Category: Bible Study

“Wherever He put in an appearance, in villages, in towns, or at crossroads, they laid the sick in the market places and begged Him to let them touch just the tassel of His cloak. All who touched Him got well.” —Mark 6:56 To touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak was to touch a sacramental, a sign of God’s grace “to keep all the commandments of the Lord, without going wantonly astray after the desires of [one’s] hearts and eyes” (Nm 15:39). As baptized Catholic Christians, we can not only touch a sacramental but can receive the sacrament of the Eucharist,...

“Your wound shall quickly be healed.” —Isaiah 58:8 In a world of suffering, pain, and brokenness, the Lord makes the amazing promise of quick healing. This promise, like many of the Lord’s promises, is preceded and followed by several commands. The Lord commands us to fast in the right spirit and serve the basic needs of the poor (Is 58:6-7). Then He will fulfill several promises, if we are willing to respond to these graces by obeying further commands related to doing justice (Is 58:9ff). When we are hurting, we tend to want God to heal us so that we...

“Give Your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” —1 Kings 3:9 A person decides to live his Christian life when he decides to do God’s will instead of his own will (see Mt 26:39). Solomon prefigured this when he sought God’s heart and will rather than his own well-being, prosperity, or victory (1 Kgs 3:11ff). Once we decide to do God’s will and get involved in God’s life, we, as human beings, naturally and rightly develop a sense of belonging and ownership. Our service to the Lord becomes not just God’s...

“King Herod came to hear of Jesus, for His reputation had become widespread.” —Mark 6:14 King Herod heard about Jesus. This could have been the opportunity for Herod to believe in Jesus (see Rm 10:17) and be saved from self-destruction. Yet Herod jumped to the wrong conclusion that Jesus was actually St. John the Baptizer raised from the dead (Mk 6:16). Possibly Herod was prone to believe this falsehood because he carried guilt from murdering John to save face and look good before the guests at his birthday party (Mk 6:26). Herod murdered John because he was proud, and this...

“I am going the way of all mankind.” —1 Kings 2:2 In today’s Mass readings, King David dies. A quick summary of David’s life could read like this: David’s courage was spectacular (1 Sm 17:34ff). David’s triumphs were spectacular (1 Kgs 17:49ff). David’s sins were spectacular (2 Sm 11:2-24; 2 Sm 24:2-26). David’s repentance was spectacular (Ps 51:3ff; 2 Sm 12:13ff). David’s worship was spectacular (see 2 Sm 6:14 and all the psalms of praise he wrote). Scripture quotes the Lord as giving this summary of David, a summary to which all of us can aspire: “I have found David…to...