Category: Prayers

“Be submissive to one another out of fear of Christ. Wives should be submissive to their husbands as if to the Lord.” –Ephesians 5:21-22, our transl. The most important thing in life is to do God’s will. To do God’s will is our food (Jn 4:34). Without doing His will, we do not enter His kingdom (Mt 7:21). He who does God’s will is “brother and sister and mother” to Jesus (Mt 12:50). “By this ‘will,’ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10). A major question in life is:...

“When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled in a body; and one of them, a lawyer, in an attempt to trip Him up, asked Him…” –Matthew 22:34-35 Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment. He answered not only by giving the greatest commandment but also the first one, the second one, and the basis of the whole law and of the prophets (Mt 22:37-40). When we ask Jesus a question, we often get much more than we bargained for. That’s why we may feel afraid to ask Him questions (Mk 9:32). Jesus may be...

“Through Him the whole body grows.” –Ephesians 4:16 God began His cultivation of the earth in the Garden of Eden (Gn 2:8ff). Man was assigned to care for the Garden of Eden, but man and woman didn’t care for the garden. Instead, they cared for their own curiosity. So man was banished from the garden. Then Jesus came and restored man’s access to God’s gardening. To do this, Jesus had to be betrayed, suffer anguish, and be arrested in a garden, Gethsemane. Finally, “in the place where [Jesus] had been crucified there was a garden” (Jn 19:41). Mary Magdalene on...

“Make every effort to preserve the unity.” –Ephesians 4:3 From prison, St. Paul pleaded with his Christian brothers and sisters to “live a life worthy” of their calling (Eph 4:1). This meant being humble, meek, long-suffering, and lovingly forbearing (Eph 4:2). This radically different way of life was necessary to preserve and deepen the early Church’s unity in the Spirit (Eph 4:3). The priority was unity in the body, unity in the Spirit, and unity in hope; unity in the Lord, faith, and baptism, and unity in the God and Father of all (Eph 4:4-6). This sevenfold unity is still...

“I kneel before the Father from Whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name; and I pray.” –Ephesians 3:14-16 Today’s first reading is possibly the greatest family prayer ever. It teaches us that, when we pray for our family and others, we should first of all pray for “gifts in keeping with the riches of His glory” (Eph 3:16). Family life is humanly impossible. We must admit this and then pray for supernatural gifts from God. The demands of family life are overwhelming. The only way we will survive is by asking for and receiving inward strength...