Category: Verse for the day
“He saw and believed.” —John 20:8 Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. John the Evangelist. John is the author of the fourth Gospel, three letters in the New Testament, and the Book of Revelation. He is one of the twelve apostles and remained with Jesus at the foot of the cross as He was crucified. God blessed St. John with a special gift—a heavenly perspective on the plan of salvation. His Gospel especially emphasizes the divinity of Christ. I find the following image helpful when explaining the divine viewpoint of St. John’s Gospel. Picture Jesus standing in the...
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“Then they rushed at him as one man, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him.” —Acts 7:57-58 Most families have special Christmas traditions. On the second day of Christmas, the Catholic family traditionally recalls the brutal murder of St. Stephen, the first martyr. Why recall such a gruesome event, especially at Christmas time? The original purpose of Christmas was to challenge the lifestyle of the world by intentionally trying to ruin the pagans’ festivities. In the third century, the Romans set their sun-god festival for December 25. They had the date years before Christians formally celebrated...
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Merry Christmas “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him Who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation.” —Isaiah 52:7 We parents can spend much time gazing at our babies. We enjoy the way our infant’s feet and toes curl up and expand. We count the number of toes and fingers. Each little movement brings fresh delight. Before we know it, we’ve spent a half-hour contemplating our baby. We can spend hours looking at our own baby, and never tire of it. This is because we love our baby so much. Jesus took on flesh...
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“Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, uttered this prophecy…” —Luke 1:67 To give birth, a mother must be pregnant for approximately nine months. To give birth this Christmas, a Christian must be filled with Jesus for at least a few weeks. The birth of every creature requires a pregnancy of varying duration. Have you carried the baby long enough? Have you reached full term? How far apart are the contractions? Tomorrow is birth day, Jesus’ birthday. Are you ready for birthing? Zechariah went through the nine-month pregnancy with his wife. It was a difficult pregnancy. He was deaf...
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“He will purify the sons of Levi.” —Malachi 3:3 Two days before Christmas, the Church reads to us from Malachi the prophet. Malachi prophesied to priests, calling them to greater holiness and leadership in worship and instruction (Mal 1:6; 2:1, 6-7). Malachi foretells that priests, that is, “the sons of Levi,” will be refined in fire “like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord” (Mal 3:3). Zechariah was a priest (Lk 1:5). He was struck mute because of his disbelief in God’s Good News to him (Lk 1:20). When Zechariah the priest obeyed God’s...
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