Category: Prayers

“Nothing is new under the sun.” –Ecclesiastes 1:9 The author of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes is a wise man named Qoheleth (Eccl 1:1). He is wise, but he lived before the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. From his perspective, “all things are vanity!” (Eccl 1:2) Many people today are likewise pessimistic about living in this world filled with misery and tears. The New Testament recognizes this. Life “without God in the world” is definitely a life “without hope” (Eph 2:12). Apart from Jesus, we “can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). Yet the Good News is that...

September 2022 | Bible Quiz – 93 ( I Thessalonians ) – [ in English ] “Now it happened that, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s home, many tax collectors and those known as sinners came to join Jesus and His disciples at dinner.” –Matthew 9:10 The Lord may have been making a statement in choosing a businessman (and a disreputable one at that) to compile the first book of the New Testament. The Lord does not believe in the separation of faith from life, church from business, and even church from state (as we erroneously understand it). We are not to...

“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.” –Proverbs 21:13 If we don’t listen to the cry of the poor, our prayer will not be heard by God. If we give a beggar some money, have we heard his cry? If we don’t give him money, have we not heard his cry? Jesus proclaimed that His mission was to preach Good News to the poor (Lk 4:18). However, this Good News was not only about providing immediate needs but also freedom. Jesus described His Good News for the poor...

“First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for all men, especially for kings and those in authority.” —1 Timothy 2:1-2 Our priority should be to pray for those in authority. This kind of prayer is good and pleasing to God (1 Tm 2:3). This kind of prayer leads to the type of society in which people will have the best opportunity to be saved and to know the truth (1 Tm 2:4). This prayer should be led by Christian men publicly and visibly. St. Paul stated: “It is my wish, then, that in every...

“He spoke to them in a parable.” —Luke 8:4 The parable of the sower and the seed (Lk 8:4-8) is applied to sowing the Word of God, because Jesus specifically says the seed sowed by the farmer “is the word of God” (Lk 8:11). The homilist at this morning’s Mass mentioned that this parable also applies well to those who are sowing love. St. Francis of Assisi likewise mentioned this in his well-known prayer when he said, “where there is hatred, let me sow love.” God sows love and His love falls on a footpath, representing people so trampled down...