Category: Daily Reflections

“Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.” —Psalm 103:8 Abraham asked the Lord to spare the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten innocent people in those cities (Gn 18:32). Yet the cities were destroyed by fire and brimstone because there were not ten innocent people in them, and possibly because Abraham stopped interceding for the inhabitants of these cities. Abraham possibly stopped interceding because: He thought he had reached the limits of God’s mercy. This was wrong because in the light of the new covenant we know the Lord’s mercy...

“You have been called to live in freedom.” —Galatians 5:13 “It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!” —Galatians 5:1 After we make the ultimate decision to convert, we spend all our time with the Lord and all our lives for Him. Then we get to know the Lord personally, and it doesn’t take us long to realize that the Lord is preoccupied with our freedom. We should expect this because Jesus’ mission is to set the captives free (Lk 4:18). He died on...

“Peter was thus detained in prison, while the church prayed fervently to God on his behalf.” —Acts 12:5 Because Jesus is God and is Head of the Church, the Church is invincible. For example, Peter, the leader of the leaders of the early Church, was miraculously freed from “death row” shortly before King Herod had planned to execute him. Paul, the great missionary of the early Church, testified: “I was saved from the lion’s jaws. The Lord will continue to rescue me from all attempts to do me harm and will bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tm...

“It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:8 God became incarnate. He became a man. “In Jesus Christ God not only speaks to man but also seeks him out. The Incarnation of the Son of God attests that God goes in search of man. Jesus speaks of this search as the finding of a lost sheep (cf Lk 15:1-7). It is a search which begins in the heart of God and culminates in the Incarnation of the Word” (Towards the Third Millennium, Pope St....

“The reason was that He taught with authority and not like their scribes.” —Matthew 7:29 The religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not teach with authority as He did. They informed, educated, and enlightened people, but they didn’t always expect the people to respond and obey. Jesus did. He warned us not to give lip-service to God’s Word and nullify the commandments (Mt 15:3-8). Jesus said that if we didn’t hear His words and put them into practice, our lives would collapse (Mt 7:26-27). He clearly expected us to be doers of the Word (Jas 1:22). He taught with authority,...