Tagged: message of the day

“Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry, how he entered God’s house and ate the holy bread, a thing forbidden to him and his men or anyone other than priests?” –Matthew 12:3-4 Something greater than what meets the eye was taking place in today’s Gospel reading. The hungry apostles were snacking on grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees (who were working on the Sabbath as self-appointed law enforcement officers) accused the apostles of “harvesting” on the Sabbath, thus violating one of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:8-11). Jesus responds by referring to an act...

“Come to Me.” –Matthew 11:28 Come to Jesus, “all you who are weary and find life burdensome” (Mt 11:28). He will give you not necessarily what you want or think you need; rather, He will give you His way and His judgments (Is 26:8). The Lord Jesus will give you the desire of your soul – if His name, Jesus, and His title, Lord, are your desire (Is 26:8). The Lord calls you to come to Him for His sake, not so much for the sake of what He can do for you. “For though the fig tree blossom not...

“Father, Lord of heaven and earth, to You I offer praise; for what You have hidden from the learned and the clever You have revealed to the merest children.” –Matthew 11:25 The minds of little children are like sponges. They absorb and remember so much of what’s going on around them. We Christians can be like little children in our receptivity to divine revelation. We can be sensitive to, and pregnant with, God’s presence. The teachings of the Church can impact and change our lives. The words of the Bible can seem to almost jump off the pages. We will...

“If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Sodom, it would be standing today.” –Matthew 11:23 The cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum did not convert despite the many miracles Jesus worked within their borders (Mt 11:20ff). However, Jesus said that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, some of the most wicked cities in history, would have converted in response to the same miracles (Mt 11:21, 23). Jesus also said that those who believe in Him will do greater works than He had done (Jn 14:12). Therefore, if we believe in Jesus, we have more than enough firepower to convert...

“He who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin, whereas he who brings himself to nought for Me discovers who he is.” –Matthew 10:39 To be disciples of Jesus, we must love Jesus more than we love our fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters (Mt 10:37). To some this seems difficult, but many people feel so upset with their family members that it wouldn’t be hard to love them less. However, to be disciples of Jesus, we must do something else which is almost unthinkable. We must deny our very selves (Lk 9:23), lose ourselves (Lk 9:24), bring ourselves “to nought”...