Category: Verse for the day

“She gave birth to a son.” –Luke 1:57 The birthday of St. John the Baptizer is halfway between Christmases. Are you ready for Christmas? Today Jesus may come back and the world may end. Are you ready for Jesus’ final coming? (see Mt 24:44) If Jesus decided to make this your dying day, would that be fine with you? Many people, even Christians, are not ready for Christ’s comings at Christmas, at the end of the world, or at their deaths. They need John the Baptizer, for his mission is to prepare the way of the Lord (Mk 1:3). He...

“Any sound tree bears good fruit, while a decayed tree bears bad fruit.” –Matthew 7:17 This week we conclude three weeks of reading and praying the Sermon on the Mount. The world, even much of the Christian world, explicitly denies Jesus’ commands in the Sermon on the Mount. For example, our society believes in a pleasure-seeking lifestyle, not in voluntary poverty (Mt 5:3). We aren’t nearly as concerned as Jesus about looking lustfully at someone (Mt 5:28). How could we stockpile nuclear weapons if we were concerned with loving our enemies? (Mt 5:44) Most people don’t believe in the Sermon...