Tagged: Bible Reading & Meditation
“When He comes, however, being the Spirit of truth He will guide you to all truth.” —John 16:13 Life in Christ is a life of love, for Jesus is Love (see 1 Jn 4:8, 16). Love requires freedom. We cannot force people to love us. Freedom requires knowledge. Without some knowledge, we cannot freely decide to love. Therefore, knowledge of the truth is very important because truth is an absolute prerequisite for love. The Lord “wants all men to be saved and come to know the truth” (1 Tm 2:4). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love (Gal 5:22)...
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“The jailer was given instructions to guard them well. Upon receipt of these instructions, he put them in maximum security, going so far as to chain their feet to a stake.” —Acts 16:23-24 The jailer of Paul and Silas did his job to the best of his ability. He may have even gone above and beyond in his job performance, “going so far as to chain [the feet of Paul and Silas] to a stake.” That was probably unnecessary when they were already in maximum security. However, the jailer planned to do his job well. An earthquake shook the jailer’s...
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“After she and her household had been baptized, she extended us an invitation: ‘If you are convinced that I believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house.’ ” —Acts 16:15 After her conversion, the first words of Lydia, the first convert of the Western world, involved making her home a base for evangelization. Jesus stayed at home for about thirty years before His three years of public ministry. The Church met primarily in homes for its first three hundred years. The Church fathers taught that the Christian home is a “domestic church” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church,...
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“Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.” —1 Peter 3:15, RNAB Moments after I heard the above passage from the second reading proclaimed at Mass, the priest announced the Gospel reading, and everyone traced the sign of the cross on their hearts, as well as their foreheads and lips. Everyone at Mass was asking the Lord to sanctify their hearts to receive the Gospel and act upon it. When we have a sanctified heart to enthrone Christ as Lord (1 Pt 3:15), our lives cannot help but reflect the joy of the Lord regardless of our life’s circumstances. We will...
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“Through all this, the congregations grew stronger in faith and daily increased in numbers.” —Acts 16:5 Could you say that through this Easter season that “the congregations grew stronger in faith and daily increased in numbers”? If we don’t see Jesus adding daily to the Church’s number (Acts 2:47), it’s not that His promises are not true but that we are not receiving them. Jesus said: “I — once I am lifted up from earth — will draw all men to Myself” (Jn 12:32). Jesus has been lifted up in His death, Resurrection, and Ascension; therefore, we should see people...
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