Category: Bible Study

IN LOVE AGAIN

“I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved Me as a bride, following Me in the desert, in a land unsown.” –Jeremiah 2:2 Remember when you first fell in love with Jesus? Remember what a joy it was to pray? How you loved to be with God and with His people! How you would praise Him in English and other languages! Remember when… Many, however, have lost their first love (Rv 2:4). They still believe; they still pray and serve the Lord. But it’s not the way it was. “Sluggish indeed is this people’s heart” (Mt 13:15). The...

THE RADICAL NEWNESS OF LIFE AFTER BAPTISM

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.” –Jeremiah 1:5 For the next two weeks at daily Mass, the Church reads to us from the prophet Jeremiah. Initially, Jeremiah balked at accepting God’s call to prophesy. He tried the excuse that he was too young (Jer 1:6). God did not accept this excuse (Jer 1:7). Throughout much of Jeremiah’s life, he continued to have problems answering God’s call, although he was for the most part faithful to the Lord. Many Christians can relate to Jeremiah because they too are ambivalent in...

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

“Show us wonderful signs.” –Micah 7:15 The Lord wants to show us signs. One sign for our guilt-ridden world is that the Lord will not only remove our guilt, but also tread it underfoot (Mi 7:18-19). Guilt has a way of weighing on us, but Jesus has a way of stomping on it and thereby freeing us from it. Moreover, in our sin-sick world, sin clings to us (see Heb 12:1) with tentacles that imbed themselves into our flesh. However, Jesus will break the hold of sin in our lives, “cast into the depths of the sea all our sins”...

WHO IS REALLY ON TRIAL?

“God Himself is the Judge.” –Psalm 50:6 In all three eucharistic readings today, a type of courtroom scene is portrayed. The prophet Micah announces a cosmic court session. “The Lord has a plea against His people, and He enters into trial with” them (Mi 6:2). He demands to know why His people have turned away from Him, despite all the marvelous deeds and loving provisions He has bestowed on them. God says to His people: “Answer Me!” (Mi 6:3) The psalm response continues the cosmic trial scene. God “summons the heavens from above, and the earth, to the trial of...

M & M

“Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her home. She had a sister named Mary.” –Luke 10:38-39 Some people say they are like Martha; others say they are like Mary. However, the Lord is not calling us to be Martha or Mary, but Martha and Mary. We should imitate Abraham, Sarah, and Martha by making great sacrifices in offering hospitality. Prior to our high-tech times, a family began preparing a meal by picking out a steer and working with flour (Gn 18:6-7). No freezer, microwaves, or packaged foods! To offer hospitality was a monumental, sacrificial...