Category: Prayer Intention

“Any sound tree bears good fruit, while a decayed tree bears bad fruit.” –Matthew 7:17 This week we conclude three weeks of reading and praying the Sermon on the Mount. The world, even much of the Christian world, explicitly denies Jesus’ commands in the Sermon on the Mount. For example, our society believes in a pleasure-seeking lifestyle, not in voluntary poverty (Mt 5:3). We aren’t nearly as concerned as Jesus about looking lustfully at someone (Mt 5:28). How could we stockpile nuclear weapons if we were concerned with loving our enemies? (Mt 5:44) Most people don’t believe in the Sermon...

“…because they venerated other gods.” –2 Kings 17:7 When we read in the Bible about false gods, we picture weird-looking statues in a strange temple filled with crazed, demon-possessed fanatics. False gods don’t necessarily have anything to do with statues, temples, or foreign cultures. For example, secular humanism is a religion that bows down before the god of self. There is no emphasis on statues or temples. The people involved in this religion do not appear primitive, but sophisticated. Secular humanism adores a variety of gods: the gods of sex, pleasure, money, lifestyle, military or political power, scientific technology, capitalism,...

“This is My body, which is for you.” —1 Corinthians 11:24 The Mass makes present the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Therefore, to enter into the spirit of the Mass, we must “proclaim the death of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:26) and offer our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices (Rm 12:1). The spirit of the Mass is the spirit of sacrifice. Thus it is important to fast before Mass, deny ourselves, and take up our crosses each day (Lk 9:23) with the intention of uniting ourselves to Jesus crucified (see Gal 2:19) and sacrificed (see Heb...

“God says, ‘Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands, so that you cannot prosper?’ ” —2 Chronicles 24:20 When we disobey God, we not only do not prosper, we cannot prosper. We may look like we’re prospering, but looks are deceiving. How many superstars and celebrities are deeply depressed and suicidal? When we disobey God, even “sure things” don’t work. A few Arameans came against King Joash’s troops. Joash couldn’t lose, but he did. “The Lord surrendered a very large force” into the Arameans’ power (2 Chr 24:24). When we disobey God, we feel compelled to worry about even simple...