Category: Bible Study

“Arise, O Lord, that Your enemies may be scattered, and those who hate You may flee before You.” –Numbers 10:35; see also Psalm 68:2 Mass Readings: October 30 First: Romans 8:12-17; Resp: Psalm 68:2,4,6-7,20-21; Gospel: Luke 13:10-17 Listen to the Mass Readings Moses prayed the above verse whenever the Israelites in the desert prepared to break camp and set out with the Ark of the Covenant on a new stage of their journey. When that day’s travel was finished, Moses prayed: “Return, O Lord, You Who ride upon the clouds, to the troops of Israel” (Nm 10:36). In this way,...

“I love You, O Lord, my Strength.” –Psalm 18:2 Mass Readings: October 29 First: Exodus 22:20-26; Resp: Psalm 18:2-4,47,51; Second: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40 Listen to the Mass Readings Jesus revealed that the two greatest commandments were about loving God and our neighbor (Mt 22:37-39). Jesus maintained that His mission was to show us the Father’s love (Jn 15:9). He commanded us to love even our enemies (Mt 5:44). Jesus said that we would be recognized as His disciples because of our “love for one another” (Jn 13:35). Finally, Jesus laid down His life for us when He...

“He called His disciples and selected twelve of them to be His apostles…Simon called the Zealot…” –Luke 6:13, 15 Mass Readings: October 28 First: Ephesians 2:19-22;Resp: Psalm 19:2-5;Gospel: Luke 6:12-16 Listen to the Mass Readings Jesus places His heaven-sent ministry in the hands of Simon and Jude, along with ten other apostles. Simon was called the Zealot (Lk 6:15). Zealots were similar to what we would today call “terrorists.” Why would Jesus entrust His ministry and His reputation to a terrorist? Imagine the outcry today if a bishop hired a terrorist to lead a major diocesan ministry! Before meeting Jesus,...

“Who can free me from this body under the power of death?” –Romans 7:24 Mass Readings: October 27 First: Romans 7:18-25; Resp: Psalm 119:66,68,76-77,93-94; Gospel: Luke 12:54-59 Listen to the Mass Readings If we’re honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that we may have not been honest with ourselves. This is because, if we had been honest, we would have had to admit that there is something very wrong with us. No good dwells in us (Rm 7:18). We have “the desire to do right” but “not the power” (Rm 7:18). “What happens is that” we “do, not...

“When you were slaves of sin, you had freedom from justice. What benefit did you then enjoy?” –Romans 6:20-21 Mass Readings: October 26 First: Romans 6:19-23; Resp: Psalm 1:1-4,6; Gospel: Luke 12:49-53 Listen to the Mass Readings Every human being is both enslaved and free. We can choose to be “slaves of sin” (Rm 6:20) and thus free from justice, or we can be “freed from sin” and “slaves of God” (Rm 6:22). If we choose slavery to sin, we “will reap a harvest of corruption” (Gal 6:8), things that we will be “ashamed of, all of them tending toward...