Category: Daily Prayer

CLEANING IS AN “IN-THING”

“What emerges from within a man, that and nothing else is what makes him impure.” –Mark 7:20 “All these evils come from within and render a man impure.” —Mark 7:23 The source of “acts of fornication, theft, murder, adulterous conduct, greed, maliciousness, deceit, sensuality, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, an obtuse spirit” (Mk 7:21-22) is the impurity inside us. Consequently, it is very important to be cleansed inside and to remain clean inside. This means that: The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of God’s most precious gifts because of its cleansing power. The penitential rite at the beginning of Mass is one...

NEW CREATIONS (PART 2)

“God created.” –Genesis 1:27 On the threshold of Lent, we pray for a new springtime in the Spirit resulting in new creations. The Lord continues to create through His Spirit, Word, and light. In God’s light, we see the “formless wasteland” (see Gn 1:2) of our lives. We see the need to establish God’s order, harmony, shalom. Accordingly, we begin to separate things in our life, just as God separated the light from the darkness (Gn 1:4), the waters above from the waters below (Gn 1:7), and the land from the sea (Gn 1:9). A re-ordering is necessary for re-creations...

NEW CREATIONS (PART 1)

“God created the heavens and the earth.” –Genesis 1:1 Do you want God to create something new in your life? Do you want Him to create friendship, freedom, ministry, a job, peace, or hope? God creates the same today as He did yesterday (see Heb 13:8). He begins creation with the mighty wind of the Spirit sweeping over the waters (Gn 1:2). If you want new creations, stir into flame the gift of the Spirit in your life (2 Tm 1:6-7). The next movement of creation is God’s Word. God spoke and it was made (see Gn 1:3, 6, 9,...

ONLY JESUS CRUCIFIED

“I determined that while I was with you I would speak of nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” –1 Corinthians 2:2 In seventeen days, the season of Lent will begin. What if you tried the following suggestion for the next seventeen days? In imitation of St. Paul (see 1 Cor 11:1), you would speak of nothing but the crucified Christ (1 Cor 2:2) until Ash Wednesday. It would take “the power of God” (1 Cor 2:5) to speak only of Jesus crucified for seventeen days. Yet the Gospel of Jesus crucified is “the power of God leading…to salvation” (Rm...

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE

“The apostles returned to Jesus.” –Mark 6:30 When Jesus first summoned and named the apostles (Mk 3:13), all hell broke loose. Jesus’ relatives declared He was out of His mind (Mk 3:21), and the religious leaders claimed He was possessed by the devil (Mk 3:22). When “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits” (Mk 6:7), St. Mark believed that all hell broke loose again, for, at this point in his Gospel, he inserted the account of Herod’s beheading of St. John the Baptizer (Mk 6:14ff). When Jesus, through...