Tagged: Prayer Intention

“First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for all men, especially for kings and those in authority.” —1 Timothy 2:1-2 Our priority should be to pray for those in authority. This kind of prayer is good and pleasing to God (1 Tm 2:3). This kind of prayer leads to the type of society in which people will have the best opportunity to be saved and to know the truth (1 Tm 2:4). This prayer should be led by Christian men publicly and visibly. St. Paul stated: “It is my wish, then, that in every...

“He spoke to them in a parable.” —Luke 8:4 The parable of the sower and the seed (Lk 8:4-8) is applied to sowing the Word of God, because Jesus specifically says the seed sowed by the farmer “is the word of God” (Lk 8:11). The homilist at this morning’s Mass mentioned that this parable also applies well to those who are sowing love. St. Francis of Assisi likewise mentioned this in his well-known prayer when he said, “where there is hatred, let me sow love.” God sows love and His love falls on a footpath, representing people so trampled down...

“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is void of content and your faith is empty too. Indeed, we should then be exposed as false witnesses of God.” —1 Corinthians 15:14-15 “If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ Himself has not been raised” (1 Cor 15:13). “And if Christ was not raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ are the deadest of the dead. If our hopes in Christ are limited to this life only, we are the most pitiable of men” (1 Cor 15:17-19)....

“This Child is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed — and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword.” —Luke 2:34-35 This feast of Our Lady of Sorrows will be one of the greatest days in our lives if we simply obey the Lord. However, obedience is very difficult for us humans because of the world, our fallen human nature, and the devil. Nevertheless, we can, like Jesus, learn obedience from what we suffer (Heb 5:8), if we suffer in the pattern of Jesus’ death (Phil 3:10). With...

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” —John 3:14 When the Israelites looked at the bronze serpent mounted on a pole, they were healed and saved from death (Nm 21:9). Zechariah prophesied and John quoted in reference to Jesus’ death: “They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37; Zec 12:10). When people looked at Jesus on the cross, many of them believed in Him as Savior, Lord, and God (see Jn 3:15; Mk 15:39). When we look at a crucifix, a representation of Jesus crucified,...