Category: Daily Reflections

THE PROPHECY WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

“I will sprinkle clean water upon you.” –Ezekiel 36:25 The Lord promised through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you” (Ez 36:25). The Lord promised us a total purification far beyond any purification ever attempted. This purification will be part of a change of our nature. We can be born again, begotten from above (see Jn 3:3, 5). The Lord promised: “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony...

LOVING GOD FOR HIMSELF

“The reign of God is like the case of the owner of an estate who went out at dawn to hire workmen.” –Matthew 20:1 “There is, of course, great gain in religion” (1 Tm 6:6). “While physical training is to some extent valuable, the discipline of religion is incalculably more so, with its promise of life here and hereafter” (1 Tm 4:8). There are such awesome benefits to Christianity that Christians are tempted to think that these benefits are the reason for Christianity. However, the essence of the Christian life is love – unconditional love – for God is this...

PROUD OF BEING HUMBLE?

“You are haughty of heart, you say, ‘A god am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!’ – And yet you are a man, and not a god, however you may think yourself like a god.” –Ezekiel 28:2 The prince of Tyre had no qualms about displaying His arrogance. He had the gall to proclaim: “A god am I!” The prince of Tyre thought he was wiser than Daniel (Ez 28:4) and personally responsible for the amassing of his riches (Ez 28:5). Although in recent times a number of people follow the example of the...

ABNORMALITIES?

“That evening my wife died, and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.” –Ezekiel 24:18 The Jewish people mourned the death of those they loved by crying and groaning, by taking off their turbans and sandals, by covering their beards, and by eating a special kind of bread (Ez 24:16-17). The Lord told Ezekiel not to do these customary things when his wife died. God told Ezekiel not to react normally for the purpose of showing His people that they did not react normally to the desecration of their sanctuary and the destruction of their children (Ez...

THE WORD OF LIFE

“Do not continue in ignorance, but try to discern the will of the Lord.” –Ephesians 5:17 St. Jerome asserted: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (Catechism, 133). If we are ignorant of Christ, we will not discern the will of the Lord (Eph 5:17). This means we will not make “the most of the present opportunity” (Eph 5:16). But through knowledge of the Scriptures and through good discernment of God’s will, we are saved from a futile (see 1 Pt 1:18), vain (see Eccl 1:2) existence. Therefore: “Keep this book of the law on your lips. Recite it...