Tagged: message of the day

“A few persons, eight in all, escaped in the ark through the water. You are now saved by a baptismal bath which corresponds to this exactly.” —1 Peter 3:20-21 After Noah’s flood, God promised: “Never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood” (Gn 9:11). In fact, God went a step farther than not destroying us by water. He decided to save us through water. “You are now saved by a baptismal bath” (1 Pt 3:21). During Lent, thousands of catechumens are preparing for new life in Christ through the waters of Baptism (see Rm...

“Jesus said to them, ‘The healthy do not need a doctor; sick people do.’ ” –Luke 5:31 Jesus is a Doctor and a Dietician. He often treats His patients by telling them what to eat. Since He is all-knowing, His diets have exceptional healing effects. The diet Dr. Jesus prescribes for us goes far beyond mere human knowledge of calories or cholesterol. He tells us to give up things we don’t think we need to give up, but we must trust our Doctor. Jesus’ diet does much more for us than help us lose weight or restore health. It gives...

“When the day comes that the Groom is taken away, then they will fast.” –Matthew 9:15 We are on the third day of forty days of fasting in imitation of Jesus. Fasting is one of the major ways we defeat the devil (Mt 17:21, NAB). It is one of the most important means the Lord has chosen to convert the world to His Gospel. The international effects of fasting begin with its individual, personal effects. When we change, the world begins to change. Fasting brings to the surface those things in the deep recesses of our hearts. Fasting does not...

“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life.” –Deuteronomy 30:19 On this second day of Lent, the Church challenges us to choose life, Lent, and salvation. If we don’t want Lent, we can easily ignore it. If we don’t want life and salvation, we can refuse them. We can either lose our life but gain everlasting life, or gain the whole world and lose our soul (Lk 9:24-25). The choice is ours, whether or not we want to choose. Many Christians don’t reject Lent but don’t accept it either. They’re neither hot nor...

“For our sakes God made Him Who did not know sin, to be sin, so that in Him we might become the very holiness of God.”–2 Corinthians 5:21 How humbling of the immortal, all-holy Jesus to be mortal and to be, as it were, sin. God made Jesus to be sin — sin that was cursed, sin that was to be vanquished. And He did this “for our sake,” so that we might become the very holiness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Now, for His sake, we become humbled so that others might become the holiness of God. The key...