Category: Prayers

“Give, and it shall be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, will they pour into the fold of your garment. For the measure you measure with will be measured back to you.” –Luke 6:38 Mass Readings: February 26 First: Daniel 9:4-10; Resp: Psalm 79:8-9,11,13; Gospel: Luke 6:36-38 Listen to the Mass Readings In Jesus’ time, most people worked the land as farmers. Modern farm mechanization didn’t exist. Recall that people wore ankle-length robes at the time. The method of sowing seeds in Jesus’ time was for each person to go to the seedpile, grab the...

“A cloud came, overshadowing them, and out of the cloud a voice: ‘This is My Son, My Beloved. Listen to Him.’ ” –Mark 9:7 “God is for us” (Rm 8:31). He “did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for the sake of us all” (Rm 8:32). After that, will He not “grant us all things besides?” (Rm 8:32) God couldn’t love us more. He loves us unconditionally, sacrificially, infinitely, perfectly, and eternally. Nevertheless, God does things and allows things in our lives which we can’t understand. Although this should make us question our powers of understanding, we...

“Go first to be reconciled.” –Matthew 5:24 Mass Readings: February 23 First: Ezekiel 18:21-28; Resp: Psalm 130:1-8; Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26 Listen to the Mass Readings In the Sermon on the Mount, the quintessence of the new covenant, Jesus expresses His divinity by superseding the old law in several ways. Jesus’ first such statement is: “You have heard the commandment imposed on your forefathers, ‘You shall not commit murder; every murderer shall be liable to judgment.’ What I say to you is: everyone who grows angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment” (Mt 5:21-22). Anger, angry words, and angry...

“I for My part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build My Church.” –Matthew 16:18 Mass Readings: February 22 First: 1 Peter 5:1-4; Resp: Psalm 23:1-6; Gospel: Matthew 16:13-19 Listen to the Mass Readings Jesus is the Carpenter (Mk 6:3). He probably built several chairs out of wood. Like any skilled carpenter, Jesus would have built His chairs to last. The chair would have a firm foundation to prevent toppling and give confidence to the one seated in the chair. Jesus is also “Head of the Church” (Eph 1:22). As Founder and Head of...

“You have a greater than Jonah here.” –Luke 11:32 Mass Readings: February 21 First: Jonah 3:1-10;Resp: Psalm 51:3-4,12-13,18-19;Gospel: Luke 11:29-32 Listen to the Mass Readings Jonah was a reluctant, begrudging prophet. He did not want to obey the Lord. Yet he didn’t want to be in the belly of a whale either. However, the wicked Ninevites did not repent with begrudging, complaining reluctance. Incredibly, “they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth” (Jon 3:5). They had sinned with abandon, and they repented with much greater abandon. The queen of the south “came from the...