Tagged: memory verse

“I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord.” –Zephaniah 3:12 Today’s readings spotlight the word “refuge.” God’s lowly people shall humbly take refuge in the name of the Lord (Zep 3:12). “No one incurs guilt who takes refuge in” the Lord; He “redeems the lives of His servants” (Ps 34:23). To make God our refuge, we also need to obey Him by humbly staying in the refuge and not wandering away from it. A refuge is a place of safe shelter from external dangers....

“With divine recompense He comes to save you.” –Isaiah 35:4 Often I hear people express their impression that when God comes into their life, He will come with payback; they expect that He will come to repay each person according to their sins and failings with punishment and judgment. Similarly, St. John the Baptizer expected God to come as One mighty in judgment (Mt 3:10-11). Today’s Scripture readings, and in fact the entire Gospel, proclaim a different message: God will come with mercy, kindness, and even vindication (see e.g. Ti 3:4ff). John the Baptizer expected a Messiah who would execute...

“Elijah is indeed coming, and he will restore everything.” –Matthew 17:11 Jesus said that Elijah would restore everything. What a statement! Everything? How could someone restore everything? Jesus said that the restoration of everything was begun by St. John the Baptizer (Mt 17:13), who came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Lk 1:17; cf Mt 11:13-14). The Power for this universal restoration is the Holy Spirit. Consequently, John was “filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb” (Lk 1:15). John began the restoration of everything by turning “the hearts of fathers to their children” (Lk 1:17). This universal...

“If you would hearken to My commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea.” –Isaiah 48:18 Christmas, like life, is a matter of obedience. If we obey the Lord’s commands, we will become prosperous, vindicated, blessed, and assured this Christmas (Is 48:18-19). However, we are often like rebellious, disobedient children who want to give orders rather than take them (Mt 11:16-17). We must repent of this self-willed, disobedient attitude or we will deprive ourselves of Christmas and even of Christ. At the first Christmas, the Lord gave His commands to Mary...