Tagged: Prayer Intention

“You have no understanding whatever! Can you not see that it is better for you to have one man die [for the people]?” –John 11:49-50 How do we transform what Pope St. John Paul II called a “culture of death” into a covenant of life-giving peace? (see Ez 37:26) We must prophesy over the dry bones of this culture and these bones will begin to rattle and come to life (Ez 37:4ff). The prophecy that changes the dead into the living is not just words; it is the ultimate prophecy of a self-sacrificing death for love. Paradoxically, death changes death...

“I hear the whisperings of many.” –Jeremiah 20:10 A week from today will be Good Friday. We almost cringe as we think of hearing the reading of Christ’s passion and death. How will we be able to endure venerating the cross by kissing His wounds? We naturally are upset when we recall the death of our older Brother and loving Savior. We are even more disturbed when we realize that, through our sins, we were part of the gang that murdered Him (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 598). At first, the blood Jesus shed horrifies us; but when we...

“A body You have prepared for Me.” –Hebrews 10:5 The body of Jesus Christ became incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s fully human nature was freely joined to the Holy Spirit’s divine nature. Thus the body of the Infant Jesus was perfectly formed and prepared for redeeming and saving fallen humanity. In the Mass, we celebrate the marriage of the Holy Spirit and Mary, as well as the Fruit of her womb, Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus’ Body was prepared by the Spirit...

“My word has no room among you.” –John 8:37, RNAB How chilling it would be on the Day of Judgment to hear Jesus, the eternal Word of God, speak the words: “My Word has no room among you.” Jesus came into this world as a Baby in the womb of Mary, His mother. At Bethlehem, on the day of His birth, there was no room for Him at the inns and homes of Bethlehem (Lk 2:7). There was no room for the Word of God. Do you have a Bible in your home? If so, does it merely sit unopened...

“With their patience worn out by the journey…” –Numbers 21:4 We human beings live in the domain of time. God, Who is eternal, is outside of time. So obviously we don’t view time as God does (see 2 Pt 3:8). Jesus is the Redeemer of all things, and so is the Redeemer of time. We know that our Redeemer lives (Jb 19:25, RSV-CE), and is actively making time serve His purposes. If all time is under the lordship of Jesus, its Redeemer, and we are also under His lordship, then it logically follows that there is no need for us...