Category: Verse for the day

“From that time on [Judas] kept looking for an opportunity to hand [Jesus] over.” –Matthew 26:16 Judas Iscariot spent some of Holy Week with his eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb 3:1; 12:2). But Judas wasn’t watching Jesus for the purpose of growing as His disciple, though outwardly Judas was an apostle. In fact, Judas was apparently a powerful enough apostle that when Jesus mentioned at the Last Supper that one of the Twelve would betray Him, none of the other eleven disciples thought to accuse Judas of being that betrayer. Instead, they considered themselves more likely to be the betrayer,...

“No sooner had Judas eaten the morsel than he went out. It was night.” –John 13:30 Jesus died during a darkening of the sun (Mk 15:33). Jesus died when mid afternoon seemed like midnight. He died because of the night of our sins which the prince of darkness (see Eph 6:12) used to crucify the Light of the world (see Jn 8:12). When we betray, deny, ignore, or disobey Jesus, we turn out our light and enter into the night (Jn 3:19ff). However, when we repent, give ourselves totally to Jesus, and live our Baptisms, we too are the light...

“Be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.” –Psalm 27:14 If you have a weakness in your faith life, the pivotal events of Holy Week will serve to bring that flaw to the surface. Holy Week is like a refiner’s fire (Mal 3:2-3) that burns away impurities and melts down imperfections. It is a test of our faith, a trial by fire (1 Pt 1:6-7; Sir 2:5). The critical action in Holy Week is to turn to the Lord for aid, and not turn to anyone else. Judas Iscariot spent Holy Week with Jesus physically, but his heart and mind were...

“Once again the high priest interrogated Him: ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ Then Jesus answered: ‘I AM.’ ” ––Mark 14:61-62 Jesus has entered Jerusalem. Our forty-day penitential journey nears completion. Lent ends when we begin the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. Ash Wednesday seems like only yesterday. Have we answered the Lord’s call to prayer, fasting and almsgiving? It’s not too late! Our procrastination keeps good company. The apostles were also often slow to catch on to the Lord’s revelations (see Jn 12:16). Don’t despair. Cling to the Church’s liturgical schedule...

“You have no understanding whatever! Can you not see that it is better for you to have one man die [for the people]?” –John 11:49-50 How do we transform what Pope St. John Paul II called a “culture of death” into a covenant of life-giving peace? (see Ez 37:26) We must prophesy over the dry bones of this culture and these bones will begin to rattle and come to life (Ez 37:4ff). The prophecy that changes the dead into the living is not just words; it is the ultimate prophecy of a self-sacrificing death for love. Paradoxically, death changes death...