Category: Prayers

“The questioners were amazed.” —Acts 4:13 People who have met the risen Christ are amazing. “Observing the self-assurance of Peter and John, and realizing that the speakers were uneducated men of no standing, the questioners were amazed” (Acts 4:13). Almost everyone must have been amazed that the risen Jesus “first appeared to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons” (Mk 16:9). How could Peter, who denied Christ three times, stand before thousands of people, preach fearlessly, and lead three thousand people to Christ at one time? Amazing! How could the persecutor Saul change into the Apostle Paul?...

“Jesus came over, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This marked the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after being raised from the dead.” —John 21:13-14 In the Catholic community throughout the world, this coming Sunday is called “Divine Mercy Sunday.” Many people prepare for this special day by praying for nine days beginning Good Friday, the day of ultimate mercy, the day on which we especially focus on Jesus’ saving death. Jesus is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4). “His mercy endures forever” (Ps 136:1ff). Jesus is all-merciful. Simon...

“God raised Him from the dead, and we are His witnesses.” —Acts 3:15 If we are not Resurrection-witnesses like Mary Magdalene and the post-Pentecost apostles, we should not make excuses, but rather admit that being a powerful witness for the risen Christ is normal Christianity (see Acts 4:33; 3:15; Lk 24:48-49). To be a Resurrection-witness, we must simply repent, renew our Baptisms, and receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). We may think we have already done this. Yet have we repented and converted by God’s standards? (see Acts 3:19) Most of us know that we must repent of doing things...

“I have seen the Lord!” —John 20:18 At a college “Encounter with Christ” retreat many years ago, I had a “Mary Magdalene” moment. The retreat director asked everyone to find a quiet location and spend an hour reading letters written to us by fellow students. I walked through the snow-covered woods to a secluded hilltop overlooking a frozen lake and sat atop a tree stump to read and pray. Each letter radiated encouragement, hopes, and prayers. The final letter ended with a Bible verse: “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bushel basket” (see Lk 8:16)....

“This is the Jesus God has raised up, and we are His witnesses.” —Acts 2:32 The risen Jesus was seen not by all but only by witnesses “hand-picked by God” (Acts 10:41, our transl). By our Baptisms, all Christians have been hand-picked by the Lord to be witnesses for the risen Christ. To be loving and effective witnesses, we need to be like: Mary Magdalene, who loved Jesus as she stood at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25), the women leaving the tomb, who worshipped Jesus (Mt 28:9), Peter, who repented of denying Jesus (Lk 22:62) and became the...