Category: Bible Study

“When [Saul] arrived back in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there; but it turned out that they were all afraid of him. They even refused to believe that he was a disciple.” –Acts 9:26 Disciples of Jesus bear fruit for the Lord, fruit that is evident to other disciples. Disciples also imitate the Lord Jesus in His character, that is, His holiness, and in His ministry, that is in bringing others to the Lord. It’s very understandable that the Jerusalem Christians did not believe that Saul of Tarsus, that is, the Apostle Paul, was a disciple. The only...

“We now turn to the Gentiles.” –Acts 13:46 “Jesus sent these men on mission as the Twelve, after giving them the following instructions: ‘Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead after the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ ” (Mt 10:5-6). Although Jesus delivered a Canaanite woman’s daughter from the devil, He did not proclaim God’s kingdom to her (Mt 15:26-28). Therefore, the early Christians believed that life in Christ was for Jews only. The Old Testament prophecies about saving the nations were thought to refer only to the Jews scattered throughout...

“We do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” –John 14:5 Mass Readings: April 27 First: Acts 13:26-33; Resp: Psalm 2:6-11; Gospel: John 14:1-6 Listen to the Mass Readings St. Thomas asked Jesus how to know the way to where He would go. Jesus responded with a serious, profound answer. To the next request from St. Philip to show the disciples the Father, however, Jesus did not respond with such a profound answer. Instead, Jesus expressed exasperation. Why did Jesus respond so differently to the two questions? Possibly it is because of the intentions behind...

“My purpose here is the fulfillment of Scripture: ‘He who partook of bread with Me has raised his heel against Me.’ ” –John 13:18 Mass Readings: April 26 First: Acts 13:13-25; Resp: Psalm 89:2-3,21-22,25,27; Gospel: John 13:16-20 Listen to the Mass Readings What a terrible sin it was for Judas to betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver! Yet the Lord brought good out of this abomination by predicting it so that, when it took place, Jesus’ disciples believed that He is the I AM, that is, God (Jn 13:19). Out of Judas’ betrayal, the Lord brought salvation and faith...

“Proclaim the good news to all creation.” –Mark 16:15 Mass Readings: April 25 First: 1 Peter 5:5-14;Resp: Psalm 89:2-3,6-7,16-17; Gospel: Mark 16:15-20 Listen to the Mass Readings The early Church, and St. Mark, did their very best to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world (Mk 16:15). The apostles and disciples used every means available to them in the time of Christ: traveling on foot over many miles, meeting people in public places, synagogues, the Temple, in homes, etc. St. Mark, also known as John (Acts 13:5, 13) and John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37), even was...