Category: Memory Verse

DO-DROPS

“They immediately abandoned their nets and became His followers.” –Matthew 4:20 Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him and become fishers of men (Mt 4:19). We too are repeatedly appealing for workers for the harvest (see Mt 9:38). Some very busy people answer our appeals and thus become even busier, taking on more work and responsibilities. The sacrificial love of these very busy people is beautiful. Although Jesus does assign more work to the few existing workers (see Lk 12:48; Lk 19:17ff), He is constantly calling more and more people to become workers. Jesus plans to give...

“THE KILLING FIELDS”

Jesus “went up the mountain and summoned the men He Himself had decided on, who came and joined Him.” –Mark 3:13 Mass Readings: January 20 First: Hebrews 8:6-13; Resp: Psalm 85:8,10-14;Gospel: Mark 3:13-19 In the USA, in a few days will be the forty-fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s legalization of abortion. This decision legalized millions of serial killings. It is a gigantic step backward into the culture of death. It is a capitulation to Hitler and the Third Reich. Hitler lost World War II militarily, but his diabolical ideas reign supreme today in our culture of death. However, there...

THE MOB SCENE

Jesus “is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since He forever lives to make intercession for them.” –Hebrews 7:25 Mass Readings: January 19 First: Hebrews 7:25–8:6; Resp: Psalm 40:7-10,17; Gospel: Mark 3:7-12 Something about Jesus makes us feel like mobbing Him. “A great crowd followed Him from Galilee, and an equally great multitude came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon” (Mk 3:7-8). “In view of their numbers, He told His disciples to have a fishing boat ready for Him so that He could avoid the press of the...

“YOU ARE A PRIEST”

“The matter is clearer still if another priest is appointed according to the likeness of Melchizedek.” –Hebrews 7:15 Mass Readings: January 18 First: Hebrews 7:1-3,15-17; Resp: Psalm 110:1-4; Gospel: Mark 3:1-6 The Israelites were enslaved, defeated in war, starved to death, exiled, and oppressed. In their pain, they asked Yahweh how He would free them. They received the revelation that they would be saved by the priesthood. The Christians to whom the book of Hebrews was written were persecuted and martyred by the Roman government. They “endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawed in two, put...

TIE THE KNOT

“Like a sure and firm anchor, that hope extends beyond the veil through which Jesus, our Forerunner, has entered on our behalf.” –Hebrews 6:19-20 Mass Readings: January 17 First: Hebrews 6:10-20; Resp: Psalm 111:1-2,4-5,9-10; Gospel: Mark 2:23-28 On the annual Jewish Day of Atonement, the high priest entered into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple to atone for the sins of the people. No one except the High Priest could enter “beyond the veil” which separated the Holy of Holies from the people, and even he could only enter that one day a year. The Ark...