Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“We are truly His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance.” –Ephesians 2:10 Today is “Laetare Sunday” or, in English, “Joy Sunday.” The Church commands us to rejoice. We rejoice in how the Lord has been loving us throughout the first half of Lent. We joyfully anticipate the glories of the Easter season. However, many of us seem to have little to rejoice in. We have been rejected, abused, and hurt. Lent has not been the springtime of our life, but a devastating winter storm with no signs...

Believe me, this man went home from the temple justified but the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled while he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” –Luke 18:14 The Pharisee in today’s Gospel reading was not humble but self-centered. When he prayed, he “prayed to himself” (Lk 18:11, our transl) and talked more about himself than about God. Also, the Pharisee focused his prayer on himself by favorably comparing himself with a tax-collector praying in the back of the Temple (Lk 18:11). The Pharisee was destroying himself by his addiction to self because he was...

“Return to the Lord.” –Hosea 14:3 Like the prodigal son, we may have run away from home (Lk 15:13), done our own thing, and collapsed through our guilt (Hos 14:2). We are sick of seeing pigs live a better life than we do (see Lk 15:16-17). Finally, we decide to get out of sin and ask the Lord’s forgiveness. The Lord rejoices to see us, for He wants to heal our defection and turn His wrath away from us (Hos 14:5). The only problem is that the Lord wants to love us freely (Hos 14:5). He wants to love us...

“O, that today you would hear His voice: ‘Harden not your heart.’ ” –Psalm 95:7-8 There’s a lot of attention these days on hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis. The arteries clog and harden to the point where the flow of blood can be almost completely blocked. This can lead to sudden death. In a similar way, a hard heart, stiff neck, and turned back lead to spiritual death. That’s why we bend our knees in worship and bow our heads in prayer. That’s one side effect of the various patterns of standing, sitting, kneeling, processing up to Communion and back,...

“What great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” –Deuteronomy 4:8 “God is Love” (1 Jn 4:16). Accordingly, He wants to give people the best, the greatest. Therefore, He raises up great people to do great things. God calls us to greatness because He is Love. We will be great and our nation will be great if we: observe God’s law carefully (Dt 4:6-8; Mt 5:19), teach God’s commands (Mt 5:19), and serve people (Mt 20:26). This obeying, teaching, and serving is so demanding that, like Jesus,...