Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.” –Isaiah 6:4 To become disciples of Jesus, we must answer God’s call. Like Isaiah, to answer God’s call, we must experience the fear of the Lord (Is 6:5). To serve Jesus, we must have wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10). To take up our daily cross in imitating Jesus, we must be fearless (see Mt 10:26, 28, 31). “He who fears the Lord is never alarmed, never afraid; for the Lord is his Hope”...

“Whoever holds out till the end will escape death.” –Matthew 10:22 The Lord’s words to us today are: “You will be persecuted” (see Mt 10:16ff) and “You will collapse” (see Hos 14:2). We naturally believe these words apply to people of the past or, if they apply to the present, to someone other than ourselves. However, what if the Lord is speaking to you personally? If you brush off His words, you will collapse under the weight of persecution, for you will not be prepared. To become strong enough to resist collapsing under pressure is not usually something we can...

“The reign of God is at hand!” –Matthew 10:7 St. John the Baptizer prefigured Christ’s coming by preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 3:2, RSV-CE). Then Jesus preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17, RSV-CE). Finally, Jesus sent out His Church, including us, to “preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’ ” (Mt 10:7, RSV-CE). Our job and privilege in life is to communicate that: God offers us a new system of government: a monarchy; Jesus is the King of this kingdom. We must seek...

“When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.” –Hosea 8:7 If we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind. We reap tornadoes, which bring destruction and chaos. Sowing the wind means blowing where we will (cf Jn 3:8), doing our own thing. If we act by our own authority and without God’s approval, we will destroy ourselves (Hos 8:4). If we try to save our lives by taking charge of them and controlling them, we lose them (Lk 9:24-25) and destroy ourselves. If we give up doing our own thing and lose our lives to doing God’s...

“Your faith has restored you to health.” –Matthew 9:22 Both healings in today’s Gospel passage display an astounding boldness. Both Jairus and the woman with the hemorrhage thought big; they believed big. Jairus asked Jesus to raise his daughter from the dead (Mt 9:18). The woman believed that merely touching Jesus, without bothering Him by engaging Him in conversation, would bring her healing (Mt 9:21). Jesus was evidently pleased at their bold, expectant faith. To the woman, Jesus said: “Your faith has restored you to health” (Mt 9:22). Jairus said: “My daughter has just died. Please come and lay Your...