Category: Prayers

“They answered, ‘Moses permitted divorce and the writing of a decree of divorce.’ But Jesus told them: ‘He wrote that commandment for you because of your stubbornness.’ ” –Mark 10:4-5 Mass Readings: February 24 First: Jeremiah 18:18-20;Resp: Psalm 31:5-6,14-16; Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28 Jesus related divorce to stubbornness. Stubbornness in this context could be sin, pride, selfishness, refusal to repent, unforgiveness, contraception, lust, bitterness, resentment, prayerlessness, isolation, etc. When Jesus prohibited divorce, He implied that married couples need no longer be oppressed by stubbornness. The name of Jesus is above stubbornness, sin, pride, etc. (see Phil 2:9) Jesus has set us...

“Everyone will be salted with fire.” –Mark 9:49 Mass Readings: February 23 First: Isaiah 1:10,16-20;Resp: Psalm 50:8-9,16-17,21,23;Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12 Jesus says that you and I “will be salted with fire” (Mk 9:49). The scriptural uses for salt reveal several possible meanings: Salt was used to seal a covenant (2 Chr 13:5; Lv 2:13). We need to continually be sprinkled with the salt of the purifying, refining fire of repentance (Mal 3:2-3) to be faithful to our baptismal covenant with the Lord. Incense was “to be salted and so kept pure and sacred” (Ex 30:35). Incense represents our prayers (Rv 5:8;...

“I for My part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build My Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 16:18-19 Mass Readings: February 22 First: 1 Peter 5:1-4; Resp: Psalm 23:1-6; Gospel: Matthew 16:13-19 Because the Church, the body of Christ, is not united, it has not been successful in upholding the permanence of marriage for millions of married couples in the Western world. Moreover, the Church, in her disunity and consequent weakness, has seemed powerless to...

“Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed?” –Sirach 2:10 Mass Readings: February 21 First: Genesis 15:5-12,17-18;Resp: Psalm 27:1,7-9,13-14;Second: Philippians 3:17–4:1;Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and then imprisoned, losing at least ten of the best years of his life (Gn 37:1ff). Yet he never wavered in his hope, and God restored him far beyond what he could have imagined. Abraham, Joshua, Caleb, and Ruth also suffered for years in “the generations long past…[They] hoped in the Lord” and were not disappointed (Sir 2:10). “Hope is the...