Category: Bible Study

“When you see the Spirit descend and rest on Someone, it is He Who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit.” —John 1:33 The finale of the Christmas season is not Christmas day or even Epiphany but the Baptism of Jesus. This is more emphasized in the Eastern Church. Christmas is Trinitarian. Christmas is to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Christmas is focused on Christ and culminates in the Holy Spirit, the only true Christmas Spirit. Thus, we should be looking to conclude the Christmas season by having the Holy Spirit stirred into flame in our...

“The testimony John gave when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask, ‘Who are you?’…” —John 1:19 It is very important for us to know our identity, that is, who we are. For if we don’t know who we are, we don’t know why we are, what we are to do, or who others are. Because it is so important to know our identity, the Lord reveals our identity to us. We know who we are because of Him. We are who we are because of Him. Who we are is who we are in Him. Because...

“The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” —Numbers 6:26 Mary bore Jesus, the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5). Mary is called the Queen of Peace. “When the designated time had come” (Gal 4:4), she bore (Mi 5:2) a child “Who is our Peace” (Eph 2:14; see also Mi 5:4). This Child came “to make peace” (Eph 2:15) and announce the “good news of peace” (Eph 2:17). Jesus made “peace through the blood of His cross” (Col 1:20). How ironic that Mary, the woman of peace, was forced to live in such turmoil and sorrow. As a teenage...

“He was in the world, and through Him the world was made, yet the world did not know who He was.” —John 1:10 Did you feel rejected in 2019? If you did, you’re in good company. Jesus was also rejected. “To His own He came, yet His own did not accept Him” (Jn 1:11). What hurts most is that the rejection usually comes from those closest to us. For example, wives and husbands reject each other; parents refuse to forgive their children; sons and daughters rebel and break their parents’ hearts. The psalmist cries: “If an enemy had reviled me,...

“Have no love for the world, nor the things that the world affords.” —1 John 2:15 In traditional Catholic spirituality, we emphasize the virtue of detachment from the world’s prideful desires, for “the world with its seductions is passing away but the man who does God’s will endures forever” (1 Jn 2:17). Those called to the consecrated life are to be exceptional examples of the detachment from the world which all Christians should have. For example, Anna “was constantly in the temple, worshiping day and night in fasting and prayer” (Lk 2:37). In traditional Western materialism, we tend to emphasize...