Tagged: daily bread

“Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever.” –Psalm 112:9 St. Lawrence resembled God in his giving. God loves us so much that He gave His Son for our salvation (Jn 3:16). Lawrence loved the poor so much that he gave the church’s treasures to them and even gave his life for them and for Jesus. On this special feast day, the Lord may give us a special grace to grow in giving in several ways: Amount: How much are you giving to build God’s kingdom on earth? After your tithe, what percent of your income do...

Elijah “went a day’s journey into the desert.” –1 Kings 19:4 Many of you are quoting Elijah the prophet by gasping: “This is enough, O Lord!” (1 Kgs 19:4) You can’t stand the thought of going on with your parish work, marriage, job, or even life. You want to roll over and play dead. You are “burnt out.” You are in good company because Elijah, known for “playing with fire” (see Sir 48:1, 3), eventually became “burnt out” himself. God intervened by sending an angel to command Elijah to “get up and eat, else the journey will be too long...

“Therefore, you shall love the Lord.” –Deuteronomy 6:5 “God is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). “God’s love was revealed in our midst in this way: He sent His only Son to the world that we might have life through Him. Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God but that He has loved us and has sent His Son as an Offering for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10). “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has...

“If a man wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in My footsteps.” –Matthew 16:24 Jesus “makes no bones” about it. If we are to be Christians, we must deny our very selves (Mt 16:24). This is not an option but a necessity. In fact, we must deny ourselves to the point of taking up a daily cross (Lk 9:23). We must simply lose our lives (Mt 16:25) by being crucified with Christ (Gal 2:19). The lives we live become no longer our own, but lives “of faith...

“As they were coming down the mountain…” –Mark 9:9 Peter said to the transfigured Jesus: “How good it is for us to be here!” (Mk 9:5) Peter may have been “beating around the bush.” He may have been speaking not so much of the goodness of being on the mountain as of the badness of carrying the cross with Jesus in “the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps 23:4, RSV-CE; see also Mt 16:22). Compared to the valley of the shadow of death, the mountaintop looked great. After Peter had made his remarks, “a cloud came, overshadowing them, and...