Category: Message of the Day

CROSS-CULTURAL EVANGELIZATION

“I, Paul, ambassador of Christ and now a prisoner for Him, appeal to you for my child, whom I have begotten during my imprisonment.” –Philemon 9-10 Paul led Onesimus, a runaway slave and fellow prisoner, to the Lord (Phlm 10). Paul had also led Onesimus’ owner, Philemon, to the Lord (Phlm 19). Paul converted both slave and owner, both poor and rich. In his ministry of evangelization, Paul even did the unthinkable by converting both Jews and Gentiles. Most people come to the Lord because of the witness of someone like them. It takes an amazing person to lead to...

“GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY” (1 COR 6:20)

“He was talking about the temple of His body.” –John 2:21 Today’s feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome is a way of acknowledging that God dwells among His people (see Jn 1:14). This feast reminds us of the beauty of God, that all beauty is a means to glorify God. A Church building is likewise a beautiful, holy house and from it flows many graces to bless the people of God. Today’s feast is also a reminder that God dwells in our own bodies (Jn 6:56; 17:23). We are to dedicate the temple of our body...

THE CELEBRATION OF THE WORD

“Your teaching must have the integrity of serious, sound words to which no one can take exception.” –Titus 2:8 Orthodox teaching based on the Bible is extremely important in leading people to Christ and building up the Church. False teaching is extremely destructive to our faith and to the Church. Therefore, we must “fight hard for the faith” (Jude 3) and “guard the rich deposit of faith with the help of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us” (2 Tm 1:14). Furthermore, when we speak, we must be careful that our speech is “consistent with sound doctrine” (Ti 2:1). We...

SAVE THE CHILDREN

“A presbyter must be irreproachable, married only once, the father of children who are believers and are known not to be wild and insubordinate.” –Titus 1:6 If you are a parent, you certainly want your children to be “believers,” “known not to be wild and insubordinate” (Ti 1:6). Yet some of the most committed Christians have children not under the lordship of Jesus. Why are many Christian parents unable to pass on their faith in Jesus to their own children? Perhaps we may have compromised with the world. God’s Word tells us: “Have no love for the world, nor the...

RISEN LIFE

“The King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.”–2 Maccabees 7:9 Both today’s first reading and the Gospel deal with life after death. Both show that we humans have no idea of what risen life will be like. In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees demonstrate this by their misguided assumptions. They were “badly misled” and failed “to understand the Scriptures or the power of God” (Mk 12:24). The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is an historical fact. It is not merely an idea. Throughout the centuries after Jesus rose from the dead, people have given their lives in...