Category: Memory Verse

“Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.” –Luke 14:27 To be a Christian, that is, a disciple of Jesus, we must put our relationship with Jesus in a class by itself. Figuratively speaking, our relationships with those we love the most are like hatred compared to our love for Jesus (see Lk 14:26). To be disciples of Jesus, we must take up our crosses daily (Lk 14:27; 9:23). This means that we deny ourselves and lose our lives (Lk 9:23-24) in that we decide to depend totally on Jesus and not on...

“He humbled Himself.” –Philippians 2:8 The Lord “humbled Himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross!” (Phil 2:8) The Lord wants us to come and learn from Him, for He is gentle and humble of heart (Mt 11:29). The Lord is always teaching us to be humble – from His birth in Bethlehem to His death on the cross, and from His Incarnation to the Eucharist. He teaches us humility both from His strictness and His kindness (1 Pt 5:5). Jesus teaches that humility is a matter of emptying ourselves, that is, of dispossessing ourselves, rather than grasping at...

“When you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind.” –Luke 14:13 According to Jesus, feeding the poor is a personal responsibility. The poor must be our personal friends. We should try to get to know them by visiting them, while encouraging them to call or drop in on us. The government and Church are not to take our place in feeding the poor but to supplement our individual efforts. We should open our homes to the poor and serve them with our own hands. We can supplement this by writing a check to a...

“One of the scribes came up, and when he heard them arguing he realized how skillfully Jesus answered them. He decided to ask Him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied: ‘This is the first…’ ” –Mark 12:28-29 The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!” (Mk 12:29; Dt 6:4) Since He is our only Lord, and we must not use our time, energy, and resources for anyone or anything else, “therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with...

“Go and sit in the lowest place.” –Luke 14:10 How’s this for humility? Jesus was with God in the glory of heaven. Then He humbled Himself to take on human flesh and dwell on earth (Jn 1:14). He was born in the “lowest place,” a stable, and was laid in a manger, an animal feeding trough from which no person would dream of eating (see Lk 2:7). He did not live in the royal city, Jerusalem, but in the lowly, disregarded village of Nazareth (see Jn 1:46). During His public ministry, He was homeless (see Lk 9:58) and was thrown...