Tagged: Daily Reflections

“HE IS NEAR” (MK 13:29) “Then men will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. He will dispatch His angels and assemble His chosen.” –Mark 13:26-27 In these last two weeks of the Church year, the Church pays special attention to the Second Coming of Christ. Focusing on Jesus’ return in power is critical for our life in Christ and our spiritual well-being. Some readers of One Bread, One Body live in foreign countries and are actively persecuted for their faith in Jesus. Some of our foreign printers and distributors risk their lives...

“Will He delay long over them, do you suppose? I tell you, He will give them swift justice.” –Luke 18:7-8 God’s timing is different than ours. “This point must not be overlooked, dear friends. In the Lord’s eyes, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are as a day” (2 Pt 3:8). This means that God is both very slow and very fast by our standards. We often emphasize God’s supposed slowness. Yet we should also focus on His speed. God sometimes works “in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor 15:52). God...

“He saved us.” –Titus 3:5 “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us” (Ti 3:4-5). “He saved us through the baptism of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit He lavished on us through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Ti 3:5-6). We have been saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8; see also Lk 17:19). Jesus, Whose name means “Yahweh saves,” is our Savior, our only Savior (see Acts 4:12). The Lord commands us to: Rejoice in our salvation (Is 25:9). With Mary, we exclaim: “My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord,...

“Tell the older men that they must be temperate, serious-minded, and self-controlled; likewise sound in the faith, loving, and steadfast.” –Titus 2:2 “Tell the young men to keep themselves completely under control.” –Titus 2:6 In the USA, we often expect our parishes and pastors to provide for the religious education of our children. We expect our pastors to provide the sacraments and to reach out especially to the elderly and the sick. These expectations are good, but they are different than the early Church’s expectations for ministry. St. Paul expected St. Titus, the pastor of the church of Crete, to...