Category: Prayers

“Your faith has restored you to health.” –Matthew 9:22 Both healings in today’s Gospel passage display an astounding boldness. Both Jairus and the woman with the hemorrhage thought big; they believed big. Jairus asked Jesus to raise his daughter from the dead (Mt 9:18). The woman believed that merely touching Jesus, without bothering Him by engaging Him in conversation, would bring her healing (Mt 9:21). Jesus was evidently pleased at their bold, expectant faith. To the woman, Jesus said: “Your faith has restored you to health” (Mt 9:22). Jairus said: “My daughter has just died. Please come and lay Your...

“Henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear the brand marks of Jesus in my body.” —Galatians 6:17 Jesus died for our sins. If we had not sinned, there would have been no need for Jesus’ sacrificial death on Calvary in atonement for our sins. In other words, when we commit sexual sin, gossip, eat too much, refuse to evangelize, or don’t forgive, we are directly involved in Jesus’ passion and death (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 598). All Christians accept the fact that our sins and Jesus’ death are related, but for many this is only an...

“I gasp with open mouth in my yearning for Your commands.” –Psalm 119:131 During Mass, are we concentrating on the next sale at work or the ballgame that evening? (see Am 8:5) Amos urges us to listen intently to the Word of God, for a time is coming when there will be a famine for hearing the Word of God (Am 8:11). Those who live in countries where they are persecuted for their faith in God understand all too well the spiritual starvation in such a famine. We must work at listening to God. Listening to the Lord sacrificially is...

The Lord “delivered me from all my fears.” –Psalm 34:5 St. Peter was in prison, perhaps a day away from death. God sent an angel to miraculously rescue Peter (Acts 12:7ff). St. Paul likewise faced imminent death, but the Lord rescued him from the lion’s jaws, perhaps literally (2 Tm 4:17). The early Christians were frequently martyred by being thrown to hungry lions. On these above occasions, the Lord rescued Sts. Peter and Paul from death. However, both of them were eventually martyred for their faith, proving their sincere devotion to the Lord Jesus, witnessing to Him with their very...