Category: Memory Verse

“This was a sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth.” –1 Kings 13:34 One of the worst sins that can be committed is to make up our own religion. Jeroboam committed this sin, and we too are tempted to do this in many ways. How many people decide to reject certain teachings of the Lord and His Church? Isn’t that making up one’s own religion in part? How many Catholics ignore the Pope? Are they making a church without a pope, or are they making...

“I will tear away the kingdom from Solomon’s grasp and will give you ten of the tribes. One tribe shall remain to him.” –1 Kings 11:31-32 Solomon was the wisest person who had ever lived (1 Kgs 3:12). Solomon proved his exceptional wisdom by settling a dispute between two harlots, each of whom claimed to be the mother of a baby. When Solomon was about to cut the baby in half, the woman who volunteered to give up her baby to the other woman was recognized as the true mother (1 Kgs 3:26-27). She preferred to lose the baby rather...

“Let the sons of the household satisfy themselves at table first. It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” –Mark 7:27 The Jewish people were to have nothing to do with Gentiles so that they would not be seduced into worshipping the false gods of the Gentiles. Solomon disregarded this prohibition. He even married Gentile wives (1 Kgs 11:4ff). This led to idolatry, which led to wars and civil war. Solomon proved the point about how destructive it was for Jews to mix with Gentiles. Jesus called Jewish Christians not only...

“Wicked designs come from the deep recesses of the heart.” –Mark 7:21 Mass Readings: February 7 First: 1 Kings 10:1-10; Resp: Psalm 37:5-6,30-31,39-40; Gospel: Mark 7:14-23 Listen to the Mass Readings Solomon had the wisest and most understanding heart ever (1 Kgs 3:12), but “when Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his heart was not entirely with the Lord, his God, as the heart of his father David had been” (1 Kgs 11:4). Solomon’s name means “peace,” and he had an exceptionally peaceful reign until he turned his heart away from the Lord. Then wars...

“This people pays Me lip service but their heart is far from Me. Empty is the reverence they do Me because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts.” –Mark 7:6-7; Isaiah 29:13 Mass Readings: February 6 First: 1 Kings 8:22-23,27-30; Resp: Psalm 84:3-5,10-11; Gospel: Mark 7:1-13 Listen to the Mass Readings There are divine traditions – the magisterial teachings of the Church and the Bible. These divine traditions are the truth (see 2 Thes 2:15). They cannot be changed. We must conform our lives to these divine traditions. On Judgment Day, we will be judged according to these divine traditions....