Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.” –Job 7:6-7 Job was both rich and secure in that he had diversified investments. However, in three unrelated catastrophes, Job’s financial empire crashed in one day (Jb 1:14ff). Job’s bankruptcy was not the worst thing that happened to him that day. In another unrelated incident, Job’s ten children were killed when the house in which they were gathered collapsed (Jb 1:2, 18-19). Later, Job contracted an extremely painful illness “with severe...

“The apostles returned to Jesus.” –Mark 6:30 When Jesus first summoned and named the apostles (Mk 3:13), all hell broke loose. Jesus’ relatives declared He was out of His mind (Mk 3:21), and the religious leaders claimed He was possessed by the devil (Mk 3:22). When “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits” (Mk 6:7), St. Mark believed that all hell broke loose again, for, at this point in his Gospel, Mark inserted the account of Herod’s beheading of John the Baptizer (Mk 6:14ff). When Jesus, through Pope...

“John had told Herod, ‘It is not right.’ ” –Mark 6:18 St. John the Baptizer had the love and courage to tell Herod: “It is not right for you to live with your brother’s wife” (Mk 6:18). The writer of the book of Hebrews had the love and courage to clearly and bluntly teach: “Let marriage be honored in every way and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers” (Heb 13:4). Paul spoke the truth in love (Eph 4:15) when he repeatedly, clearly, and emphatically proclaimed: “Make no mistake about this: no fornicator, no...

“You have drawn near…to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.” –Hebrews 12:22, 24 Pope John Paul II has taught: “This blood, which flows from the pierced side of Christ on the Cross (cf Jn 19:34), ‘speaks more graciously’ than the blood of Abel; indeed, it expresses and requires a more radical ‘justice,’ and above all it implores mercy, it makes intercession for the brethren before the Father (cf Heb 7:25), and it is the source of perfect redemption and the gift of new life” (The Gospel...

“Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord.” –Hebrews 12:5 When many of today’s Christians hear about the discipline of the Lord, they think of getting up early for Mass, being faithful to daily prayer and Bible reading, fasting, and persevering in a commitment. When the writer of Hebrews thought of discipline, he thought of Christians having their blood shed (Heb 12:4) and being martyred. The people to whom the book of Hebrews was addressed also knew discipline to be public insult and trial, imprisonment, and the confiscation of their possessions by the government (Heb 10:33-34). Our disciplines seem to...