Category: Prayers

“Jesus looked at him with love and told him, ‘There is one thing more you must do.’ ” –Mark 10:21 The Lord’s will is not only that we love Him but that we love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength, and all our minds (Lk 10:27). It is relatively easy to give ninety-five percent, even ninety-eight percent, of our lives to the Lord. However, the great decision and the fiercest battle is about giving that last percent or two of our lives to God. That last percent is our all, the “one thing” more we...

“Crowd upon crowd in the valley of decision; for near is the day of the Lord in the valley of decision.” –Joel 4:14 In today’s first Mass reading, God invites the nations to gather in the valley of decision. He tells the nations, in effect: “Bring up your weapons of war; I want to see all your military might” (see Jl 4:9). The nations think they will be fighting; in reality, they are gathering to be judged. In the valley of decision, the angels apply the sickle to the harvest at the end of time. There is to be a...

“Next it goes out and returns with seven other spirits far worse than itself, who enter in and dwell there. The result is that the last state of the man is worse than the first.” –Luke 11:26 “No man can serve two masters” (Mt 6:24); there’s only room for one. That’s what Jesus refers to in today’s Gospel passage. We cannot be double-minded (see Jas 3:9ff). It’s important to empty ourselves of ungodly things and desires, but once that emptying is done, there is a vacuum, a void. Something will fill that void — either godly desires or ungodly ones....

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” –Jonah 3:1 After spending some time in the belly of a huge fish, Jonah changed his mind and obeyed the Lord (Jon 3:1-3). However, Jonah did not obey the Lord out of love. Jonah went reluctantly to Nineveh and was angry when 120,000 Ninevites repented and were spared destruction (see Jon 4:1). Are you doing the right thing for a less than best reason? For example, do you obey God only to avoid hell? This is a good reason to obey God. However, our love for God is the...