Category: Memory Verse

“Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul.” –Acts 11:25 Mass Readings: April 24 First: Revelation 3:7-8,10-12; Resp: Psalm 119:137-144; Gospel: John 10:11-16 Listen to the Mass Readings A big temptation of being a disciple of Christ is to do it all ourselves, to be the leader of the pack. Yet St. Barnabas, who was in the position to be the main attraction in the church at Antioch, “was a good man” (Acts 11:24). “Filled with the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:24), Barnabas realized that he needed help for the job of teaching the fledgling Christians at...

“Who was I to be able to hinder God?” –Acts 11:17, RNAB Mass Readings: April 23 First: Acts 11:1-18; Resp: Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4; Gospel: John 10:1-10 Listen to the Mass Readings St. Peter asks an excellent question: “Who was I to be able to hinder God?” It’s God’s plan to work through people like St. Peter and people like you and me. It’s a great mystery that God, Who is all-powerful, would put Himself in such a position that we humans have the capability to hinder Him! Peter’s question should also be on our lips as well. How many times...

“Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke up.” –Acts 4:8 At the first Christian Pentecost, “all were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). After Peter and John were released from prison, the first Christian community gathered to pray, and “the place where they were gathered shook as they prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:31). Stephen, the first deacon and the first martyr, was “a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). Barnabas “was a good man filled with the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:24). The Lord commands us: “Be filled with...

“Many came to believe in the Lord.” –Acts 9:42 Mass Readings: April 21 First: Acts 9:31-42; Resp: Psalm 116:12-17; Gospel: John 6:60-69 Listen to the Mass Readings We are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). Therefore, we must have faith. Moreover, the Lord wants us to have great and growing faith (see Mt 15:27ff). Consequently, we should pray: Lord, “increase our faith” (Lk 17:5) and “I have faith; help my lack of faith” (Mk 9:24, NJB). Jesus so much wants our faith to grow that he challenges us and may even shake our faith (Jn 6:61). To deepen our...

“Let Me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” –John 6:53. Mass Readings: April 20 First: Acts 9:1-20; Resp: Psalm 117:1-2; Gospel: John 6:52-59 Listen to the Mass Readings. When we receive Holy Communion, we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus. This is a great mystery. Like the Jews of Jesus’ day, we cannot understand how He can “give us His flesh to eat” (Jn 6:52). Nevertheless, we believe Jesus’ revelation of the Eucharist because: The Lord has given...