Tagged: Prayer Intention

“You know the commandments.” –Mark 10:19 Mass Readings: February 27 First: Micah 7:14-15,18-20; Resp: Psalm 103:1-4,9-12; Gospel: Luke 15:1-3,11-32 The man in today’s Gospel reading told Jesus that he had kept the commandments since his childhood (Mk 10:20). So Jesus gave him five more commandments: go, sell, give, come, and follow (Mk 10:21). The man refused to obey these commandments. Immediately, his face expressed his rebellion. The verse describing his reaction can be translated: his “face fell” (Mk 10:22). Some of the connotations of the Greek word are: the man glowered; his face became overcast, expressing even tinges of hatred....

“They answered, ‘Moses permitted divorce and the writing of a decree of divorce.’ But Jesus told them: ‘He wrote that commandment for you because of your stubbornness.’ ” –Mark 10:4-5 Mass Readings: February 24 First: Jeremiah 18:18-20;Resp: Psalm 31:5-6,14-16; Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28 Jesus related divorce to stubbornness. Stubbornness in this context could be sin, pride, selfishness, refusal to repent, unforgiveness, contraception, lust, bitterness, resentment, prayerlessness, isolation, etc. When Jesus prohibited divorce, He implied that married couples need no longer be oppressed by stubbornness. The name of Jesus is above stubbornness, sin, pride, etc. (see Phil 2:9) Jesus has set us...

“Everyone will be salted with fire.” –Mark 9:49 Mass Readings: February 23 First: Isaiah 1:10,16-20;Resp: Psalm 50:8-9,16-17,21,23;Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12 Jesus says that you and I “will be salted with fire” (Mk 9:49). The scriptural uses for salt reveal several possible meanings: Salt was used to seal a covenant (2 Chr 13:5; Lv 2:13). We need to continually be sprinkled with the salt of the purifying, refining fire of repentance (Mal 3:2-3) to be faithful to our baptismal covenant with the Lord. Incense was “to be salted and so kept pure and sacred” (Ex 30:35). Incense represents our prayers (Rv 5:8;...

“I for My part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build My Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 16:18-19 Mass Readings: February 22 First: 1 Peter 5:1-4; Resp: Psalm 23:1-6; Gospel: Matthew 16:13-19 Because the Church, the body of Christ, is not united, it has not been successful in upholding the permanence of marriage for millions of married couples in the Western world. Moreover, the Church, in her disunity and consequent weakness, has seemed powerless to...