Tagged: Prayers in English

THE GATE, WAY, TRUTH, AND LIFE

“Enter through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to damnation is wide, the road is clear, and many choose to travel it.” –Matthew 7:13 There are two gates in life: the narrow gate and the wide gate. Many choose to enter through the wide gate because it is easy to do so. You would think we would choose a gate based on what’s behind it rather than on how easy it is to get through it. For example, does a person go on a road just because the road is wide, or because it leads to his destination? If...

NOT YET

“To your descendants I will give this land…Then Abram journeyed on.” –Genesis 12:7, 9 As Abram passed through the land of Canaan, God promised him that his descendants would inherit that land. However, the Canaanites were still living in the land at the time (Gn 12:6). Abram then continued his journey south many miles more to the desert of the Negeb. Abram got the promise but no land yet. Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land, but they didn’t possess it right away. God told them they wouldn’t occupy the land in one year; they were not numerous enough....

KNOW JESUS – NO FEAR

“Do not fear.” –Matthew 10:28 Jesus gives us at least four commandments in today’s Gospel reading: “Do not let them intimidate you” (Mt 10:26). “Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul” (Mt 10:28). “Do not be afraid of anything” (Mt 10:31). “Fear Him Who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna” (Mt 10:28). We are fearless of men because we have the fear of the Lord (Sir 34:14). The fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10) but also of faith, which leads to love. When...

HALFWAY TO JESUS’ BIRTHDAY

“Look for the One Who comes after me. I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals on His feet.” –Acts 13:25 We celebrate the birthday of St. John the Baptizer for the same reason we celebrate the birthday of Mary. The significance of John the Baptizer, Mary, and each of us is due to our relationship with Jesus. We celebrate John’s birthday because it is halfway to the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. We celebrate our birthdays because we have been given new birth in Jesus. We celebrate John because he was chosen to prepare the way for Jesus (see Acts...

THE HEALER OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED (see Ps 34:19)

“We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.” –1 John 4:16 Mass Readings: June 23 First: Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Resp: Psalm 103:1-4,6-7,8,10;Second: 1 John 4:7-16; Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30 Listen to the Mass Readings On the day before the feast of the Sacred Heart, I visited a man in a hospital who was close to death. The doctors had called the family to the bedside of the dying man. At that point, the man rallied slightly and did not die. When I was talking to his wife, she said: “Father, I hope he dies tomorrow...