Tagged: message of the day

“The boat began to be swamped by the waves. Jesus was sleeping soundly.” —Matthew 8:24 Over the centuries, Church fathers and Scripture scholars have seen the Gospel boat as a representation of the Church. On occasion, the boat is rocked by violent storms, which threaten imminent destruction. Through it all, Jesus is constantly present to the Church, even when He seems to be sleeping (Mt 8:25). In the last few decades, the Catholic Church in the United States was “swamped” (Mt 8:24) by the storm of scandal. Some pundits even speculate that “we are lost” as a Church (Mt 8:25)....

“Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.” —Psalm 103:8 Abraham asked the Lord to spare the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten innocent people in those cities (Gn 18:32). Yet the cities were destroyed by fire and brimstone because there were not ten innocent people in them, and possibly because Abraham stopped interceding for the inhabitants of these cities. Abraham possibly stopped interceding because: He thought he had reached the limits of God’s mercy. This was wrong because in the light of the new covenant we know the Lord’s mercy...

“You have been called to live in freedom.” —Galatians 5:13 “It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!” —Galatians 5:1 After we make the ultimate decision to convert, we spend all our time with the Lord and all our lives for Him. Then we get to know the Lord personally, and it doesn’t take us long to realize that the Lord is preoccupied with our freedom. We should expect this because Jesus’ mission is to set the captives free (Lk 4:18). He died on...

“Peter was thus detained in prison, while the church prayed fervently to God on his behalf.” —Acts 12:5 Because Jesus is God and is Head of the Church, the Church is invincible. For example, Peter, the leader of the leaders of the early Church, was miraculously freed from “death row” shortly before King Herod had planned to execute him. Paul, the great missionary of the early Church, testified: “I was saved from the lion’s jaws. The Lord will continue to rescue me from all attempts to do me harm and will bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tm...

“It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:8 God became incarnate. He became a man. “In Jesus Christ God not only speaks to man but also seeks him out. The Incarnation of the Son of God attests that God goes in search of man. Jesus speaks of this search as the finding of a lost sheep (cf Lk 15:1-7). It is a search which begins in the heart of God and culminates in the Incarnation of the Word” (Towards the Third Millennium, Pope St....