Category: Prayers

Herod “ordered the massacre of all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem.” —Matthew 2:16 Each baby boy killed that morning over two-thousand years ago in Bethlehem died because he was mistaken for Jesus. The soldiers who killed the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem thought they were killing Christ, or someone who could be Jesus. To the killers, the children were indistinguishable from Christ. The child-martyrs we call the Holy Innocents are thus a model to us. We are to bear the light of Christ in our lives to such an extent that Jesus called us “the light of...

“He saw and believed.” —John 20:8 Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. John the Evangelist. John is the author of the fourth Gospel, three letters in the New Testament, and the Book of Revelation. He is one of the twelve apostles and remained with Jesus at the foot of the cross as He was crucified. God blessed St. John with a special gift—a heavenly perspective on the plan of salvation. His Gospel especially emphasizes the divinity of Christ. I find the following image helpful when explaining the divine viewpoint of St. John’s Gospel. Picture Jesus standing in the...

“Then they rushed at him as one man, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him.” —Acts 7:57-58 Most families have special Christmas traditions. On the second day of Christmas, the Catholic family traditionally recalls the brutal murder of St. Stephen, the first martyr. Why recall such a gruesome event, especially at Christmas time? The original purpose of Christmas was to challenge the lifestyle of the world by intentionally trying to ruin the pagans’ festivities. In the third century, the Romans set their sun-god festival for December 25. They had the date years before Christians formally celebrated...

“Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, uttered this prophecy…” —Luke 1:67 To give birth, a mother must be pregnant for approximately nine months. To give birth this Christmas, a Christian must be filled with Jesus for at least a few weeks. The birth of every creature requires a pregnancy of varying duration. Have you carried the baby long enough? Have you reached full term? How far apart are the contractions? Tomorrow is birth day, Jesus’ birthday. Are you ready for birthing? Zechariah went through the nine-month pregnancy with his wife. It was a difficult pregnancy. He was deaf...