Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love has no place in him.” –1 John 2:15 Most of us believe that love for the world could detract people from receiving God the Father’s love. In contrast, the Lord maintains that love for the world will totally displace the Father’s love from our lives. Therefore, we must have no love for the world (1 Jn 2:15), make no provisions for the desires of the flesh (Rm 13:14), and crucify the “flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24). Love for the world is like cancer. Even a little bit of it...

“Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother: ‘This Child is destined to be the Downfall and the Rise of many in Israel, a Sign That will be opposed.’ ” –Luke 2:34 On the fifth day of Christmas, what does God want to do in our lives? How will our lives be different after the Christmas season than before it? The Lord certainly wants us to grow in faith. He wants us to end the Christmas season and begin the new year with a greater faith than ever before. The Lord calls us to see like Simeon and Anna....

“A cry was heard at Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation: Rachel bewailing her children; no comfort for her, since they are no more.” –Matthew 2:18 At the first Christmas, many innocent children were massacred by Herod. At this Christmas, the Herods of our time still convulse at the reality of God becoming man. They express their repulsion by killing children in and out of the womb through abortion, starvation, and abuse. For every Herod, there is a Joseph. For every murderer, there is a disciple of Jesus, who will be told by the Lord how to save the lives of...

“His parents used to go every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, and when He was twelve they went up for the celebration as was their custom.” –Luke 2:41-42 Many families have photographs of special occasions. Let’s open the photo album of the Holy Family. Here’s a photo of Jesus placed in a manger after being born in a stable (Lk 2:7). In addition to showing God’s love and the Holy Family’s poverty, this photo indicates that the Holy Family was rejected, as Mary and Joseph were forced to have their baby in a stable. Families today...

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” –Acts 7:59 On Good Friday, we often hear about the seven “last words” of Jesus, uttered as He hung dying in agony upon the cross. Today, we hear the three “last words” of St. Stephen, uttered as he was being stoned to death for his faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. In perfect imitation of Christ, St. Stephen said: “Look!…I see an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand” (Acts 7:56). With St. Stephen, “let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus” (Heb 12:2), so we will...