Tagged: Prayer Intention

“God has given us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery, the plan He was pleased to decree in Christ, to be carried out in the fullness of time: namely, to bring all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ’s headship.” –Ephesians 1:9-10 In the letters to the Ephesians and Colossians, Christ is called the Head of the Body, the Church (Eph 1:22; 4:15; Col 1:18; 2:19). This shows us how literally it is to be taken that without Jesus, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). For example, without the brain in your head giving commands...

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.” –Galatians 5:24 By “the flesh,” the Bible refers to our fallen human nature. “The tendency of the flesh is toward death” (Rm 8:6). “The flesh in its tendency is at enmity with God; it is not subject to God’s law. Indeed, it cannot be; those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rm 8:7-8). A few of the works of the flesh are: “lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, bickering, jealousy, outbursts of rage, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the...

“You Pharisees! You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but within you are filled with rapaciousness and evil.” –Luke 11:39 Would you eat off of a dirty dish? Would you eat food that had fallen on the floor? Would you eat in a restaurant where you know the cook is careless about washing his hands? Most of us are understandably concerned about at least minimal standards of cleanliness. Jesus warned that we should be much more concerned about interior cleanliness. The same person who is squeamish about eating off a dirty dish may be unconcerned about being “filled with...

“At the judgment, the citizens of Nineveh will rise along with the present generation, and they will condemn it. For at the preaching of Jonah they reformed, but you have a greater than Jonah here.” –Luke 11:32 When Jonah spoke, 120,000 wicked Ninevites listened and repented (Jon 3:10; 4:11). When Solomon spoke, the queen of the south “came from the farthest corner of the world to listen” (Lk 11:31). When Jesus speaks through the Church, in the Mass, through the Bible, and in our families, do we listen? How many of us are devoting ourselves to the apostles’ instructions, that...

“One day [Jesus] was praying in a certain place.” –Luke 11:1 “One of [Jesus’] disciples asked Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples’ ” (Lk 11:1). Jesus answered with a ‘Yes’ and a ‘No’: “Yes, I’ll teach you to pray.” “No, I won’t teach you as John taught his disciples.” Jesus teaches us not to imitate St. John’s disciples, pagans (Mt 6:8), or anyone else when we pray. We learn most things by imitation, but we cannot learn to pray this way. Prayer is not primarily an activity but a relationship. Every relationship is unique. We...