Whoever does not believe God has made God a liar by refusing to believe in the testimony He has given on His own Son’s behalf.” –1 John 5:10 Two of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity have given Their testimony about the third Person, Jesus. The Holy Spirit has testified to Jesus, that Jesus Christ came through water and blood, and not in water only (1 Jn 5:6). “It is the Spirit Who testifies to this, and the Spirit is Truth” (1 Jn 5:6). The Father has likewise testified to Jesus, “on His own Son’s behalf” (1 Jn 5:9)...
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“The commandment we have from Him is this: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” –1 John 4:21 Most people like to think of themselves as loving others. Yet are we truly loving or just deceiving ourselves? We are loving if: We are “beloved,” that is, we have first received God’s love (1 Jn 4:19). We love God with all our hearts (1 Jn 5:2; Mt 22:37). We obey God’s commandments (1 Jn 5:3). We love ourselves (Mt 22:39). We love the brothers and sisters we see in our everyday life (1 Jn 4:20). We love our enemies (Mt...
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“[Jesus] went off to the mountain to pray.” –Mark 6:46 In today’s Scripture readings, love is not contrasted to hate. Rather, love is contrasted with fear (1 Jn 4:18), and the antidote to fear is prayer. Thus, the Lord teaches us that love increases through a relationship with God. Prayer is a conversation with God, with us doing most of the listening and God doing most of the speaking. Consider a young man and woman in love. They contemplate marriage. Considerable risks and expenses are involved: one spouse might die prematurely, the expenses of bearing, raising, and educating children, risks...
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Jesus “broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to distribute. He divided the two fish among all of them and they ate until they had their fill.” –Mark 6:41-42 In the Christmas season, we celebrate the historical event that God became man and was born in Bethlehem. Christmas should not be about fictitious reindeer, snowmen, and other cartoon characters. Christmas is about the Word of God literally becoming flesh (Jn 1:14). Jesus’ birth in a stable at Bethlehem is not just a symbol but a fact. In today’s Gospel reading, we read about another fact: the multiplication of...
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