Tagged: Daily Reflections

“With that they went off, preaching the need of repentance. They expelled many demons, anointed the sick with oil, and worked many cures.” —Mark 6:12-13 Many Christians have accepted Jesus as Lord, been converted, and even have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Yet still the great harvest has few workers (Lk 10:2). Few make the transition from basic Christian commitment to ministry. What’s our problem? After Jesus summoned and sent forth the apostles with “authority over unclean spirits” (Mk 6:7), “He instructed them to take nothing on their journey” (Mk 6:8). He even enumerated “no food, no traveling bag,...

“…so much did their lack of faith distress Him.” –Mark 6:6 Jesus was amazed at the Syro-Phoenician woman’s faith (Mt 15:28). He was amazed at the centurion’s faith (Mt 8:10). He was amazed at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth (see Mk 6:6).How do we get amazing faith? 1) We must ask God for it. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). 2) We must accept the discipline of the Lord (Heb 12:5ff). That in itself gives evidence of our faith. By humbling ourselves and changing our lifestyles to obey the Lord’s commands, we show...

“[Anna] talked about the Child to all.” –Luke 2:38 The Baby Jesus could not speak for Himself at His Presentation in the Temple, for He was only forty days old. Others, however, spoke for Him. Joseph and Mary would have spoken to the temple officials as His parents, Simeon (Lk 2:29ff) and Anna (Lk 2:38) prophesied for Him. It’s still like this today. Though the Baby Jesus did grow up and speak eloquently about the Kingdom of God, many are unable to hear Him. That’s why God has sent us. There are many who need to hear about this Child....

“They were begging Him to go away from their district.” –Mark 5:17 It is thought by some that the devotion of Catholics to the Crucified Jesus, to His Passion and sufferings, the Stations of the Cross, the Precious Blood of Jesus, and to the relics of martyrs is morbid. This is hard for a non-Catholic to understand. Yet there is fascination with the macabre in the secular culture of death. Rock groups celebrate the Grateful Dead, the Satanic and Gothic. Halloween is often twisted into a straight-out celebration of the ungodly. In today’s Gospel passage Jesus triumphs over the demons...

“If a prophet presumes to speak in My name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.” –Deuteronomy 18:20 If prophets prophesy something God did not tell them to say, they risk death. This makes prophets feel like being quiet. However, if prophets “do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he [the wicked man] shall die for his guilt, but [God] will hold [them] responsible for his death” (Ez 33:8). If we are silent in the face of evil, we are held...