Tagged: Bible Reading & Meditation
“When Jesus turned around and noticed them following Him, He asked them, ‘What are you looking for?’ ” –John 1:38 Mass Readings: January 4 First: 1 John 3:7-10; Resp: Psalm 98:1,7-9;Gospel: John 1:35-42 Andrew and another disciple of John the Baptizer followed Jesus from a distance. Likewise, today there are many long-distance followers of Jesus. Are you close to the Lord? Or are your prayers long-distance calls? Jesus has become a man. He even gives Himself to us in the Eucharist to be closer than close to us. He challenges us to look into our hearts and ask ourselves what...
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“See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God!” –1 John 3:1 Mass Readings: January 3 First: Philippians 2:5-11; Resp: Psalm 113:1-8; Gospel: Matthew 1:18-23 Something happened to St. John that needs to happen to all of us. Like many of us, John heard he was a child of God. But by the grace of the Holy Spirit, John realized radically what it means to be a child of God. The Spirit cried out in his heart: “Abba” (Gal 4:6; Rm 8:15). It was as if John had heard the voice of...
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“Greetings from Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart to proclaim the gospel of God.” –Romans 1:1 Paul, “called to be an apostle,” wrote to those who had “been called to belong to Jesus Christ” (Rm 1:6) and who had been “called to holiness, grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rm 1:7). The New Testament Greek word for “church” is “ekklesia,” which literally means “called out.” Consequently, we, as members of Christ’s Church, must “live a life worthy” of our calling (Eph 4:1) in the “one hope...
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“There is one thing more you must do.” –Mark 10:21 If we love Jesus, we will obey Him (Jn 15:10). Therefore, a life of love is “a life of obedience” (see 1 Pt 1:2). As our lives on earth come to their conclusion, we reach the point that there is one thing more we must do. This last command is: a “must” (Mk 10:21), hard (Mk 10:23, 24), humanly impossible (Mk 10:27), and often includes persecution (Mk 10:30). Because this is the devil’s last chance to rob and enslave us, he will do everything he can to make our obedience...
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“Crowd upon crowd in the valley of decision; for near is the day of the Lord in the valley of decision.” –Joel 4:14 Enduring the trials of life is called walking through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps 23:4, RSV-CE). Life can be a “valley of tears” (Hail, Holy Queen prayer). As difficult as these valleys are to endure, they are nothing compared to the test we will undergo in the “valley of decision” (Jl 4:14). In that valley, the “Valley of Jehoshaphat,” a name which means “Yahweh judges,” our eternal destiny will be decided by God on...
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