Category: Prayers

“I want you to remember this…” —1 Corinthians 10:1 When you’re talking with Jesus, it seems like He’s always changing the subject to repentance. You might mention how tragic the most recent natural disaster was (see Lk 13:4). Jesus maneuvers the conversation to our need to reform (see Lk 13:4-5). You might mention to Him how pretty your Church building looks (see Mk 13:1ff). But Jesus turns the conversation into the need to be watchful and on guard against tragedy and sin. You’re hard at work, and Jesus talks about reforming your life (Mt 4:17). Why is repentance always on...

“[Joseph] did as the angel of the Lord had directed him.” —Matthew 1:24 St. Joseph often found himself enmeshed in a series of unexpected circumstances. First, God became Lord of his marriage in a way no man could ever have imagined (Mt 1:18ff). Then, like a common refugee, Joseph was turned away from decent accommodations when he and Mary most needed them: at the moment of Jesus’ birth (Lk 2:7). Next, in the middle of the night, he had to fend off a government-led assassination plot against his infant Foster-Son (Mt 2:13). Three times he had to pack up and...

“The Stone Which the builders rejected has become the Keystone of the structure. It was the Lord Who did this and we find it marvelous to behold.” –Matthew 21:42; Psalm 118:22-23 If we repent in our sinfulness, slavery, and misery, the Lord will take the worst in our lives and make it the best. The Lord manifests His almighty power not just by doing great works but by making the greatest miracles out of the worst sins, injustices, and defeats. “God makes all things work together for the good of those who love” Him (Rm 8:28). Joseph’s brothers decided to...

“More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart.” –Jeremiah 17:9-10 Life is a matter of the heart. If we have accepted a new heart from the Lord (Ez 36:26) and live accordingly by loving Him with all our hearts (see Lk 10:27), our lives on earth will be abundant (see Jn 10:10), free, holy, and fulfilled. Then after our deaths or Jesus’ final coming, we will live forever with the Lord in the perfect love of heaven. If, however, we let our...

“Must good be repaid with evil?” –Jeremiah 18:20 Jeremiah sacrificed and suffered to be a prophet and turn away God’s wrath (Jer 18:20) from “the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem” (Jer 18:11). Although Jeremiah saved many people’s lives, they did not realize this. They hated Jeremiah and plotted to kill him. They reasoned that Jeremiah’s death would not be a loss (Jer 18:18) but their gain. The good Jeremiah had done was “repaid with evil” (Jer 18:20). We all want to be appreciated. So we are disappointed when we are not thanked. Even more so, when those...