Category: Prayers

Wisdom “is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty.” —Wisdom 7:25 When you were confirmed in the Holy Spirit, the bishop or his delegate prayed for you to receive the gift of wisdom (see Is 11:2). As Confirmation is vitally important, so the confirmational gift of wisdom is very important. Wisdom is “the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness” (Wis 7:26). Wisdom “produces friends of God and prophets” (Wis 7:27). Wisdom “is fairer than the sun and surpasses every...

“He threw himself on his face at the feet of Jesus and spoke His praises.” —Luke 17:16 We start off in life thanking others in order to be polite. Then we thank others, even God, in order to be just. We say such things as: “At least you can say ‘Thanks.’ ” Then the Lord calls us to thank God by faith rather than by sight (2 Cor 5:7) — to thank God when we don’t see a reason to thank Him. Then the Lord calls us to live lives of such profound and constant thanksgiving that our thanksgiving is...

“They are in peace.” —Wisdom 3:3 After their deaths, the souls of some people “are in the hand of God” (Wis 3:1). These people are “the just” (Wis 3:1), “those who trust” in the Lord (Wis 3:9), “the faithful” (Wis 3:9), the “holy ones” (Wis 3:9), and the “elect” (Wis 3:9). To be just is to avoid sin and to repair the devastating effects of sin. This is, of course, impossible except in Jesus, our Justice (see Jer 23:6; 1 Cor 1:30). To trust in the Lord means to trust the Lord completely, to love Him with all our hearts...

“He manifests Himself to those who do not disbelieve Him.” —Wisdom 1:2 As I read the above passage, I felt goose bumps form on my body. Today Almighty God manifested Himself to me in His Eucharistic presence (see Wis 1:2). I rejoiced to receive Him in Holy Communion at Mass. Jesus, Wisdom Incarnate (1 Cor 1:30), bounded out of heaven (Wis 18:15; Jn 6:33) to fill me with the Food of Wisdom. People spend years obtaining knowledge through education and training. Yet we Catholics have been given the Bread of Wisdom, and can receive this Bread daily! Oh, that we...

“It also happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king.” —2 Maccabees 7:1 This nameless Old Testament family prefigures the Christian family. How holy, fearless, and faithful a Christian family can be when united with the Lord and one another and deeply grounded in faith in Jesus’ Resurrection and our resurrection from the dead! This family loved God and each other so much that all seven brothers with their mother suffered mutilation, torture, and execution so as to be faithful to the Lord. This was a family of eight saints,...