Tagged: message of the day

“The Lord God planted a garden in Eden…and He placed there the man whom He had formed.” –Genesis 2:8 People frequently blame God for the cruelty and tragedies that occur in this world. This attitude of blaming God stems from the assumption that He created and orchestrated every situation and circumstance in the present, visible world. Today’s first reading debunks this attitude and proclaims that what God created was “delightful” and “good” (Gn 2:9). God freely and lovingly created man and gave him the breath of life. God not only provided man with an abundance of good food, but He...

“God created.” –Genesis 1:27 On the threshold of Lent, we pray for a new springtime in the Spirit resulting in new creations. The Lord continues to create through His Spirit, Word, and light. In God’s light, we see the “formless wasteland” (see Gn 1:2) of our lives. We see the need to establish God’s order, harmony, shalom. Accordingly, we begin to separate things in our life, just as God separated the light from the darkness (Gn 1:4), the waters above from the waters below (Gn 1:7), and the land from the sea (Gn 1:9). A re-ordering is necessary for re-creations...

“God created the heavens and the earth.” –Genesis 1:1 Do you want God to create something new in your life? Do you want Him to create friendship, freedom, ministry, a job, peace, or hope? God creates the same today as He did yesterday (see Heb 13:8). He begins creation with the mighty wind of the Spirit sweeping over the waters (Gn 1:2). If you want new creations, stir into flame the gift of the Spirit in your life (2 Tm 1:6-7). The next movement of creation is God’s Word. God spoke and it was made (see Gn 1:3, 6, 9,...

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.” –Job 7:6-7 Job was both rich and secure in that he had diversified investments. However, in three unrelated catastrophes, Job’s financial empire crashed in one day (Jb 1:14ff). Job’s bankruptcy was not the worst thing that happened to him that day. In another unrelated incident, Job’s ten children were killed when the house in which they were gathered collapsed (Jb 1:2, 18-19). Later, Job contracted an extremely painful illness “with severe...

“The apostles returned to Jesus.” –Mark 6:30 When Jesus first summoned and named the apostles (Mk 3:13), all hell broke loose. Jesus’ relatives declared He was out of His mind (Mk 3:21), and the religious leaders claimed He was possessed by the devil (Mk 3:22). When “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits” (Mk 6:7), St. Mark believed that all hell broke loose again, for, at this point in his Gospel, Mark inserted the account of Herod’s beheading of John the Baptizer (Mk 6:14ff). When Jesus, through Pope...